Mini-Review: The Mistletoe Mystery by Nita Prose

The Mistletoe Mystery by Nita Prose

2 hours, 38 minutes

Read by Lauren Ambrose

Published October 2024 by Random House Publishing Group 

Publisher's Summary: 

Molly Gray has always loved the holidays. When Molly was a child, her gran went to great lengths to make the season merry and bright, full of cherished traditions. The first few Christmases without Gran were hard on Molly, but this year, her beloved boyfriend and fellow festive spirit, Juan Manuel, is intent on making the season Molly's mofinst joyful yet.

But when a Secret Santa gift exchange at the Regency Grand Hotel raises questions about who Molly can and cannot trust, she dives headfirst into solving her most consequential-and personal-mystery yet. Molly has a bad feeling about things, and she starts to wonder: has she yet again mistaken a frog for a prince?

My Thoughts: 

I've read and enjoyed the first two books in the A Maid series so when I was looking for a quick listen and saw this one available, I grabbed it, despite it being early spring. Which may have tainted my feelings about the book, not being in the least in the festive spirit because I was so looking forward to warm weather. 

There's nothing much new here to be learned about the characters. Molly is as prone to misunderstand things as ever, Juan Manuel is as loving (and maybe a little clueless about how literally Molly takes everything), the former head maid is as cruel to Molly as ever. Unfortunately some of the lesser characters have backslid a bit in their understanding and appreciation of Molly, which seemed a little unlikely to me. And I never for a minute believed that Juan Manuel would be cheating on Molly; it's just not that kind of book. 

In the end, this is an homage to O'Henry's The Gift of the Magi, which ends, as is to be expected, with everyone living happily ever after. 

There is one more book in the A Maid series, which I'll pick up as soon as I can get it in audiobook, because Lauren Ambrose is terrific at reading these books. 

Life: It Goes On - November 30

Happy Sunday! Belated Thanksgiving greetings to everyone who celebrates. This was our first holiday without my dad; and even though he hasn't been able to get to our house for holidays for the past year, it was so strange not to have to plan when we would visit him, think about what foods we would take him, and wish we could get him here. 

Our Novembers are usually very quiet, but with my dad's passing this month, the month has flown by. Not much reading has been done and almost no blogging. I'd like to say that December will be better, but I doubt it. There is still a lot to be done with my dad's estate and I haven't hardly begun Christmas shopping. Certainly wishing I was almost done, as I was last year at this time! 

Last Week I: 

Listened To: I didn't listen much last week, what with having Thursday and Friday off, but I am still listening to Liz Moore's The Unseen World.

Watched: The usual college football, basketball, and volleyball and pro football. We did, last night, watch The Ballad of Wallis Island, which we both really enjoyed. It's a quiet, British film that you will have to pay attention to, but we recommend it. 

Read: Not a thing. Haven't been able to settle on a book. 

Made: ALL of the Thanksgiving things, including my first attempt at sweet potato pie. Also made cinnamon rolls and blueberry muffins for our breakfasts. Haven't made a single thing since Thursday as we are still grazing on leftovers, even though I sent home a mountain of food with people. 

Enjoyed: Thursday we had Mini-him and Miss C, Miss C's parents, Miss H and her boyfriend for Thanksgiving dinner. It was a lovely day. I had things pretty well planned ahead of the meal and didn't rush to get everything cleaned up after so we had plenty of time to just sit and chat after. 

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This Week I’m:  

Planning: Christmas decor will go up this week and I need to get a good start on my shopping. 

Thinking About: I'm hoping to find more experiences to give as gifts this year, rather than things, so I'm spending a lot of time thinking about what kinds of things my family would like to do. 

Feeling: We've had a very relaxing past couple of days and I find that I really needed that. 

Looking forward to: Getting my hair done this week! 

Question of the week: How did you celebrate your Thanksgiving? 

Life: It Goes On - November 16

Happy Sunday! Can you believe we're already more than half way through November?! I'm focused on getting my house ready for Thanksgiving and a houseful of company, but I'm realizing that I've done almost no Christmas shopping yet this year. But December 1st last year I was almost done shopping. I need to get on that! 

