29. Her First Mistake by Kendra Elliott

#1 Noelle Marshall, Bend, OR police detective

listened on Audible 

343pgs.

2025
Adult Murder Mystery
Finished 6/30/25 (Happy Birthday, Mom!)
Goodreads rating: 3.42
My rating: 4.5
Setting: Contemporary Bend, OR

My comments: 4.5  An excellent first-in-a-series about a police detective in Bend, Oregon, which mainly centers around her own personal mystery, the murder of her politician-husband.  Told back and forth during three time periods, it's an attention-grabbing story to be sure!  Just what I needed

Goodreads synopsis:  When a very personal cold case murder is reopened, a detective’s secrets come to light in a novel of shocking twists and suspense by a Wall Street Journal bestselling author.

Thirteen years ago, Assemblyman Derrick Bell was murdered in his home by an intruder. His wife, Noelle Marshall, was left for dead. The crime was unsolved, but it wasn’t forgotten.

Today the FBI is tackling a fresh perspective on the case and looking to Noelle, now a detective for the Deschutes County sheriff’s office, for new clues. It is reopening everything Noelle thought was behind her. Memories of her escape from a traumatic childhood. A marriage that wasn’t the perfect love story she’d been promised. And a husband whose charm and privilege hid a dark side. But Noelle has been hiding something a secret about the night Derrick died that she has never told anyone.

As past and present and leads and misleads collide, one thing is frighteningly clear. Derrick’s murder wasn’t just unsolved. It’s unfinished. And only the truth—no matter the risk—can save the next victim.

Just a Couple of Tacos

Use one of the frozen 1/4 lb. pre-scrambled hamburger pkgs to make meat for a couple of tacos:

Thawed hamburger

1 T. taco seasoning

3/16 c. water (original recipe, which is four times this, calls for 3/4 c.)

Taco shells

Shredded lettuce

Tomatoes

Onions

Cheese

Taco sauce

28. Sadie by Courtney Summers

listened on Chirp, off and on for months before I went to sleep, backing up and relistening in case I missed or forgot something as I fell asleep

308 pgs.

2018
YA mystery (Older YA, pedophile....)
Finished 6/22/2025
Goodreads rating: 4.03
My rating: 4
Setting: Contemporary America

My comments: Such a sad story, depressing.  I was particularly unsettled by the epilogue, which tells what happened to the podcaster in the aftermath. Excellent storytelling from various points of view.

Goodreads synopsis: A missing girl on a journey of revenge. A Serial-like podcast following the clues she's left behind. And an ending you won't be able to stop talking about.

Sadie hasn't had an easy life. Growing up on her own, she's been raising her sister Mattie in an isolated small town, trying her best to provide a normal life and keep their heads above water.

But when Mattie is found dead, Sadie's entire world crumbles. After a somewhat botched police investigation, Sadie is determined to bring her sister's killer to justice and hits the road following a few meager clues to find him.

When West McCray―a radio personality working on a segment about small, forgotten towns in America―overhears Sadie's story at a local gas station, he becomes obsessed with finding the missing girl. He starts his own podcast as he tracks Sadie's journey, trying to figure out what happened, hoping to find her before it's too late.

Courtney Summers has written the breakout book of her career. Sadie is propulsive and harrowing and will keep you riveted until the last page.

Using Circle Punches

Embellished Circles

Making simple flowers using circle punches  

Circle Snippets

Hidden Paper Clips by pilesofparagraphs

**an even BETTER, shorter video by Lolly Palooza

Circle Pockets

Circle Tucks (and pockets)

Whimsical Houses I MUST Make

Joie de fi says these are the easiest houses I'll ever make....I'm not sure how easy they are, but they sure look fun and I think I can do them in an imaginative way....so let's go for it!  Watch the video.

27. Return to Sender by Craig Johnson

#21 Walt Longmire

listened on Libby - read by George Guidall

335 pgs.

2025
Adult mystery
Finished 6/19/25
Goodreads rating: 4.32
My rating: 4
Setting: contemporary Montana "red desert"

My comments: So many obstacles to overcome, but good ole Walt stays calm and figures out how to outsmart the bad guys over and over again.

Goodreads synopsis:  When Blair McGowan, the mail person with the longest postal route in the country of over three hundred mile a day, goes missing the question becomes—where do you look for her? The Postal Inspector for the State of Wyoming elicits Sheriff Longmire to mount an investigation into her disappearance and Walt does everything but mail it in; posing as a letter-carrier himself, the good sheriff follows her trail and finds himself enveloped in the intrigue of an otherworldly cult.

Packed to the brim with twists and turns, the 21st novel in the New York Times bestselling Longmire series pushes Walt to his absolute limits, forcing him to wrestle with the impossible What good are your morals, if you’re marked for the dead letter office?

