A heartwarming cozy mystery series about losing everything, taking a chance, and starting again.
After suffering a personal tragedy Abby Sullivan buys a huge old seaside mansion she has never even seen, packs up her life in San Francisco, and moves to Holiday Bay Maine, where she is adopted, quite against her will, by a huge Maine Coon Cat named Rufus, a drifter with her own tragic past named Georgia, and a giant dog with an inferiority complex named Ramos. What Abby thought she needed was alone time to heal. What she ended up with was, an inn she never knew she wanted, a cat she couldn’t seem to convince to leave, and a new family she’d never be able to live without.
In book 10 in the series, Abby works with Lonnie and Lacy to uncover secrets long buried in the mansion on the bluff Lonnie is refurbishing, Georgia meets a mysterious woman with a secret of her own, and a new group of guests check into the inn each with a story of their own.
Affer was once a peaceful planet, until a war broke out
between its six inhabiting species. The humans, who were once the mightiest
force on Affer, were massacred in droves, and the ones who survived the
onslaught were reduced to mere slaves. The five other species divided the
humans amongst themselves and returned to their respective kingdoms.
The years passed, turning into decades and centuries, without any change.
Eventually, the humans had accepted their fate as slaves. All except one. Four
hundred and seventy-three years later, Fletcher Rush starts his journey to free
his kind…and conquer the planet.
I’ve always had a love for fantasy, and to this day LOTR and
The Inheritance Cycle remain some of my favorite books. There are limitless
possibilities when you’re writing, but with fantasy, it’s different. You don’t
have to adhere to rules or logic; you can create whatever type of world you
want. Characters can live in a dystopian society, a grand futuristic city, a
picture-perfect world, or a medieval wasteland. Time, technology, and magic are
all there for the taking, and as a writer, you get to choose what defines your
story.
A comforting story of love, community, humor, and the magic of finding home!
What happens when a perfectionist chef who demands uniformity meets a stubborn organic farmer who believes imperfection has character?
Can be read as a standalone or part of a the series!
Olivia Mercer’s meticulously planned culinary career lies in ruins after her prestigious Boston restaurant collapses in scandal. With her reputation tarnished and job prospects nonexistent, she reluctantly returns to her hometown of Leafwood Falls to temporarily manage the town’s café, while family friend Maggie undergoes cancer treatment.
The Copper Kettle Cafe seems stuck in the past, from its ancient, temperamental espresso machine that seems to have opinions about who operates it, the mysteriously changing chalkboard quotes that appear each morning, to her grandmother’s recipe box that somehow always produces exactly the recipe she needs at exactly the right moment. And then there’s Hemingway, the cantankerous orange cat from the nearby bookshop, who has a mysterious talent for showing up precisely when Olivia needs guidance. Whether she wants it or not.
Olivia’s plan is simple: maintain the café for six months, then return to the culinary world where she belongs. But Leafwood Falls has other ideas.
When she clashes with local farmer James Foster over his “inconsistent” organic produce, sparks fly in more ways than one. James believes food should have soul. Olivia demands technical perfection. He grows vegetables with personality. She creates dishes with precision. They’re completely wrong for each other. Except for their undeniable chemistry and shared passion for creating something authentic.
As Olivia rediscovers her grandmother’s recipes and begins to reimagine the café’s future, she finds herself questioning everything she thought mattered in her career. But when a prestigious job offer arrives that could salvage her culinary reputation, Olivia must decide what truly satisfies her—the high-stakes restaurant world she’s always pursued, or the small-town connections and imperfect farmer who are showing her that the most delicious recipes are the ones that don’t follow the rules.
Perfect for fans of Emily Henry, Abby Jimenez, and Jenny Colgan, this delicious small-town romance serves up a perfect blend of witty banter, laugh-out-loud moments, heartfelt connections, and the special magic that happens when someone finally finds where they belong.
Return to the beloved town of Leafwood Falls, where a sprinkle of magic, a dash of community, and one opinionated bookshop cat make every story sweeter.
A heartwarming cozy mystery series about losing everything, taking a chance, and starting again.
After suffering a personal tragedy Abby Sullivan buys a huge old seaside mansion she has never even seen, packs up her life in San Francisco, and moves to Holiday Bay Maine, where she is adopted, quite against her will, by a huge Maine Coon Cat named Rufus, a drifter with her own tragic past named Georgia, and a giant dog with an inferiority complex named Ramos. What Abby thought she needed was alone time to heal. What she ended up with was, an inn she never knew she wanted, a cat she couldn’t seem to convince to leave, and a new family she’d never be able to live without.
In book 9 in the series, a newly engaged couple rents out the entire inn for their engagement party. As part of their ‘making memories’ theme they ask guests to take photos and share them with the group. Everyone is having a wonderful time until one of the guests turns up dead.
Book Reviews by the Reluctant Retiree 