Lemon Tart

 'Lemon Tart' is Josi Kilpack's debut culinary murder mystery novel. Sadie Hoffmiller is a widow, substitute teacher, mother, and your typical nosy neighbor who prides herself on knowing everything about her neighbors. When a young single mother is murdered in Sadie's cul-de-sac, she is determined to help the police find the culprit, even if that means crossing the line a time or two. The victim's son is missing and the clock is ticking to find him before anything worse happens to him. There are plenty of suspects and Sadie soon discovers that she might not know her neighbors as well as she thinks she did. 

I haven't read mystery books in a while, but I found this one very intriguing. I love when books keep me guessing until the very end and this one definitely kept those pages turning. It was also refreshing to read a murder mystery that wasn't gory, disturbing, or too scary. I am pretty sensitive to those kind of books, but love mysteries, so this one was right up my alley. 

The Valet's Secret

Rebecca Parker is a lonely widow whose only child is already grown and on her own. After her husband died she was forced to move back in with her abusive artist father and help him with his work to provide for her and her daughter. Her father has been drinking more and more, which also means he is becoming even more mean to her. She feels the future is dreary until one day when a valet named Malcom Henry almost runs her over with his wild out of control horse. In the moments afterwards she finds herself kissing this complete stranger, which is very unlike her. Rebecca believes that the love at first sight, fairy tale ending isn't meant for her, but she can't keep herself from thinking about Malcolm and the feelings that he stirs in her. She begins to fantasize about life with him and away from her father. However, when she helps serve at a dinner party for a rich family, she discovers that Malcom is a guest, and definitely NOT a valet, but the heir to an earldom. Rebecca is humiliated and all her day dreams of a better life come crashing down around her. 

Josi Kilpack is a proper romance genius. Reading her books is like reading a Hallmark movie. You know that the two protagonist characters will end up together, but you can't help being intrigued by the plot and the events that get them there. This book is all about second chances at love, overcoming trials and obstacles, hope, and of course, romance. It is an intriguing story that keeps the pages turning until the sun comes up.  

The Lady of the Lakes

Walter Scott is a passionate writer who loves his homeland of Scotland almost as much as he loves literature. He is also madly in love with a girl by the name of Mina Stuart, whom he has written love letters to for quite some time. Mina loves literature as well but she is not fully convinced in her love for Walter. While his letters are flattering and exciting, she worries that he is a class below hers and wonders if she can live a life out of the lap of luxury. When the dashing William Forbes moves into town, Mina feels drawn to him but worries that she will make the wrong choice in who to choose.

Meanwhile, Charlotte Carpenter is trying to find joy in her solitary life. As a French Catholic living in London, suiters are hard to come by, especially because her family history is shaded by scandal. Charlotte secretly wishes someone could love her, but at age 26, it is highly unlikely of that ever happening.

Josi Kilpack delivers another riveting proper romance novel in 'The Lady of the Lakes'.  It is a love story with love triangles, scandal, passion, and misplaced hope. It also happens to be a true love story based off of Sir Walter Scott's humble beginnings and his thorny pathway to finding his one true love, other then writing and Scotland that is. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and it will definitely be a story that I can read again and again and never grow tired of it. 

Daisies and Devotion

In the second novel of the Mayfield Family series by Josi Killpack, titled 'Daisies and Devotion', Timothy Mayfield is ready to find a wife. He wishes to marry for love, but his finances are low and he knows that he must marry for wealth as well. When he suddenly comes into a fortune, his dreams of marrying his "perfect women" are now within his grasp. He has a very long list of what his future wife must look like, and how she must act.

Timothy's dear friend, Maryann Morrington, is a very wealthy women, who is tired of men chasing after her for her fortune. At age 22 she can't really afford to be picky, but finding her match seems impossible. Timothy and Maryann decide to team up to find each other's life long companions. Maryann tries convincing Timothy that his ideal women is a fantasy, but then a certain Miss Shaw, comes to London, and all of a sudden Timothy's dream becomes reality. Maryann tries to be happy for her friend, but she is battling intense emotions of her own, and is worried that she will never marry but become a spinster.

I really enjoyed this book. I didn't think it was as good as the first one, but it was another proper romance novel that I liked reading. I especially loved the "realness" of  Maryann and Timothy. Their flaws and little quirks really made me fall in love with the characters. Josi Kilpack has definitely become one of my favorite authors and I can not wait for the next book in the Mayfield Family series.

