Take the Honey and Run

Finished August 6

Take the Honey and Run by Jennie Marts

This novel is set in small town Colorado, and begins with mystery author Bailey Briggs returning to the town she grew up in to visit her grandmother, Blossom Briggs (also known as Granny Bee). Bailey was raised by her grandmother and has visited her regularly since she left years before, but this time it has been a couple years since the last visit. Bailey's daughter, twelve-year-old Daisy and their dog Cooper are with her as they run into minor trouble just minutes away from the family farm. She finds herself rescued by a man she hasn't seen in years, Sawyer Dunn. 

Granny Bee raises cattle and keeps bees, and has a small store to see the products she makes from her bees. She's had a bad fall, and wants Bailey for support and comfort. As Bailey arrives, she witnesses the dramatic exit of a local man around the same age as her grandmother, Werner Humble, and finds the rest of the local book group waiting inside at the tea table. This group includes Blossom's sisters, Aster and Marigold, the local librarian Dorothy, and Bailey's best friend's mother Rosa. Evie, her best friend, soon arrives on scene to welcome her. 

When Bailey stops in at Werner's the following day to return the jacket he left behind, she discovers him dead, and with many witnesses to Blossom's threat to him the previous day, her grandmother is on the list of suspects. 

Bailey figures her mystery writing experience gives her some expertise in investigation, and she decides to try to find the real killer to clear her grandmother. The sheriff isn't enthusiastic about her doing this, however, and tries to discourage her. But she has the support of her grandmother's friends, her own best friend, and her daughter. Both the official investigation and Bailey's unearth many more possible suspects as well as the victim's less savory habits. 

This is a cozy mystery that looks to be the first in a new series, from the "A Bee Keeping Mystery" on the cover to several plot elements that hint at more information to be unveiled later. Like many cozy mysteries, it also includes a few recipes at the back of the book, many that have honey as an ingredient. 

Lone Wolf

Finished March 30

Lone Wolf by Diana Palmer, Kate Pearce, and Rebecca Zanetti

This is a collection of three short novels all with a wolf as part of the story. 

The first one is Colorado Cowboy by Diana Palmer. This story has twenty-three-year-old Esther Marist is a real jam. Esther had fled her mother Terry's house in Aspen, Colorado after her mother's latest boyfriend Darrin pushed her mother down the stairs in a temper. She has her purse, but not her phone, and isn't really dressed for the winter weather. Esther is afraid to go to the police as Darrin had indicated he had contacts there. She ends up getting a ride from a middle-aged couple driving a semi who drop her off in northern Colorado where she told them she had friends. She ends up on the doorstep of Iraq war veteran Butch Matthews who works for the wildlife service and has a wolf he rehabilitated as a pet. The story is cute, but a little too sweet for my taste. Esther seems worldly wise in some ways, and completely innocent in others. She grew up in boarding schools, but has no friends. She's eager to please and only wants a happy home in her future. As the man hunting her grows near, it is Butch and his friends, who've become hers, along with long-lost family that save the day. 

The second story, The Wolf on Her Doorstep by Kate Pearce is set in the ranching country of California, and was the best story in my opinion. Beth Baker works at the Garcia Ranch and is in charge as the novel opens, with the Garcia family on vacation. She grew up in the area and her brother is a mechanic at the family-run gas station. Beth is also raising two young men, her own son Mike who is home for the summer from college, and her ex-husband's son Wes, who works as an apprentice carpenter in town.  One of the cabins on the ranch is currently rented by Conner O'Neil, a Navy SEALS veteran, and because he hasn't shown up for his weekly supplies from the general store, Beth agrees to take them up to him. Beth has another worry, as her ex-husband Sean has written her son from prison trying to get back into his good books. Beth knows the violence that he's capable of, but Mike was too young to remember the abuse. Wes is with Beth because Sean killed Wes' mother and she offered him a home. Conner has a wolf pet named Loki who accosts Beth soon after she gets to the ranch. I liked Beth as she's no fool, she's capable of a lot of things and has survived some bad times with grace. The chemistry between Beth and Conner was nicely done, and both were drawn as realistic people. A satisfying read. 

The third story is Rescue: Cowboy Style by Rebecca Zanetti and set in rural Wyoming. Hallie is on the run from something and when she crashes her car into a fence in a storm, she made her way to a clubhouse for local cowboys, following the only light she could see. She meets one of the men who own a large ranch in the area, Trent Logan. He's very pushy and although he doesn't force himself on her, he does make some questionable moves and talks in a very sexist way. Hallie has stumbled on something a little mysterious here that she struggles to understand as she still tries to find a way to save herself from what's chasing her. There was a wolf that followed her from her car, and it seems to have been tamed by someone and seems fixated on looking out for her. By the end, there is some sense of what the wolf represents. Hallie is a woman who has a college education, but seems a little helpless, and doesn't seem to put up much resistance to Trent's advances or sexist outlook. This story bothered me in a lot of ways. It seems to be the story referenced by the series indicator attached to the book, Redemption Wyoming, #1. 