26. Where Peace is Lost by Valerie Valdes

read on Kindle

390 pgs.

2023
Adult SciFi
Finished 6/16/2025
Goodreads rating: 4.00
My rating: 3.5
Setting: On some far distant planet

My comments:  It was time for a decent scifi. I don't actually read books any more, I listen to them, but I read this one. and my reading was somewhat sporadic, so it got stretched out quite a bit from start to finish. I think this made it appear to go slowly - however I think it was my own pacing, not the book's, so I'll round my rating up to a four instead of down to a three. I liked Kel. A reviewer labeled this book a romance - I have to take issue with that. A little bit, maybe, but not enough to label the entire book a romance!

Goodreads synopsis:  A brand-new space fantasy novel from master world-builder Valerie Valdes! A refugee with a secret, a dangerous foe, and a road trip that could either save a planet or start a war.

Where peace is lost, may we find it.

Five years ago, Kelana Gardavros lost everything in the war against the Pale empire. Now Kel Garda is just another refugee living on the edge of an isolated star system. No one knows she was once a member of an Order whose military arm was disbanded and scattered across the galaxy. And no one knows that if her enemies found her, they might destroy the entire world to get rid of her.

Where peace is broken, may we mend it.

Kel’s past intrudes in the form of a long-dormant Pale war machine, suddenly reactivated. If the massive automaton isn’t stopped, at best it will carve a swath of devastation that displaces thousands of people. At worst, it will kill every sentient creature on the planet.

Where we go, may peace follow.

When two strangers offer to deactivate the machine for a price, Kel and a young friend agree to serve as their guides. The journey through swamps infested with predators and bandits is bad enough, but can they survive more nefarious dangers along the way? And will Kel’s fear of revealing her secrets doom the very people she’s trying to protect?

Where we fall, may peace rise.

25. Say You'll Remember Me by Abby Jiminez

listened on Libby

368 pgs. (9:59)

2025
Adult Romantic Fiction
Finished 6/8/2025
Goodreads rating: 4.07
My rating: 3.75
Setting: Half in LA, half in Minnesota, contemporary

My comments: Not really a Rom"COM" (there's some funny parts, but much of this book is pretty darned serious).  Samantha & Xavier fall hard for each other, but she lives in LA caring for her mother with dementia and he owns and runs a veterinary clinic in Minnesota.

Goodreads synopsis:  There might be no such a thing as a perfect guy, but Xavier Rush comes disastrously close. A gorgeous veterinarian giving Greek god vibes—all while cuddling a tiny kitten? Immediately yes. That is until Xavier opens his mouth and proves that even sculpted gods can say the absolute wrong thing. Like, really wrong. Of course, there’s nothing Samantha loves more than proving an asshole wrong…

. . . unless, of course, he can admit he made a mistake. But after one incredible and seemingly endless date—possibly the best in living history—Samantha is forced to admit the truth, that her family is in crisis and any kind of relationship would be impossible. Samantha begs Xavier to forget her. To remember their night together as a perfect moment, as crushing as that may be.

Only no amount of distance or time is nearly enough to forget that something between them. And the only thing better than one single perfect memory is to make a life—and even a love—worth remembering.

Garlic Rice Noodles

A Great Side Dish! 

Ingredients

• 8 oz rice noodles
• 3 tbsp butter (or sesame oil, or olive oil)
• 1 shallot (diced) (Shallot is sweeter than onion, but could use onion instead)
• 6 tsp garlic (minced)
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 3 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 green onions (sliced)

Instructions

• Prepare rice noodles al dente according to the package, without rinsing, and set aside
• Meanwhile, in a large skillet on medium-high heat, melt the butter then add the shallot and garlic, cooking for 1-2 minutes, until fragrant
• Add sugar and mix in until incorporated
• Pour in the soy sauce and simmer for 1 minute
• Add the noodles and cook another 3-5 minutes until the noodles have absorbed the sauce
• Serve garnished with green onions

24. Eleven Numbers by Lee Child

A Short Story

listened on Audible

50 pgs.

2025
Adult Contemporary Thriller Short Story
Finished 6/2/2025
Goodreads rating: 4.09
My rating: 4.5
Setting: 

My comments: This short but sweet story certainly kept my attention.  It was about a mathematician, the United States government, and Russian jails.  What a combo!  That it had an HEA totally surprised me, but it's a Lee Child, so that shouldn't surprise me at all!

Goodreads synopsis:  An American mathematician’s assignment in Russia spirals into a high-stakes maze of shifting loyalties and intrigue in a propulsive short thriller by #1 New York Times bestselling author Lee Child.

