Review of "Nantucket News: A Nantucket Beach Plum Cove Book" by Pamela Kelley

Nantucket News is part of Pamela Kelley's Nantucket Beach Plum Cove series, which contains family stories with Hallmark Channel-type romances. The book works fine as a standalone.

*****

Lisa Hodges, who has four grown children, runs the Beach Plum Cove B&B on Nantucket Island.





Lisa enjoys frequent visits from her daughters and grandchildren, who regularly show up for breakfast on Saturday.



One of the guests at Lisa's B&B is Taylor Abbott, a fledgling journalist......



......who roomed with Lisa's daughter Abby in college.



Taylor just moved to Nantucket to become a reporter for Nantucket's weekly newspaper, and she's staying at the B&B until her rental cottage is ready.

At the B&B, Taylor enjoys chatting with innkeeper Lisa and Lisa's husband Rhett Byrne, who runs an upscale restaurant called Rhett's. Rhett is concerned about the eatery's accounts, because profits are low given the restaurant's success. Rhett fears an employee might be ripping him off and installs hidden cameras to see what's what.



As soon as Taylor settles in she starts work at the Nantucket newspaper. There Taylor meets her supervisor Blake.....



.....fellow reporters Joe and Victoria, and other members of the staff.



Wanting to fit in, Taylor joins her colleagues for trivia night at a nearby pub and for the occasional after-work drink.



Taylor is very attracted to Blake - who's friendly, genial and handsome - but she knows it's a bad idea to date the boss, so she keeps her distance. In the meantime, Blake's mother keeps trying to play matchmaker, dangling beautiful women under his nose.



One of Taylor's assignments is to interview the owner of a new needlepoint store, and Taylor decides to enroll in a beginner's needlepoint class with her good friend Abby. Abby confides that she and her husband are struggling to conceive a second child, and this is one of the story's plotlines.



Since Taylor is a newbie reporter, she tries to learn from her more experienced colleagues Joe and Victoria. However Taylor finds that Victoria's methods are a bit dodgy. Victoria likes to take candid photos of newsworthy people, then write gossipy stories about them. Thus Victoria photographs a romantic-comedy actress and her co-star doing a movie scene, and makes it seem like they're having a romance.



Victoria does the same thing with a well-known marketing executive and her ex-husband, who are attending the same business conference.



This publicity could cause trouble in the subjects' REAL relationships, but Victoria doesn't seem to care. In a way this works to Taylor's benefit, because she snags an interview with a famous person who's peeved at Victoria.

Taylor does this celebrity interview at Nantucket's 'Daffodil Festival', which she's writing about for the newspaper. The festival features a classic car parade - in which Blake and his dad participate - followed by posh tailgate parties.





Many of these tailgate fetes have private chefs who prepare steak and lobster, and appetizers like sushi, stuffed mushrooms, caviar, foie gras, fried chicken strips, and scallops wrapped in bacon.

Steak and Lobster


Sushi


Stuffed Mushrooms


Caviar and Foie Gras


Fried Chicken Strips


Scallops wrapped in bacon


In the course of the story Taylor hobnobs with her friend Abby and Abby's siblings; enjoys working in the newspaper's dog-friendly office; interviews a mystery book writer; makes cute needlepoint tchotchkes; gets a visit from her dad; eats pizza and watches movies; and more. To see the story's more dramatic occurrences, you'll have to read the book. 🙂

This is a pleasant homey book, perfect for an afternoon's relaxing reading.

Thanks to Netgalley, Pamela Kelley, and Piping Plover Press for a copy of the book.

Rating: 3.5 stars

Review of "Doing Harm: A Medical Thriller" by Kelly Parsons

Steve Mitchell is a senior surgical resident at Boston's University Hospital, and hopes to get a permanent position at the institute when he completes his residency next year.



University Hospital is among the best facilities in the country, and Steve wants to be a surgeon at the hospital AND teach at the associated medical school.