All three novels have ex-military men as the male love interest. 

No Plan B

Finished May 22

No Plan B by Lee Child and Andrew Child

This is the 27th book in the Jack Reacher series and he still has all the elements that make these books winners. Here, Jack is in a town in Colorado when he witnesses a crime and chases after the man who committed it. He is able to inflict some damage, and get a look at some of what evidence the man took with him, but he ends up getting left behind. 

As he follows the clues that he has, and they lead him to another death, he finds that he might be looking at something much bigger and more evil than he thought. 

His trail leads him to Texas and a private prison there, where a program to rehabilitate prisoners might be covering up something no one suspected. He is accompanied on his journey by a woman who has her own history with some of the people killed near the beginning, and who is intent on finding the truth to avenge them. 

There is also a side story of a teenage boy in foster care in California, who discovers something that sets him on the road to Texas as well, where his path will eventually intersect with Reacher's. 

As expected this is a page turner of a novel, with an intricate and compelling plot that I could barely put down. 

Excellent, as usual. 

As Long as We Both Shall Live

Finished July 7
As Long as We Both Shall Live by Joann Chaney

In this novel we see inside the mind of various characters. The female protagonist Janice, the other female protagonist Marie, the male protagonist Matt, the female detective Spengler, and the male detective Loren.
Janice knows her husband has been cheating on her, and she decides to get proof, but then what should she do. Marie also knows her husband has been cheating on her, and now the girls have left home, they are increasingly distant from each other. Is the planned outing to the mountains a way forward, a way to reconnect?
Matt keeps a lot of secrets, but he isn't that good at it. Many times, keeping silent is the best way for him to react when he feels cornered. But not always.
Loren has his own past that he has run from, and never talked about again. But now it seems to be coming back to him again. He knows he didn't have a lot of choices back then, but did he make the right one.
Spengler is the new officer in Homicide, and she's getting her fair share of jokes, innuendos, and other crap from her fellow officers. But she has a good home life, and that keeps her going When she's paired up with Loren on this case, she has a few things that she'll learn.
This is a case with more than one unreliable narrator, and a few twists and turns. Some I saw coming, others I didn't. I really enjoyed the read.

Craving

Finished April 25
Craving by Helen Hardt

This is the first book in the series Steel Brothers. There are two points of view that the reader sees here. One of them is Jade Roberts, a young woman recently jilted at the altar by her long term boyfriend, now staying with her best friend Marj while she waits for her bar exam results so that she can look for a job as a lawyer. Marj lives with her brothers on a large Colorado ranch. Two of the brothers live in separate houses, but Talon still lives in the main house with Marj.
Talon Steel is the second point of view here. He is a troubled young man, with a secret in his past that feeds both anger and shame. He is attracted to Jade, as she is to him, but isn't really ready for a relationship in his current state.
Jade is drawn to Talon, and recognizes that he has some kind of past wound, but doesn't want to alert her friend to her feelings. This leads to lots of push and pull between the couple.
This book doesn't resolve the relationship, but it does move it forward, and the reader is aware of at least part of the issue that Talon is dealing with, but I'm not sure that all the information has come to the surface yet.
This is a romance with explicit sex scenes and lots of drama.

Montrose County

Finished May 23
Montrose County by Bill Greenwood

This thriller follows more than one set of characters, and includes a past timeline for one of them. The chapter headings helpfully give place of action and timeline, and the author also uses quick phrases to link events together between characters. The first character we see is a woman, Sabrina Murdoch, waking from a recurring dream she has related to the past. It's just a glimpse, and we move on to another set of charcters, very far away.
These are a pair of Canadian soldiers working as a remote commando force. Mike Buffalo and Brad Hall have worked together before, and are a good team. They are one of several sniper teams tracking Islamic State fighters, and so far the most successful in terms of hits. The drones that work with these units are operated out of Nellis AFB in Nevada, managed by Lt. Col. Tony Benedetto. As they check in after their hit, they are informed that satellite phones, satellite GPS, and drone coverage will not be available for the next day or so due to an expected solar flare. They are also asked to check on the ground result of a hit on a building where some type of meeting seemed to be happening.
The two capable men make their way by maps and orienteering to the specified site, But there they find something bigger and more disturbing than they would ever have guessed, and circumstances mean they have to use all their creativity and skill to convey what they found back to base.
The next group of people we see are some well-meaning American, intent on doing right by those less lucky in their life situation. Unfortunately, they are a bit too trusting, and in this case, people with bad ulterior motives have taken advantage of their kind hearts. Similar situations play out with other components needed for the planned crime.
Back to the first character, Sabrina, who works in the titled Montrose County in Colorado as a deputy. She has worked there for a couple of years. She has the duty of driving a prisoner over the courthouse. On the way over, she encounters a truck slightly damaged by an encounter with wildlife, and is faced with a situation that she finds difficult to deal with. When she makes it to Ouray, she has a moment to chat with a county deputy that she has begun a relationship with, Rick Sanchez.
We gradually learn of Sabrina's interactions with the locals, including an older rancher named Del and his wife. Del understands her and some of her baggage, because he is a Vietnam vet. At one point, we have a flashback to several years earlier to an intense firefight that Sabrina was involved in while in Iraq and we understand the source of her anxiety and dreams.
As we follow the events with Buffalo and Halls and with Murdoch and others in her area, we gradually move closer to the time of the planned crime, and the suspense builds.
I really enjoyed this thriller, and the way the author gradually revealed the characters to us, giving us a real sense of who they were. The use of humour, creativity, and military detail all made this book a page turner for me. Highly recommended.

