Book Review: Death of a Tom Turkey (Hayley Powell Food and Cocktails Mystery, #18) by Lee Hollis

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Death of a Tom Turkey (Hayley Powell Food and Cocktails Mystery, #18)  by Lee Hollis  opens with Tom Farley and his neighbors in a snit because he's the last holdout to sell his house to a property developer who wants to build a resort. When Tom is shot at a pre-Thanksgiving community gathering and hospitalized, Hayley Powell puts her amateur sleuthing skills to good use. Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Publishers for providing me with an Advanced Readers Copy (ARC) of this cozy mystery. I received a copy of this book for free in exchange of my honest opinion and review of the story. I loved the fact that this latest installment of the Hayley Powell Food and Cocktails Mystery  series had a theme around the Thanksgiving holiday and included live turkeys in the plot. It was good to visit some familiar characters. Since this is the eighteenth installment in the series, Lee Hollis didn't go into much detail of the background of those reoccurring characters; however, she...
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Book Review: Scariest. Book. Ever. (Goosebumps House of Shivers, #1) by R.L. Stine

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Scariest. Book. Ever. (Goosebumps House of Shivers, #1) by R.L. Stine is a new book series for children in middle grades.  It opens with twins Betty and Billy being dropped off at their Uncle Wendell's house while their parents fly to London for two weeks.  What their parent's don't know is that someone is after Wendell and one of his books.  To keep the book safe, the twins must help their uncle.

First and foremost, I'd like to thank NetGalley and Scholastic for the Advanced Readers Copy (ARC).  As a tween and teen, I loved R.L. Stine's Fear Street book series, so I was excited to be approved to receive Scariest. Book. Ever. (Goosebumps House of Shivers, #1) for free in exchange for my honest review.  I solely requested this book because of that, so I had no idea what to expect going into the story.

I'm not the target audience for this book, but I'm sure I would've loved it if I was eight to ten years old.  There were a few red herrings, which was expected along with some anticipated twists and turns.  The parts about the forest would have creeped me out if I was a kid as Stine did a great job of making it frightening without it being too scary.  All of the hybrid creatures and animals helped make the story even creepier.  As an adult, I found it to be a bit unbelievable, especially the part where the parents just dropped off their kids without making sure they were safe and sound.  

Scariest. Book. Ever. (Goosebumps House of Shivers, #1) by R.L. Stine is a great book to introduce middle grade children to the horror genre without the story being too harrowing.  This book would especially be great for those children who are hesitant to read.  Four out of five stars is what I gave this story.

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