As the story opens, Steve is sharing a moment with his daughters, Katie (5) and Annabelle (10 months) before leaving for a cocktail party with his wife Sally. Katie is 'cooking' Styrofoam packing peanuts on her play stove, and when Steve warns her they're too small for Annabelle, Katie protests, "But Bella likes them."



Steve is soon frantically plucking peanuts out of Annabelle's stuffed mouth, who (fortunately) is none the worse for this 'dinner.'



Luckily for Steve, his wife Sally sees the humor in the situation, and he's not scolded for his lackadaisical oversight (though he should be 😮).

At the party, Sally - a charismatic Korean woman - playfully prods Steve's boss Dr. Collier about hiring her husband, and it appears that Steve is on track to get the University Hospital job.



Steve is a skillful surgeon and a competent supervisor to his junior resident Luis Martinez and - barring some calamity - things look like a go.

Steve's crew is then joined by a medical student named Gigi, who's rotating through the department for six weeks. Gigi is smart and ambitious, and it looks like her attitude and abilities will be a boon to the team.



However, things start to go downhill. One of Steve's male patients is slow to recover after an operation, and a woman's tumor surgery goes badly wrong - largely because of Steve's arrogance and overblown self-confidence. (This book will make you think twice about going in for surgery, that's for sure!)



Worse yet, a death occurs, and it looks like it's Steve's fault. There are official inquiries into Steve's botched cases, and the surgical resident - worried and brooding - starts to stay at the hospital night and day.....completely neglecting his family.

Then things REALLY spiral down. Steve discovers that there's a psychopath at the hospital who's purposely killing patients, and the maniac has targeted Steve as a patsy.



Moreover, there's 'evidence' that prevents Steve from tattling, or he'll lose his job. The nutcase challenges Steve to a kind of cat and mouse game - if Steve can prevent the next murder he 'wins' and the killings stop; if Steve can't prevent the next murder, he has to give in to the psychopath's demands.

(In the real world, this is when Steve should go to the cops. But then there wouldn't be a story.....so I'll grant author's license. 🙄)

There's a race against time as Steve maneuvers to save his patients and himself from an opponent who's exceptionally clever and manipulative.

The author, Kelly Parsons - who's a surgeon in real life - includes detailed descriptions of surgical procedures and surgical instruments in the book, which I enjoyed. Some readers, however, will probably find these parts tedious.


Author Kelly Parsons

I like the book's finale and epilogue, which are fitting and pull everything together nicely. I think many fans of medical thrillers would enjoy this suspenseful (if not entirely realistic) story. 

Rating: 3 stars

Review of "A Line to Kill: An Anthony Horowitz/Daniel Hawthorne Mystery" by Anthony Horowitz

Like all the books in this series, this novel is structured like a 'Sherlock Holmes' story in which Dr. Watson accompanies Sherlock Holmes on an investigation, then chronicles the case.

In "A Line to Kill" Anthony Horowitz......



.....accompanies Daniel Hawthorne - a former Scotland Yard detective who became a private sleuth - on an investigation.



Horowitz then writes a book (this one) about the case. A good part of the novel's fun lies in the fact that Horowitz portrays himself as a rather dim sidekick who misses all the important clues AND gets saddled with all the incidental expenses of the inquiries. 🙂

The book can be read as a standalone, but familiarity with the characters is a bonus.

*****

As the story opens Horowitz and Hawthorne are meeting with Horowitz's publishers to discuss a publicity campaign for their first collaborative book.



The duo have been invited to a minor literary festival on the picturesque British island of Alderney, and though Horowitz is unenthusiastic, Hawthorne is eager to attend. This seems out of character for the sleuth, but the men agree to participate in the event.


Alderney

The book festival is being sponsored by Charles le Mesurier, a wealthy Alderney entrepreneur who made his fortune from an online gambling site called spinthewheel.com.



The writers being featured at the event are a motley bunch that includes: a blind woman who can communicate with spirits;



a French performance poet;



a television chef who writes cookbooks;



an author of children's books;



a World War II historian;



and Horowitz and Hawthorne.