Dodge City

Finished September 21
Dodge City: Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson, and the Wickedest Town in the American West by Tom Clavin, read by John Bedford Lloyd

This history looks at more than just Dodge City, Kansas. It looks at the general wild west, including Kansas, Arizona, Texas, and Colorado, among others. It mostly covers the period following the U.S. Civil War through the 1890s, but occasionally takes us further back or forward in time.
It tells us of Wyatt Earp, but also of all his brothers and their lives, and similarly with Bat Masterson, telling us of his brothers escapades as well. We see many other figures of the west including Doc Holliday and his on again, off again woman Big Nose Kate. We see Buffalo Bill, the McLaury brothers, the Clanton Brothers, Mysterious Dave, Belle Starr, Billy the Kid, and many more.
I didn't realize the way many of these people moved back and forth from one side of the law to the other, some breaking the law openly even while enforcing it.
Many of the men who spent time as lawmen also operated brothels, married prostitutes, and ignored the law when it was inconvenient to them. Some spent time for minor crimes, and got no jail time for bigger actions.
Sometimes, killing a man in self defense got them in trouble and other times it got them accolades. This was a time when things were wild indeed, where the men who didn't fit in found a way to live without boundaries. Men would shoot guns off just for fun, and as "western civilization" expanded to the west, wildlife grew scarcer and the relationship with the natives grew worse.
I learned a lot I didn't know.

Old Wolf

Finished April 24
Old Wolf by Avi, illustrated by Brian Floca

This children's novel has two narrators and takes place in the Iron Mountain area of Colorado. One is Nashoba, the aging leader of a wolf pack. The time is early spring, and the wolf pack hasn't eaten in a while. Nashoba is challenged by one of the young males in his pack and while he remains leader, he has been injured. He leaves the pack, including his two young cubs, in search of food to show that he still has the skills to remain leader. He is assisted by a raven, also aging, who hopes that his pack's kill will provide food for her flock as well.
Casey lives with his parents on the edge of the forest. He is just turning thirteen and is addicted to a video game called Bowhunter, where he shoots animals with a bow and arrow. Casey has played it enough to think himself skilled, but, in the world of the video game, the animals he shoots keep reanimating again and again. He seems to have most difficulty targeting two animals, a wolf and a raven.
This is a story of nature and its connection with us, and how we interact for both good and bad effect. The illustrations are lovely.

Sweet Dreams

Finished September 27
Sweet Dreams by Kristen Ashley

I hadn't read this author before, and I found myself quite enjoying this romance novel. From the cover I didn't guess how sizzling the plot would be or how Ashley brings deeper elements of self-confidence, and trust into the plot. There is also a suspense element here that adds to the plot.
Lauren Grahame is wandering following the breakup of her marriage after she discovered her husband cheating on her and his decision to stay with the woman he cheated on her with, her best friend. She has arrived in the small Colorado town of Carnal, and likes the look of it, deciding to try to stay. She applies for a waitress job at the local bar, Bubba's, and gets a room at the local motel. Even before she been there a day she sees a local man Tatum Jackson and takes notice. She isn't looking for a relationship, but she is drawn to him despite herself.
Lauren is a farm-raised girl from a close family, who went on to college and made a corporate career for herself until her divorce. This is a new start for her at 39, and she isn't afraid to take chances. She knows she's a hard worker, and that that can go a long way toward making a new life. What she doesn't have is self-confidence in her own value and attractiveness, and this is what makes the novel deeper than the average romance novel. The personal growth that Lauren undergoes takes the book further than I guessed from the cover.
The suspense element is the serial killer of women that is out there. Tatum is a bounty hunter and has been hunting the killer off and on for a while. When one of the waitresses becomes a victim of his torture, the plot gets a new layer. There is lots going on here with both Lauren and Tatum's families, previous relationships, the biker town setting, and the romance and suspense layers.
I thoroughly enjoyed it.

