While I’ve been finishing up the manuscript for my romantic comedy, The Final Ride, I’ve been reading as much as possible–of course. My books of choice last month reflected my eclectic tastes.

The first, The Scarlet Letter Opener, fed my love for cozy mysteries. This is Linda Au’s first attempt at a cozy, but she’s not a novice writer. She writes a lot of comedy, and her experience with making readers laugh is evidenced in The Scarlet Letter Opener.

Maggie Velam is a divorced empty-nester and a work-from-home professional proofreader, with a mother who cooks (unlike her) and a son who wants to move back in. She has a friend named Helga who works at the local newspaper for which she freelances.

During one of her trips to the office for a meeting with the new editor, Lee Gerber, she finds him slumped over his desk with a letter opener poking out of his back. Clues are non-existent, but Maggie and her clan set out to discover, in their own, bumbling ways, who killed Gerber Baby.

Lots of humor in this novel, but word of warning to my more sensitive readers: this one contains some language that extends just a hint over “mild.”

In Annabelle’s Ruth, Betty Thomason Owens tells a poignant story of two women, Annabelle and Connie, that is deeply reminiscent of the Biblical story of Ruth, as the title implies. Annabelle and her daughters-in-law, one of whom is Connie, all lose their husbands at the same time in a boating accident. For Annabelle, it is a severe loss. She must sell the house to afford burial for her husband and move from California back to her home in Tennessee.

Connie loves her mother-in-law, and can’t bare to lose her as well. She follows Annabelle to her family in Tennessee, but as a Hawaiian, she isn’t easily accepted by many.

This beautiful story is told gently and thoughtfully–trademark of Betty’s writing. Readers of women’s fiction will enjoy this one.

I haven’t decided what I’ll read next yet, I just know that I will read! So many books, so little time.