From a Mother’s Day mystery and random dinosaurs to a contemporary cozy mystery based around the owner of a bakery whose best friend and soon to be employ is embroiled in the murder of her previous boss at the local bank. Vanilla Bean Murder by Deany Ray is the second in her Ouna Bay Cozy Mysteries series. This lucky free find was a lovely novella length mystery with a touch of romance and a dash of humour.

Now keep in mind this is a second book in the series (I really lucked out with a freebie), so there are some moments where you feel you are missing a bit of information. The relationships are more defined and there is a hint of that being something that came out of the previous book so I won’t give names and details.

What I really enjoyed about this one is that I didn’t see the murderer coming… I mean, towards the end I was getting the feeling that something wasn’t quite right but I was just as surprised as the main characters (Becky) as to who did it and why.

I am definitely interested in taking a look at the first novel in the series as well as continuing on (once the book budget allows of course…). Deany Ray does a terrific job creating interesting characters. The story  felt well thought through and had a great pace. The mystery, as I mentioned, was intriguing and unexpected. Definitely a fun read out in the hammock on a warm afternoon, especially since that is exactly what I did! And who doesn’t love a title like Vanilla Bean Murder. It sounds so… scrumptious.

Novellas seem to be the lucky find this last week or so, though this one is more in length to a full novel (I still found it a shorter read). My Sweet Valentine by Jill Sanders is book 6 in the Pride Series. A contemporary romance based in the town of Pride this story centers on the lead instructor of the Coastguard and a young woman returned to town to open a bakery. 

Running from a serious stalking situation Sara Lander is just trying to rebuild her life and create her dream… her very own bakery full of her sweets and coffee. Coastguard and ex-Navy SEAL Allen Masters is proud of his position in town running the Coastguard school and saving lives locally. 

Be ware… this story does have some overt sexual scenes. The passion is definitely alive in this story as is the mystery of the stalker complete with red herrings! An enjoyable contemporary romance with some history to be unearthed with each of our two main characters. There is definitely some history with surrounding characters that I am sure is explained in the previous books in the series. Something to look into. 

I love the changes you see in both of the characters. While not a story of faith it is a story of growth! 

If you are looking for romance and some adventure this could be the story for you. 

May 1-4

We started May with Wild Kratts.

Flying Fish

And Echo modelling a little purse I made her known as a church purse or cradle purse. I remember having one of these made  for me by my grandma Reinsch. Though I think mine had a plastic soap container bottom. I chose to go without to avoid sharp corners. Complete with a tiny blanket for the baby doll. You can make the purse turn into a baby cradle. Perfect for quiet play at church… if Echo would stop losing it! Though I have to work on my knots for my drawstring. I am not pleased with how they slip after my 3 1/2 yr old has tugged and gone at it for a while. Would love suggestions on that!!

The next day, to cover another Scouts extra we all made instruments out of pieces of what not we had around the home! Talk about a noisy and fun craft.

We also made a trip to a bakery… an Italian one. Where we got some amazing pastries. We got to watch the baker in the back mix something up in a rather impressive giant mixer.

My treat!

We also busted out the chocolate bunnies… nibbles on ears and bunny tails…

And then, suddenly… MAY WEEKEND! The first Saturday of the month so OF COURSE we have Home Depot. We went to a different one than we usually did and not only did we make flower pot holders but we ALSO got 10 craft pins. Something our home Home Depot did not offer! They also do a 25 I think so guess where we are going for that milestone month!!!

We actually had a reason for our change in Home Depot venue. This was the closest one to the district Pinewood Derby races! Held at a car dealership no less. The boys were able to sign up not long before their races (both Emanuel and Aidan) and trophies were awarded right after. For our first districts Emanuel did awesome – 4th place over all pretty much! Aidan took home first! Everyone had fun watching the cars and it gave the adults some visiting time.

We had PLANNED to head to the free comic day at The Source… up until we drove by and realized that they were lined up literally AROUND the building! Though there was some amazing cosplayers out there to keep people company!

Add to this already busy day Ken with an overnight gaming with the guys and I think we made good use of our first May weekend already!

And some time with the cousins!

After Ken came home, then took the kids to Sunday School and then came home again we had company for dinner… Both of the Schwartz families!

The kids played, the ladies crafted and the men assisted in the kitchen.

AND I got to photograph baby Jeffrey. Isn’t he an adorable model??

With Daddy

Really, after an amazing dinner with terrific company… what a way to end a weekend!!!