When Mountains Move

Finished May 31
When Mountains Move by Julie Cantrell

This novel begins in Mississippi, but is set mostly in Colorado. It is the spring of 1943 and young Millie is about to be married to Bump (Kenneth) Anderson, but has reservations. Not about Bump, but about herself. Something happened to Millie recently that has affected her trust in others and how she reacts when a man touches her.
Millie marries Bump in happiness and the two move forward to a future in Colorado where they will manage a ranch for Cuay Tucker. Millie has a natural affinity with horses and Bump has recently qualified as a veterinarian, and both are hard workers, so they are perfectly suited for their new lives. When they arrive, they find a small welcoming town not that far from the ranch that is their new home. There is an older man, Fortner, who is the son of the original ranch owners and who is looking to work at the ranch again. There is Oka, Millie's newly found grandmother, a Chocktaw woman, who comes to help in the ranch's early days.
As Millie learns the nature of this new landscape, and makes a home for her family, she also finds a way to come to terms with what has come before and move forward in strength and hope for a future.
Millie epitomizes the pioneer spirit, adventurous and hardworking and willing to see the best in others. The life she and Bump lead in Colorado is one that sets them on the path for a better future than either of them grew up with. This is a novel of hope and positive outlook in the face of adversity. I liked the inclusion of positive native culture here as well, respecting the hardships dealt to them and the traditions they observe.

Japanese Internment

Finished September 20
Tallgrass by Sandra Dallas
This book is told from the point of view of Rennie Stroud, a 13-year-old Colorado girl and begins in 1942 after Pearl Harbor. Rennie's older sister has gone to live and work in a factory in Denver, and her older brother Buddy left college to enlist. An internment camp for Japanese has been build near their small town, only a mile or so from the Stroud farm. Rennie struggles to form her own opinion of the situation looking at both her family and the townspeople. Rennie's father Loyal, is a deeply ethical man, and he knows that this internment is wrong and that Americans have been denied their rights. Rennie's mother Mary is worried about the opinions of the other ladies in her sewing group, even as she agrees with her husband. Rennie's grandmother is fading into dementia and goes between moments of lucidity and wandering.
Feeling in the town against the Japanese grows when a young girl is raped and murdered and the sheriff cannot find the culprit.
Loyal stands by his principles and hires some of the young Japanese men to assist with his farming. As the Japanese begin working on farms in the neighbourhood, more see them for the individuals they are. Rennie gets to know the young workers on their farm and grows close to Daisy a Japanese girl they hire to help in the house. Rennie also begins to see the various townspeople with new eyes, and works to support her best friend and her family. Rennie also sees that fighting back isn't always the right way to go about defending your actions, and that some people won't see what they don't want to.
A great book for older teens.

Thriller on audio

Finished March 31
Three Weeks to Say Goodbye by C.J.Box, read by John Bedford Lloyd
This thriller moves at a fast pace and has lots going on, but I found elements of the story that just didn't ring that true for me.
Jack and Melissa have a nine-month-old girl that they adopted privately. Now the father and his father, a powerful Denver judge, say that they want the girl. They seem to have no interest in the relationship that has developed between the baby and her adoptive parents. They also seem to have a lot of influence in Denver, meaning that Jack and Melissa have no legal options to fight the case. That is one of the things that doesn't ring true to me.
Jack and his two best friends set out to find ways to change the situation, either by getting the father to sign the papers or finding dirt on him and his father. Here the end justifies the means, and keeping Angelina is all that matters.
An entertaining book despite its faults.

Edge of the Seat

Finished July 10
Nothing to Lose by Lee Child, read by Dick Hill
Jack Reacher is back and just as good as ever. This book has it all: suspense, bad guys, mystery, a woman, and Reacher.
Jack is making his way across the country east to west and his last ride brought him to Hope, Colorado. He notices that the next town over is named Despair, and is intrigued and decides to head that way. When he tries to stop in Despair for a bite to eat, not only won't they serve him, but they arrest him on vagrancy charges and drop him out on the town line, to the east, back towards Hope. Naturally, this gets Reacher's back up, and he must try to find out why the town has this attitude towards strangers.
The answers are complex and varied and as Reacher makes his way through them his main ally is a woman police officer from Hope, who has her own issues to deal with.
This book kept me wanting to stay with it all the way through. I woke up once at two in the morning, and could think of little else but the situation that Reacher was in when I left off and almost got up and went out to the car to continue listening. It was a close thing! The reading by Dick Hill was perfect. He talks in a measured way, just as I imagine Reacher might and expresses the emotions very well.
There are also lots of issues explored here, especially around the US and its role in the Middle East, and Child does it all well. He is a master.