We're running out of leaves on trees so that pic to the left is wishful thinking. Yesterday the Big Guy spent a lot of time outside cleaning up the yard for the winter and I pulled died plants out of all of the pots. Was shocked to find three plants have survived our recent hard freeze so I'll bring them inside and see how long I can keep them alive. This after I had decided this year that I wasn't going to try to winter any of my potted herbs so I didn't have my kitchen overloaded with plants all winter. 

Last Week I: 

Listened To: I started Stephen King's 11/22/63; but, thanks to a computer revamp by the library, I wasn't able to access Libby for a few days and it expired before I finished it. So I've put another hold on it and will start a new book this week. What it is, I don't know, because the system now won't let me in even with my new PIN. Ugh! 

Watched: Lots of volleyball, college and pro football, Only Murders In The Building, and Maigret on PBS. 

Read: I'm finishing up Mrs. Quinn's Rise to Fame by Olivia Ford. 

Made: We spent the first part of this week using up leftovers from the week before so I haven't done much cooking this week. 

Enjoyed: I got tickets to the Creighton Blue Jay's home season opener Friday night so BG, Mini-me, and I  cheered them on to victory and then went to see that last songs from a friend's gig at a local brew pub.

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This Week I’m:  

Planning: Since I'm not taking any time off next week, I'm going to spend this week getting things planned for our Thanksgiving meal and company staying. 

Thinking About: A lot of my time this week has been spent going through what's left to clear up from my dad's place and planning next steps for settling his estate. 

Feeling: Up and down. Yesterday grief and depression hit me hard. Today is better. 

Looking forward to: I ordered a new tree arrived today so I'm starting to get excited to decorate for Christmas. I won't start that until after Thanksgiving...I think. 

Question of the week: Is Thanksgiving a big deal at your house? It was always a special event at my parents'; and, while I won't be started a turkey trot tradition at my house, I'm hoping to still be able to make it special for our family. 

Life: It Goes On - November 11

Life - it goes on.

Four and a half years ago, I started a post with those same words. That was my first post after my mom died. Today I start them again, one week after my dad died. 

I grew up a daddy's girl. As he walked home from the high school he taught at, I'd run down the sidewalk to greet him when I was little. For more than a decade before I got married, my dad and I would go to see the University of Nebraska music department's performance of Handel's Messiah. It was our thing; no one else was ever invited. Even as I went through my gawky years, my dad always told me that I was pretty and the last time I saw him, he was telling me I was going to be the prettiest woman at the event I was headed off to. He was always my biggest cheerleader. 

When my mom died, I made it my responsibility to take care of him as he navigated life as a widower, left his home of 55 years, and battled increasing failures of his body. He and I have spent a lot of time together in these past four and a half years, as I tried to pay him back for all he has done for me. He was ready to let go, to be reunited with my mom. But me? I wish I had more time with him. 

Life: It Goes On - November 2

Happy Sunday evening! What a busy week we've had! Tuesday was my birthday, Wednesday was my hair appointment, Thursday was our anniversary, and yesterday we had a wedding that started in the middle of the afternoon and we didn't get home from the reception until almost 9 at night. A fun week, but I didn't have time to write a single book review...again. Fingers crossed I can find time this week! 

Last Week I: 

Listened To: I'm one hour from finishing Jean Kwok's Searching for Sylvie Lee and then I'll start Stephen King's 11/22/63. At 31 hours, there's no way I'll finish it in the two weeks I'll have it from the library; but I'm hoping to get a good start on it and then I'll pick up the physical copy of it that I've owned for several years. 

Watched: The usual - lots of volleyball, lots of college and professional football, and The Voice. We also watched a good chunk of the World Series (although a couple of those games lasted too late for me to stay up for the end), we've been watching Maigret on Masterpiece Mystery!, and, speaking of Masterpiece, I've been watching the 2012 edition of Upstairs Downstairs. In the first half of the 1970's my family gathered every Sunday evening to watch the original Upstairs Downstairs on Masterpiece Theatre and it has held a special place in my heart ever since then. 

