Book Review: The Hitchhikers by Chevy Stevens

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A huge thank you goes out to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with an Advanced Readers Copy (ARC) of The Hitchhikers by Chevy Stevens . I was provided a copy free of charge in exchange for my honest review, and I was ecstatic about it because Chevy Stevens is absolutely one of my favorite authors and is a must read in my humble opinion. The story opens with Alice and Tom, who are husband and wife, taking their newly bought RV from Seattle, Washington and take a road trip through Canada where they will end up at the 1976 Olympics in Toronto. As they pull into their first stop of the trip, a campground, Alice and Tom see a young couple named Simon and Jenny walking in their direction and offer them a ride to the next town. However, the young couple aren't as they seem and take their hosts as their prisoners. Chevy Stevens, a Canadian author, does not disappoint with her latest novel aptly named The Hitchhikers . From page one of this story, I was immediately suck...
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Book Review: Mother of the Bride Murder (A Lucy Stone Mystery, #29) by Leslie Meier

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book review mother of the bride murder lucy stone 29 leslie meier

Mother of the Bride Murder (A Lucy Stone Mystery, #29) by Leslie Meier opens with Lucy Stone, Phyllis, and a customer at the newspaper discussing children getting married.  Shortly thereafter, Lucy receives news from her eldest daughter, Elizabeth, that she is engaged and getting married in France.  Things go awry at the wedding and Lucy sticks her nose into the investigation making things much worse.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for approving my request to read an Advanced Readers Copy (ARC) of Mother of the Bride Murder by Leslie Meier.  I was thrilled when I learned I was approved as this has become one of my favorite book series.  I received this book for free in exchange for my honest review.

This latest installment in the series started off a bit slow for me, but eventually, the pacing picked up, and I ended up enjoying how the story ended.  I enjoyed the tidbits of French conversation as I took some French in high school and college, and I was easily able to translate what was being said.  Even if readers don't speak French, I think they'll be able to get the gist of what is being said.  I disliked some of the negative things said about the French culture . . . an example of this is when Lucy tried to retrieve a piece of mail that the postal worker had already picked up, she went on a diatribe about the Napoleonic Laws, how Napoleon was an awful person, and didn't understand why she couldn't have the letter back.

Something that took me by surprise was that Lucy's husband Bill and their adult son Toby didn't want to fly to France for the wedding.  This is hopefully something that is going to only happen once, so why would you want to miss such a monumental milestone in an immediate family member's life?  I've never really liked Bill, but this made me dislike the character even more, and it didn't make me like Toby very much either.  Yes, I know airplane tickets there are expensive, but they were getting free room and board all but one night as well as getting a family vacation out of it.

Unfortunately, Mother of the Bride Murder (A Lucy Stone Mystery, #29) by Leslie Meier was a bit of a let down for me, and I was so excited to read it.  I gave it three out of five stars.  There are going to be times where I just don't connect with a novel, and unfortunately, this was one of those times.  However, this will not deter me from continuing to read this series as I normally love the author's books.


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