Promises and Primroses

'Promises and Primroses' by Josi Kilpack is the stories within the Mayfield family and the scandals that seem to follow them around. In an attempt to keep the next generation from making the same mistakes as their parents, Lord Elliott Mayfield comes up with an idea that he calls "The Marriage Campaign", where he states that only his nieces and nephews who make worthy matches will inherit his fortune. His oldest nephew, Peter, things the idea is somewhat ridiculous and has no inclination to find another wife after becoming a widower and being left with two daughters to raise on his own. He does however, decide to hire a governess for his daughters, but worries that his choice in Julia Hollingsworth just may be a mistake, as she is very young and much to his dismay, very beautiful. Peter is not the only one who worries about attaining feelings for Julia however. Julia's mother, Amelia, has very different reasons for wanting to keep her daughter away from the Mayfields - something that ties herself to Elliott from long ago.

The last few years I have become a huge fan of both proper romance, and Josi Kilpack. Although this hasn't replaced my top favorite one of her novels, I think this could definitely be placed high up on that list. Yes, it is somewhat predictable, but then most proper romance novels are, something which I surprisingly don't mind because the events leading up to the two characters falling in love is the very best part.

The Vicar's Daughter

Cassie is the youngest of six sisters. She is bubbly, social, and can't wait to enter society to find her match. The only problem is that Cassie's father won't let her enter society until her older sister, Lenora, marries. He believes that only one of his daughters should be a debutant at a time. The problem is, is that Lenora is timid, with crippling shyness. As she enters her third season Cassie begins to lose hope of ever having her own chance at happiness. Lenora's anxiety attacks and insecurity are standing between Cassie's happily ever after. Then one night, Lenora comes home from a social event with a positive encounter with a gentleman named Evan. That's when Cassie hatches a plan to start writing Evan in place of her sister. Cassie could have never predicted that she, herself, would start to fall in love with Evan through her letters to him as she pretends to be her sister. When Evan and Lenora finally start courting, Cassie tries to conceal her broken heart, and be happy for her sister. After all, it's her fault she's in this mess in the first place.

I love books that keep you guessing until the very end. How can Evan, Lenora, and Cassie all come out of their situations with happy endings? It seems impossible that this tangled trio can all come out unscarred. While this is not my favorite book from Josi Kilpack, it's high on the list. If you love proper romance novels then you will love this book.

A Heart Revealed

'A Heart Revealed" By Josi S. Kilpack was another book chosen by my book club. This is the story of Amber Marie Sterlington, who is  snooty, uppity, and vain. She is the rage of the season in London and can have any man she chooses, and of course she is going to marry for money, love has nothing to do with it in this game. But when her social standing is threatened, her life is drastically changed, forcing her to reevaluate what she really wants out of life, and a partner.

I personally loved this book. It reminded me of Pride and Prejudice. I was pleasantly surprised with how drawn into the story I became, and there is one particular scene towards the end of the book, that I had to reread because the cheesy romantic in me was melting ooey-gooey goodness (I may have even sighed out loud). This is a wonderful book for people who love the Regency era, a good clean romance, and a good life lesson thrown into the mix.

It did leave me with a few unanswered questions however (not vital to the story but I am just curious about) and if I ever do have the chance to meet Kilpack in real life I am definitely asking her haha.

Sheep's Clothing

I always say that I am not the biggest fan of Mormon fiction that is not historical fiction. However,  I have recently decided that I need to stop giving this genre such a bad rep simply because of the two authors who for some mystifying reason are the "Mormon fiction poster children"(Stansfield and Weyland) ugh. Anyway, for our book club this month we were asked to read something written by Josi Kilpack. When I first received this assignment I inwardly cringed a little, but my misgivings about this author, who I definitely thought was going to be another Stansfield in the making, were completely off base. I decided to read one of her stand alone books so that I wouldn't be stuck with an entire series to read. I scrolled through some of her books, she has a lot!, and decided to read 'Sheep's Clothing'.

'Sheep's Clothing' is about an online predator trying to find the perfect teenage girl to seduce. He poses as a teenager and slowly and patiently earns his victims trust by subtly manipulating them. The very first chapter of the book begins with him dumping the body of his last victim, so the fact that you already know what is going to happen to the next girl is terrifying and completely enthralling. I spent WAY too many late nights reading this book. It was such a page turner! The story is told from different points of view too so it kept it interesting. You see the predator, the victim, the victim's mother, and the murdered girl's families point of view.

I was completely caught up in this book because ohhhhh my freaking heck this kind of thing happens EVERY SINGLE DAY! This book scared the crap out of me. Not because it was intense or scary, but because it was REAL. And being a mother made it a little TOO REAL. As I closed the book I fretted over the conversations I would need to have with my children in the future--- I do not look forward to that day. This book helped me get a little more internet smart for my future children. If you are a parent- or will be- or know teenagers-  or ARE a teenager, then read this book!