Read: Jessica Guerrieri's Between The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, which I finished today. Up next, Olivia Ford's Mrs. Quinn's Rise to Fame. 

Made: French onion soup, one last meal of caprese pasta with fresh tomatoes, and sun-dried tomatoes (that aren't really sun-dried but oven dried). 

Enjoyed: Dinner out with Mini-him and Miss C and spending time with old friends at the wedding reception. 

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This Week I’m:  

Planning: I'm going to be having at least 12 people for Thanksgiving (6 staying with us), so I'm starting to put together a plan for getting the house ready and purchased. 

Thinking About: All over the internet, I'm seeing people starting to decorate for Christmas. I'm all about letting November be for Thanksgiving so I'll be decorating for that this week. But I do need to get on the Christmas shopping - I'm way behind where I usually am at this point of the year. 

Feeling: I'm struggling with the time change, as I do every autumn when we fall back. 

Looking forward to: Going to a book event with some friends on Tuesday. 

Question of the week: Are you team "let's not overlook Thanksgiving" or team "Christmas season starts on November 1"?

Life: It Goes On - October 26

Happy Sunday! Not sure what happened to last week. We were in Missouri last weekend and didn't get home until early evening Sunday, but I started a post on Monday that just never got finished. Then no reviews got written, either. I'm reading, just not blogging. Hence, I'm way behind on reviews. I'm going to try to remedy that the next couple of weeks, but reviews will probably be pretty short. 

The Last Couple of Weeks I: 

Listened To: The Book of Gothel by Mary McMyne, started Jason Mott's People Like Us (but gave up on that one, for the time being), and then started Jean Kwok's Searching For Sylvie Lee. 

Watched: It's that time of year: MLB playoffs, lots of football, lots of college women's volleyball.

Read: I finished Barbara Comyns' Our Spoons Came From Woolworths and I'm about two-thirds of the way through by Jessica Guerreri. When I'm finished with it, I picked up Mrs. Quinn's Rise To Fame by Olivia Ford on Thursday so I'll start that. 

Made: The viral ramen French onion soup, which I added portobello mushrooms to for some protein. It was surprisingly good and so quick and easy to make. It's definitely something we'll make again. But it's got me jonesing for real French onion soup so I picked up the ingredients to make that this coming week. Also made Miss H's favorite "goulash" recipe, but don't tell her that. 

With my brother and sister-in-law
at Logboat Brewing. 

Enjoyed: Time last weekend with my brother and his whole family (always fun to see how much the great-nieces and -nephews have grown since we last saw them; book club on Tuesday; dinner last night with friends; and getting a date set for Mini-him's and Miss C's wedding. Somehow having a date makes it feel more real and has us shopping for pre-nuptial dinner locations already. To be honest, that's kind of an excuse to eat out more often for the next few weeks while we try to find the perfect place!

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This Week I’m:  

Planning: Besides doing spring cleaning, I'm prone to doing fall cleaning as well (inside and out) and I'm deep into that this weekend and will continue into the next week. As nice as our weather has been, we still haven't had to clean up gardens and pots yet, but it's time to do that. That means there are already herbs and flower seeds drying and final crops to handle. 

Thinking About: Ways to distract myself from politics and what's happening in our country. 

Feeling: I slept ten and a half hours last night so I'm feeling very rested today! 

Looking forward to: My birthday, my hair appointment, our anniversary, and a wedding are all this week. 

Question of the week: Do you do fall cleaning as well?

Life: It Goes On - October 12

Happy Sunday! I am dragging today. When I said yesterday that I might not get anything done today, I really thought I was joking, but it was only about 5 p.m. that I accomplished anything other than to feed myself. Well, I did finish a book so I didn't entirely waste the day. 

Headed down to K.C. Friday early morning to help Miss H move. She had rented a truck this time so that helped; but moving from your own one-bedroom apartment into a house with a friend who already has a house full meant a lot of thinking had to go into what was going to fit into her bedroom and what else she could store in the basement. And, of course, what got sent back to our house for storage in our basement. It never ends! 