Nathan Tyler is an unassuming professor at a middling American university with a rather obscure specialty in mathematics—in short, a nobody from nowhere. So why is the White House calling? Summoned to Washington, DC, for a top-secret briefing, Nathan discovers that he’s the key to a massive foreign intelligence breakthrough. Reading between the lines of a cryptic series of equations, he could open a door straight into the heart of the Kremlin and change the global balance of power forever. All he has to do is get to a meeting with the renowned Russian mathematician who created it. But when Nathan crashes headlong into a dangerous new game, the odds against him suddenly look a lot steeper.

Book Shelf Book Pocket

 

Anne Kenlon created a pocket imitating a bookshelf for her book lover's journal (which I must look into further).  It's so cute, cuter than the one I made!  Her short video is here.

Enchilada Casserole

This sounds easy and yummy!  Supposedly freezes well too.

Try halving this, or making it smaller

• 2 Tbsp. 

  extra-virgin olive oil

• 1 

  medium onion, chopped

• 1 

  bell pepper, chopped

• 2 

  cloves garlic, minced

• 1 

  (15.5-oz.) can black beans, rinsed and drained

• 1 

  (15.25-oz.) can corn, drained

• 3 cups 

  cooked, shredded chicken

• 1 

  (4.5-oz.) can diced green chilis

• 2 

  (10-oz.) cans enchilada sauce

• 18 

  corn tortillas

• 2 cups 

  shredded cheddar

• 2 cups 

  shredded Monterey jack

• Sour cream, for garnish

• Freshly chopped cilantro, for garnish

• Diced avocado, for garnish

Directions

• 1. Step 1Preheat oven to 350°. In a large skillet over medium heat, heat oil. Add onion and pepper and cook until soft, 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, 1 minute more. Add beans, corn, chicken, and green chilis and cook until warmed through, 5 minutes. Reserve ½ cup enchilada sauce then pour remaining sauce into skillet, stirring to combine. 
  2. Step 2Spread reserved ½ cup enchilada sauce into a 9”-x-13” then layer 6 tortillas in pan, overlapping to cover the entire pan. Pour ⅓ of mixture over tortillas then top with about ⅓ of each cheese. Top with another layer of tortillas and repeat to make 2 more layers, finishing with cheese. 
  3. Step 3Bake for 30 minutes or until cheese is melty and sauce is bubbling. 
  4. Step 4Garnish with sour cream, cilantro, and avocado.

19. Tell Me What You Did by Carter Wilson

listened on Libby

420 pgs.

2025
Adult mystery 
Finished 4/26/2025
Goodreads rating: 3.74
My rating: 3.75
Setting: contemporary America - just can't remember where

My comments: Poe runs a podcast where she interviews people who have perpetrated some sort of crime.  But now she becomes the prey ot a ruthless stalker.  Somewhat of a loner, she lives a secluded life with her dog, Bailey, her only close associations that of her producer (and boyfriend), and her father.  She'd watched her mother being murdered 17 years prior, and this entire story is about her reliving how she captured and murdered the killer herself.  But now someone claiming to be him is after her, using her own podcast.  There weren't many surprises along the way, nevertheless it kept me on the edge of my seat ... it just went on a little too long.

Goodreads synopsis:  She gets people to confess their crimes for a living. He knows she's hiding a terrible secret. It's time for the truth to come out…

Poe Webb, host of a popular true crime podcast, invites people to anonymously confess crimes they've committed to her audience. She can't guarantee the police won't come after her "guests," but her show grants simultaneous anonymity and instant fame—a potent combination that's proven difficult to resist. After an episode recording, Poe usually erases both criminal and crime from her mind.

But when a strange and oddly familiar man appears on her show, Poe is forced to take a second look. Not only because he claims to be her mother's murderer from years ago, but because Poe knows something no one else does. Her mother's murderer is dead.

Poe killed him.

From the USA Today bestselling author of The Dead Girl in 2A and The New Neighbor comes a chilling new thriller that forces the question: are murderers always the bad guys?

Shop Hops

 I LOVE Shop Hops!

7/1 - 8/31/2025  All Mid-Atlantic Shop Hop (PA-NJ-WV-VA-DE)

8/1 - 8/31/2025  Tri State Paper Crafting Shop Hop (Ohio-Indiana-Michigan)

9/24 - 10/4/2025  Buggies and Buds Shop Hop (Eastern PA)

          Dover - Treasures Old and New

          Ephrata - L & L Rubber Stamps & Scrapbooking

          Greencastle - Stampin' Station/Home of Purple Daisy Design

          Honey Brook - Shady Lane Impressios

          Lancaster - Country Cottage Creations

          Lititz - Cozy Crop House

          Mechanicsburg - Joys of Life

          Paradise - Farmhouse Memories

Bits and Bobs

 TrashyTreasyours creates cute ephemera to stick here and there with different sizes of circle punches, distress ink, stencils, fussy cuts, stickers..... So easy and almost mindless.  Video here.