When Horowitz and Hawthorne arrive on Alderney they see multiple signs reading BAN-NAB, erected by citizens protesting a company called NAB, which proposes to build a power line from France - across Alderney - to England.



Book festival sponsor Charles le Mesurier is lobbying for this construction, much to the dismay of citizens who don't want it.

In any event, le Mesurier and his beautiful wife hold a soiree for festival attendees and residents of Alderney.....



......and the next morning someone is found dead in a 'snug' at the edge of le Mesurier's property - a cozy studio the entrepreneur uses to conduct his adulterous affairs.



The local police are unequipped to deal with a homicide and Hawthorne is asked to help investigate the murder. So Hawthorne and Horowitz have another case to solve.

This is essentially a 'locked room' mystery, and the suspects for the murder include the writers invited to the festival and their assistants/spouses; the festival organizer/hostess; an ex-convict child pornographer; a mysterious young Frenchman; a local attorney and his wife; and miscellaneous residents of Alderney.

The author is very fair about sprinkling clues throughout the narrative, but I didn't guess the identity of the killer.....so well done Anthony Horowitz.



I enjoyed this clever suspense novel and would recommend it to fans of 'golden age mysteries.

Rating: 3.5 stars

Review of "Enough Already: Learning to Love the Way I Am today" by Valerie Bertinelli

 

Valerie Bertinelli

Valerie Bertinelli has been in the limelight since her teens, when she starred in the popular sitcom 'One Day at a Time.' Valerie became even more famous when she wed Eddie Van Halen, co-founder of the American rock band Van Halen. Valerie went on to star in the sitcom 'Hot in Cleveland', and is now seen on the Food Channel, where she hosts the cooking show 'Valerie's Home Cooking' and is a judge on 'Kids Baking Championship.'


Valerie Bertinelli (center) in One Day at a Time with Bonnie Franklin (left) and Mackenzie Phillips (right)


Valerie Bertinelli married Eddie Van Halen


Valerie Bertinelli (center) in Hot in Cleveland with Jane Leeves (left) and Wendie Malick (right)


Valerie Bertinelli on Valerie's Home Cooking


Valerie Bertinelli with fellow judge Duff Goldman on Kids Baking Championship

Valerie's success - and prominent place in the public eye - came with a price, however, and she was always self-conscious about her weight. Valerie constantly felt the need to lose 10 pounds (or occasionally more), and was continually unhappy about her appearance. Valerie would compare her self-described hourglass figure to actresses she worked with, like Mackenzie Phillips on One Day at a Time, and Wendie Malick and Jane Leeves on Hot in Cleveland, and (in her own eyes) she came up short.

Now in her 60s, Valerie is tired of the self-doubt and she says 'enough already.' Valerie doesn't just talk about coming to terms with her weight though. She reminisces about her life, family, marriages, home, son, career, and more. Valerie also shares insights about achieving happiness and contentment in life.


Valerie Bertinelli is striving to be content

Sadly, Valerie touches on grief as well. Over the years Valerie lost her father and mother, and in 2020 she lost her best friend Eddie Van Halen. Though Valerie and Van Halen (who she calls Ed) divorced in 2005 - after twenty-five years of marriage - they remained very close, and Valerie deeply mourns Ed's passing.


Valerie Bertinelli and Eddie Van Halen

Valerie met Ed when she was nineteen, and the attraction was instantaneous and mutual. The couple was portrayed as "a bad-boy rock star and America's sweetheart", but privately Ed was shy and Valerie was boisterous. Valerie believes she and Van Halen were soulmates and would have stayed together but for Ed's drinking and using drugs, which she calls "crazy, cliché eighties-style behavior."


Valerie Bertinelli and Eddie Van Halen

Valerie and Ed had a son Wolfgang Van Halen (Wolfie) whom they both adored, and this kept the couple connected even after their divorce and remarriages to other people.