Last Week I: 

Listened To: I was still listening to Sarah Damoff's The Bright Years when my loan expired. Since then I've been struggling to find something that catches my attention with no success. Instead I've been listening to Jon Batiste and the Beatles on Spotify. 

Watched: All The Bright Places (based on the book of the same name by Jennifer Niven) and Begin Again, starring Mark Ruffalo, Keira Knightly, Catherine Keener, Hailee Steinfeld, and Adam Levine. 

Read: I finished Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall and started Our Spoons Came From Woolworth by Barbara Comyns, as recommended by Ann Patchett. 

Made: Nothing remarkable. We're still harvesting a lot of tomatoes so those are featured in some way in every meal we've been eating. 

Enjoyed: Time with Miss H; even if the physical work of moving her was no fun, time with her is always good. 

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This Week I’m:  

Planning: On finding a home for the things that got sent home with us. Otherwise, it's time to start cleaning up potted plants. 

Thinking About: How I will pay movers whatever it costs to do the heavy lifting the next time one of my kids moves! 

Feeling: Tired yet. 

Looking forward to: Another long weekend and a trip to south. 

Question of the week: What do you think is worse: packing to move or unpacking when you've arrived? 

Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid

352 pages

Published June 2025 by Random House Publishing Group

Publisher's Summary: 

Joan Goodwin has been obsessed with the stars for as long as she can remember. Thoughtful and reserved, Joan is content with her life as a professor of physics and astronomy at Rice University and as aunt to her precocious niece, Frances. That is, until she comes across an advertisement seeking the first women scientists to join NASA’s space shuttle program. Suddenly, Joan burns to be one of the few people to go to space.

Selected from a pool of thousands of applicants in the summer of 1980, Joan begins training at Houston’s Johnson Space Center, alongside an exceptional group of fellow candidates: Top Gun pilot Hank Redmond and scientist John Griffin, who are kind and easygoing even when the stakes are highest; mission specialist Lydia Danes, who has worked too hard to play nice; warmhearted Donna Fitzgerald, who is navigating her own secrets; and Vanessa Ford, the magnetic and mysterious aeronautical engineer, who can fix any engine and fly any plane.

As the new astronauts become unlikely friends and prepare for their first flights, Joan finds a passion and a love she never imagined. In this new light, Joan begins to question everything she thinks she knows about her place in the observable universe.

Then, in December of 1984, on mission STS-LR9, it all changes in an instant.

My Thoughts: 

That publisher's summary also calls this book "fast-paced," which I found interesting because I didn't find it fast-paced at all. It starts off with a literal bang, but then we go back in time and find out how Joan found herself sitting at CAPCOM when STS-LR9 was on its mission, which slows things down considerably. Which was not necessarily a bad thing. It gives readers time to get to know Joan, her sister, Barbara, niece Frances, and her NASA friends. But there is also a lot in this book that could easily have been trimmed out; I often felt like Reid was stuck in "tell" not "show" mode. 

Taking readers back to the beginning of the space shuttle program allows Reid a chance to not only dig into the science of that program, but the norms of that time as well. Barbara, who found herself a single mom early, spends the rest of the book trying to get to the life she expected - married woman with an easy life. Joan, on the other hand, has never had any interest in having a man in her life, absorbed as she is in science and the universe, a life that was still new for women in that time. But it's when Joan finally finds love that she really blazes a trail far different from her sister, one that might risk her career. 

I applaud Reid taking that risk in the book (although it's not the first time that risk has appeared in one of her books) and I felt like she had really done her research when it came to the space program. All of the training and things that happened on the flights felt very real. There are some really interesting (for the most part) characters in this book and I really liked "watching" the astronauts come together as a family. As the book reached the climax, I thought I knew how it would end and felt that was the right ending. At the last minute, Reid veered away from that and I'm still not sure I like the way she ended the book. 

