Book Review: The Hidden Key of Brooke Sumner by Susan L. Tuttle

Happy Wednesday Bookworms!

A novel that I have been anticipating for months is finally here and I am beyond excited that I get to share my thoughts with you today! This series has been one of my recent loves by one of my favorite authors so how can I not be excited!

I hope you enjoy my thoughts on this Romantic Mystery & Suspense and don't forget to scroll to the bottom of this post and enter the amazing giveaway from JustRead Tours.

Welcome to the Takeover + Review Blitz for The Hidden Key of Brooke Sumner by Susan L. Tuttle, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!

About the Book

Title: The Hidden Key of Brooke Sumner 

Series: Treasures of Halstead Manor #3 

Author: Susan L. Tuttle 

Publisher: Kregel Publications 

Release Date: March 24, 2026 

Genre: Mystery & Suspense / Romance 

Will the key unlock more than a vault filled with treasure? 

Brooke Sumner has been carefully avoiding Storm Whitlock ever since he betrayed her trust. When he joins Caspar's mysterious treasure-hunting group, she steps away to focus on her antique shop and keep herself busy.

Then Caspar invites her back for one final assignment, and Brooke is torn. Returning to Halstead Manor to help the team find the second half of a key is intriguing. It also means she'd be working with Storm. But she doesn't trust his motives, so she reluctantly rejoins to keep him in check. As they dive into their expedition, Brooke finds her heart softening toward those she'd once held at arm's length. And is it possible she misunderstood Storm's betrayal of their friendship? 

"In this friends-to-more romance, we get to see the beauty of being known, being loved, and finding the people who want to walk alongside us." —Toni Shiloh, Christy Award-winning author

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Book Review of 'Through Smoke and Secrets' by Rebecca Hemlock

Happy Tuesday Bookworms!

Historical mysteries have to be one of my all-time favorite genres, and when I find a new author in this category, I get very excited. Not only is the novel that I'm featuring today a new-to-me author, but it's also a series starter, which I also love!

I hope you enjoy my thoughts on this Mystery Suspense and don't forget to scroll to the bottom of this post and enter the amazing giveaway from JustRead Tours.

Welcome to the Blog Tour for Through Smoke and Secrets by Rebecca Hemlock, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!

About the Book

Title: Through Smoke and Secrets 
Series: Dangerous Heirlooms #1 
Author: Rebecca Hemlock 
Publisher: Independently published 
Release Date: January 21, 2026
Genre: Mystery Suspense

A century-old secret. A relentless enemy. One Locket that was never meant to be found. 

When antiques dealer Annie Whitaker buys an unremarkable locket at a routine estate sale, she expects nothing more than a quiet ride home through the Smoky Mountains. Instead, a shadowy vehicle sends her car skidding off a cliffside road—and she realizes the attack was no accident. Hidden inside the locket is a key, a cryptic letter, and the first thread of a mystery tied to the disappearance of Eleanor Blackwood, a woman who vanished over a hundred years ago. 

Someone has killed to keep that secret buried. 

And now they’ve set their sights on Annie. 

Her shop is ransacked. Her inventory destroyed. Her building intentionally set ablaze. With no phone, no transportation, and nowhere safe to go, Annie is forced to seek refuge in the only place left: the remote mountain ranch of Detective Jack Calloway, a man who once shared her obsession with cold cases—and who may be the only person she can trust. 

As Jack digs into the evidence Annie uncovered, the danger spirals. Break-ins, threats, shadows stalking the ranch at night—each clue reveals a darker truth. The locket isn’t just a forgotten keepsake; it’s the final piece in a long-buried murder. And someone with power, reach, and generations of secrets will do whatever it takes to silence the truth forever. 

With Annie marked as the next victim, Jack races to unravel a century of lies before time runs out. Every revelation tightens the noose around them both—and with Annie constantly in his line of fire, Jack’s focus fractures between the case and the woman he’s never been able to forget. The closer they come to exposing the killer, the more Jack realizes he may lose her long before the truth sees daylight. And every step forward draws them toward a final, deadly confrontation neither of them may survive. 

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Book Review of 'Written in Secret' by Crystal Caudill

Happy Wednesday Bookworms!

What's better than a cozy mystery?  A historical cozy mystery that kicks off a brand new series, of course!  Crystal Caudill is back with a delicous new series and I am so excited to share my thoughts with you today!  I hope you enjoy my review and don't forget to scroll to the bottom of this post and enter the amazing giveaway from JustRead Tours!

Welcome to the Takeover + Review Blitz for Written in Secret by Crystal Caudill hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!

About the Book 

Title: Written in Secret 

Series: The Art of Love and Danger #1 

Author: Crystal Caudill 

Publisher: Kregel Publications 

Release Date: March 11, 2025 

Genre: Christian Mystery & Suspense Romance 

What happens when fiction becomes reality? In the corruption-infested Queen City, danger lurks in every shadow, but Lydia Pelton refuses to stay silent. She writes under a pseudonym, E. A. Dupin, crafting crime novels to exact justice and right the wrongs she sees in society. When a serial killer decides to be the sword to her pen, Lydia is confronted with the consequences of her words. Four men are dead, and the city blames her. 

With murders on the rise, Officer Abraham Hall's only lead is Lydia's fiction, and he is thrust into an investigation with the "Killer Queen of Romance." Despite his misgivings about the woman, he realizes that even with his reputation for catching elusive criminals, he needs her help. But his unexpected attraction to Lydia proves as difficult to manage as the woman herself. 

As the mystery unfolds, Abraham and Lydia race to rewrite the ending, not only for Cincinnati's citizens, but for their own hearts too.

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Book Review of 'An Ode to Poison' by Lisa E. Betz

Happy Monday Bookworms!

I hope everyone had a great weekend. I got to spend some time with my youngest son as well as some alone time while my husband was out with friends all weekend. It was nice but I felt a bit lonely, as I'm sure we all do when our partners aren't with us. That's what I love about books, they're always there, and they make you feel like you've got a friend when you're fighting loneliness.

One book that I was able to get lost in was the novel I'm featuring today. I hope you enjoy my thoughts on this Historical Mystery and don't forget to scroll to the bottom of this post and enter the amazing giveaway from JustRead Tours!

Welcome to the Blog Tour for An Ode to Poison by Lisa E. Betz, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!

About the Book

Title: An Ode to Poison
Series: Livia Aemilia Mysteries #3
Author: Lisa E. Betz
Publisher: Breakthrough Christian Publishing
Release Date: October 21, 2024
Genre: Historical Mystery

What do death by poison, a ruthless senator, and a poetry party have in common? 

They combine to draw Livia Aemilia into her most dangerous investigation yet. She must risk setting foot in the house of her worst enemy, Senator Tiberius Gracchus, to investigate the death of his wife. (Don’t worry, she has a plan.) 

The victim’s sister is convinced Gracchus is the killer. If so, proving his guilt in Rome’s law courts could put a stop to his nefarious threats forever. 

Livia is sure this investigation is God’s plan to protect her family from their malicious enemy. And maybe it will finally convince her husband Avitus that God is real. 

The more Livia and Avitus dig, the more it looks like they will finally bring Gracchus to justice. Until another victim is poisoned, and everything they think they know is turned upside down. 

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