Dear Fellow Readers, Spring is rapidly turning to summer here in Wisconsin. We do not seem to always have Spring. Often it seems to go from winter coats to shorts. This year, we have had more of Springlike weather but still we are going from 60’s to 90’s overnight. Last Dance Before Dawn by Katharine Schellman is the fourth in the series of the Nightingale Mysteries.

Dear Fellow Reader, Yes, if you are following this blog, I am catching up today. I had 6 books that I had been asked to review and had not written the reviews. But I am now down to three books, and none of them have been released yet. So, I will be doing what I dislike doing. I will publish reviews before the books are released.

Dear Fellow Reader, I know, I have fallen behind again(!). It seems that I catch up and then fall terribly behind. I have four books that I need to review and that doesn’t count the books that I read on my own. I am still keeping up my goal to read one non-fiction book a month. But it is now the 18th of June, and I haven’t read a non-fiction book yet this month.

Dear Fellow Reader, Last December, I mentioned that sometimes I get books so far in advance that I don’t know if I should write and post the review in advance or wait and post it when the book comes out. I hate telling you about a book that you can’t get if you are interested. I also admitted that reading the book and writing the review are two different things and that while I have gotten better at reading the books before they come out, I fall behind in writing the reviews.

Dear Fellow Reader, Working my way through to get caught up, I bring you the review of a book that I was given a copy of in exchange for my unbiased opinion. Bodies and Battlements is the latest book by Elizabeth Penney. It is a new series for her. In this series, Nora Asquith, who is a herbalist, is taking her family’s castle from being a family castle that no one can afford anymore to a bed and breakfast.

Dear Fellow Reader, I love quotes. Do you? And I love aphorisms. Now, I don’t know that I could have told you that I liked aphorisms because I am not sure I could have told you what one was. From the dictionary – “A pithy observation that contains a general truth, such as, 'if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”.

Dear Fellow Reader, I live in Wisconsin. We are currently playing peek-a-boo with spring. It is a long, tiresome game. We have had 70-degree days, and then this morning it was 34, and it snowed. Not that any of the snow stuck to the ground, but it is not exciting in April to look out the window and see the snow coming down so much that you can’t see across the street.

Dear Fellow Reader, Vera Wong meddles and likes attention. In this second book of the series, we find that Vera misses the attention that she had during a murder investigation in her tearoom. She is happy about her son and his love, Officer Selena Gray, the police investigator for the tearoom murder. Her business is going well, and her family is attentive, but Vera wants more.

Dear Fellow Reader, April Fools Day. Remember how much fun it was when you were young? I wonder if it means much these days. It is probably not a “holiday” that needs to continue. I will bet that teachers would agree. Although I am sure that some find it to be fun. This year in several places, it is an election day, which could bring a new meaning to April Fools Day.