The Woman in Suite 11 by Ruth Ware

The Woman In Suite 11 by Ruth Ware

400 pages

Published July 2025 by Gallery/Scout Press 

Publisher's Summary: 

When the invitation to attend the press opening of a luxury Swiss hotel—owned by reclusive billionaire Marcus Leidmann—arrives, it’s like the answer to a prayer. Three years after the birth of her youngest child, Lo Blacklock is ready to reestablish her journalism career, but post-pandemic travel journalism is a very different landscape from the one she left ten years ago.

The chateau on the shores of Lake Geneva is everything Lo’s ever dreamed of, and she hopes she can snag an interview with Marcus. Unfortunately, he proves to be even more difficult to pin down than his reputation suggests. When Lo gets a late-night call asking her to come to Marcus’s hotel room, she agrees despite her own misgivings. She’s greeted, however, by a woman claiming to be Marcus’s mistress, and in life-or-death jeopardy.

What follows is a thrilling cat-and-mouse pursuit across Europe, forcing Lo to ask herself just how much she’s willing to sacrifice to save this woman...and if she can even trust her?

My Thoughts: 

This is my eighth book by Ware. I found myself, from the start, wondering if it might be my last. 

It's a sequel of sorts to Ware's hit, The Woman In Cabin 10, in which Lo Blacklock finds herself locked in a cabin on a boat, certain she is going to die there. This book opens giving readers the belief that the same thing has happened to Lo again. And that's where Ware first lost me. Could this woman seriously have found herself in exactly the same position ten years later? Didn't Ware have any better story ideas than to rehash the same story? 

By the time this story finally caught up with the teaser opening chapter, I had spent too much time being frustrated with idea that this would be the same story to be very much relieved that it wasn't. 

I will say that the story picked up and I did find myself racing through it. Did I figure out all of the plot twists? No, I didn't; although to be fair to myself, that was partly because some of the plot points felt so preposterous that they never would have occurred to me. But also, yes, I did figure out some of the twists and you'll know by now that if I've figured it out ahead of the denouement, it's pretty obvious. Another problem I had with the book was that there were so many loose threads. Now you might say they were red herrings, but they didn't feel like that and they never got explained away. 

Overall, a disappointment. But let's be honest, I've like Ware enough in the past to give her another chance when her next book comes out. 

Life: It Goes On - October 6

Happy Monday! Had to wait until today to type this because I absolutely could not type yesterday. You know you're getting old when you can manage to hurt your wrist so badly while you're sleeping that it's all  but useless the next day. It's bad enough to have had that happen, but not be as productive on a weekend day as I needed to be was frustrating. 

Last Week I: 

Listened To: I finished The Wife Upstairs and started Sarah Damoff's The Bright Years. 

Watched: Football, volleyball, The Voice, and Only Murders In The Building. The usual. 

Read: I'm hoping to finish Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid tonight and then I think the next book in my giant book of library books (I have seven physical books right now!) will be Broken Country, by Clare Leslie Hall, which I just picked up today. 

Made: Biscoff blondies. If you like Biscoff butter or Biscoff cookies, you'll like these. But they are so rich! 

Enjoyed: Saturday we went to a craft fair to support Mini-him's fiancee (weirdest craft fair I've ever been to and definitely not the usual crowd you see at a craft fair but they did have drinks!), then we ate Cajun food at a place we've been meaning to go to for years, and ended up at an event where the mayor and his wife were in attendance. That in itself wouldn't have been a big deal, except that the Big Guy was in a group of four that spent about 45 minutes talking to the mayor and his wife came at sat with me for about that long. Does that mean we're in the in crowd now? 

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This Week I’m:  

Planning: I have to get some dresser drawers painted in the next day or two because we'll be helping Ms. H move this weekend and she needs to have a temporary dresser while we repair her current one, which was her great-grandmother's. 

Thinking About: Usually about this time of year we're pulling the tomato plants because we've had a freeze. Not this year. In fact they're still producing, which is great except that I'm running out of ways to use them! 

Feeling: It's been grey and rainy the past couple of days and my mood on these kinds of days makes me certain I could never live in the Pacific Northwest. 

Looking forward to: Seeing Ms. H this weekend and another Shep siblings dinner. 

Question of the week: What are you reading these days? Are you deep into the spooky reads for the season?