Valerie Bertinelli and Eddie Van Halen with their baby Wolfie


Valerie Bertinelli and Eddie Van Halen with their son Wolfie

Valerie writes about some of her fun experiences with Ed, how much she enjoyed cooking for him, and their ongoing (platonic) love. Valerie also touches on Ed's decades-long battle with cancer and his death in the hospital, surrounded by loved ones. Even now, Valerie still feels connected to Ed.....if only in her dreams.

Valerie is buoyed by her son Wolfie, who followed his father into the music business.


Wolfgang Van Halen

Valerie and Wolfie are close, and Valerie enjoys lavishing her delicious culinary creations on Wolfie and his girlfriend Andraia. Valerie first learned to cook from her Nonnie, aunt, and other women in her family, and often thinks about their cappelletti in brodo, gnocchi, and homemade bread.


Capelletti in Brodo


Gnocchi


Homemade Italian Bread

After Valerie married Ed, she learned southeast Asian recipes from Ed's Indonesian mother, who taught Valerie how to prepare Bami Goreng and Ketjap Sambal. Now of course, Valerie creates her own recipes for her television show.


Bami Goreng


Ketjap Sambai (dipping sauce)

From the outside looking in Valerie seemed to have had a very successful life. When Valerie hit 60 though, she felt she wasn't really happy. Writing about that time, she says, "I feel like I have neglected myself while spending my entire life doing what I think will please everybody else. Publicly, I have pretended to be the bubbly, upbeat, all-American girl everybody wants to believe I am, but in private I have rarely thought of myself as anything but a failure." And Valerie decided to do something about it.


In public, Valerie always appeared cheerful and happy

With the help of a mind coach, Valerie was able to learn how to deal with emotional pain without using food as a crutch. And she learned to see happiness not as an end goal, but as something to strive for every day. Valerie had her epiphany during the Covie-19 pandemic, so much of her healing had to be done alone.

Valerie describes things she does to improve her mood as follows: [When] I get anxious I go for a walk. I have tea. I page through magazines. I read. After a while, I pour myself a glass of wine, sit outside, and try to meditate. By then, I am definitely calmer, but still engaged in a debate with my more insecure, critical self, that asks, 'Why didn't I go on a diet and lose five pounds? Or ten?' Valerie then endeavors to silence those voices, assuring herself that her family and fans love her no matter what. And she tries to find joy, happiness and gratitude over and over again, every day.

Some of Valerie's tips are: tidy your mind; exercise; eat lots of fruits and vegetables; be kind; try new things; laugh loudly and often; be grateful; love; and more.




Valerie Bertinelli at home

Valerie include lots of personal anecdotes in the book, such as a description of a wonderful trip to Italy with her second husband Tom Vitale;


Valerie Bertinelli and her second husband Tom Vitale

attending Van Halen concerts to watch Ed (then Ed and Wolfie) play;


Young Eddie Van Halen performing


Eddie Van Halen and Wolfgang Van Halen performing together

spending time with her mother;


Valerie Bertinelli with her mother

writing her cookbook;


Valerie Bertinelli's cookbook

watching football on TV; taping her cooking show; being a Jenny Craig spokesperson; enjoying her pets; rebuilding her beach house; watching cat videos on TikTok;


Valerie Bertinelli likes cats and cat videos on TikTok

listening to Wolfie's new songs; grieving Ed's death; splitting from Tom; and much more.


Valerie Bertinelli loves listening to her son Wolfie's music

Valerie's narrative is a bit meandering and repetitive, but it shows her to be a lovely, modest, caring woman who wants to help others by sharing her experiences. I think many people would find inspiration in this book.

Valerie loves to cook and includes a smattering of recipes in the book. Some of the dishes are:

Hot Spinach and Crab Dip


Lasagna


Sicilian Chocolate Love Cake


Tuna Egg Salad Melts


Upside-Down Citrus Cake


Thanks to Netgalley, Valerie Bertinelli, and Mariner Books for a copy of the book.

Rating: 3.5 stars