Book Review: Dear Pen Pal (The Mother-Daughter Book Club, #3) by Heather Vogel Frederick

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Dear Pen Pal (The Mother-Daughter Book Club, #3)  by Heather Vogel Frederick  is the third book in a middle grade book series that is being rereleased. Chaos erupts in this third installment as the daughters in the book club get themselves into trouble. Each of the girls have big changes in their lives:  Jess is going to boarding school; Megan's grandmother comes to live with her; Emma starts a campaign against school uniforms; Cassidy has a lot of unexpected change coming to her family. Will the mother daughter book club stay together? I'd like to thank NetGalley, Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing, and Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers for an Advanced Readers Copy (ARC) of Dear Pen Pal  by Heather Vogel Frederick with it's upcoming rerelease to the public. I always love a good book that involves books, even if its target audience is children between the ages of eight and twelve. It wasn't until I reached the end of the book that I realized that it...
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Book Review: Halloween Night Murder by Leslie Meier, Lee Hollis, and Liz Ireland

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Halloween Night Murder by Leslie Meier, Lee Hollis, and Liz Ireland is a collection of three novellas centered around Halloween. I received an Advanced Readers Copy (ARC) of this book from NetGalley for free in exchange of my honest review, and I have to say that I wasn't disappointed in the least as I gave it a resounding five out of five stars.

The first novella is Halloween Night Murder by Leslie Meier and Lucy Stone receives a late night trick - or - treater at her home in Tinker's Cove, Maine. The next morning, she learns that the teenager died shortly after coming to her house in a hit - and - run. Desperate to learn what happened, Lucy discovers some long held secrets in her small town.

I wasn't expecting the outcome of who all was involved in the wrong doings in this story, but one of the characters that was unlikable ended up redeeming themselves some what by the end. I wasn't ready for the story to end and wanted more! I always feel like I'm visiting with an old friend when I read the newest tale in the Lucy Stone series.

Up next was Death of a Halloween Night Stalker by Lee Hollis. In this novella, Haley Powell and her friends end up stranded in the middle of nowhere in rural Maine and seek shelter in a spooky house. The lady of the house pleasantly welcomes to stay the night and have a nice dinner with her and her sullen son, who ends up scaring the friends when he appears in a zombie costume. Unfortunately for them, that's not the last scare they'll have before the night is over.

This novella vaguely reminded me of the YA Horror Novel Someone at the Door by Richie Tankersley Cusick. I was happy to figure out who the bad guys were early on and was wholly entertained and creeped out while reading this story.

Lastly, the collection of cozy mysteries is wrapped up with the novella Mrs. Claus and the Wily Witch by Liz Ireland. It opens with the elf Flake returning back to Christmastown from being in exile, but not everyone is convinced he's been reformed especially when Pumblechook the snowman suffers a mysterious illness. Mrs. Claus must get to the bottom of what happened to the snowman and if it has anything to do with Flake or if there's something more at play.

This series is growing on me. There were so many different people that could've hurt Pumblechook that I wasn't sure who the culprit could've been. I was disappointed that I didn't figure out who the offender was until it the author revealed the identity. 

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