July Reading; 2026

[DeeBeeCreative]

So far, I've read: 

Candy Corruption by C A Phipps  and

Tex Miller is Dead by Kelly Elizabeth Huston

   That 2nd one is the best cozy I've read in a long time!! Basically, it's about a successful writer who has decided to kill off her main character, so she can move on to other things--after 20 yrs. She's kept her writing 'anonymous' with the help of her best friend/agent. The twist is that Callie 'sees and converses' with her main character, Tex.  He's everything and more than she'd want in a real man. Tex is, of course, upset about his possible 'demise' and tries to talk her out of it.  Then, she meets a man who reminds her so much of 'Tex'. She thinks this man is 'too young' for her (actually 9 yrs younger than her 48).  Lots of complications-- at one point she says "Tex" as they hug, which sends the real man running.  A stalker complicates things. And at one point, they don't know which of them he's stalking, since Drew is a wealthy businessman. Throw in a proposed TV series deal and some miscommunications, which divide them for a year. But of course, everything is eventually straightened out as she finally realizes--after writing a separate, but successful, book that she no longer needs to 'hide' her identity. 

 

     I read a total of  28 books in June. So we'll see if I keep up my 'usual' this month.

[DeeBeeCreative]

The next 2 books I read were both really good. 

House on the Harbor by Elizabeth Bromke

Moving is Murder by Nellie H. Steele

In Moving is Murder, the heroine has been dumped by her cheating husband, who emptied their bank accounts, so she is broke with no way to pay bills--and she's also fired from her job. Then she finds that she's just inherited her late aunt's 'estate', a large Victorian house that has been and can again be a B&B, enough money to take care of all renovations and have her set up for life. The twist is, she must live there and care for her aunt's two pets: a dog  Lola and a cat Cleo. After taking a all, Ellie wakes to ralize she can now 'hear' the pets' voices and converse with them. Cleo is an over-dramatic, entitled cat; Lola is a dog with boundless energy who has no self-control.  Then she realizes her aunt was actually murdered and before long, Ellie is receiving threatening notes & phone calls, culminating with someone running her off the road, which totals her car. The local sheriff seems to be too laid back to 'worry ' (even though he does admit the aunt was probably murdered),  until the car incident. The constant conversations with the pets are so funny!  I really loved this book.

House on the Harbor is about 4 sisters who have just lost their mother. At first, the 'will' seems to leave out the youngest sister, Clara, completely. There's some kind of secret that the older  3 seem to know and don't want to tell Clara. Each sister has her own problems, so at first they simply want to sell the property and go back to their normal lives--which is not what their mother envisioned.  Several truths come out before things are finally settled.  This kept me interested all the way through.