beach – Valerie's Musings

4.5 out of 5 stars

A Tale of Two Mommies by Vanita Oelschlager (author) & Mike Blanc (illustrator) is a charming book about a young boy talking with another boy and girl about his two mommies, Mommy and Momma.

A Tale of Two Mommies by Vanita Oelschlager (author) and Mike Blanc (illustrator) book cover - beach background with two white women from the waist down in shorts and sandals. A young black boy is holding one hand of each and swinging legs

Purchase Links: Amazon – B&N – BAM

Sea floor with kelp growing and fish swimming, including 3 clown fish, 2 seahorses, 2 angelfish and 1 trout

Sea floor with kelp growing and fish swimming - includes 1 clownfish, 2 angelfish, 1 trout, 1 seahorse, and 1 sea turtle

Brief Synopsis

A Tale of Two Mommies is a beach conversation among three children. One boy asks another boy about having two mommies. A young girl listening in asks some questions too.
True to a child’s curiosity, practical questions follow. “Which mom is there when you want to go fishing? / Which mom helps out when Kitty goes missing?” To which he answers: “Mommy helps when I want to go fishing. / Both Mommies help when Kitty goes missing.”

line of blue & ivory seashells and sea stars — © Graphic Garden

Review

I enjoyed this book, but I didn’t give it five stars because I felt that it began and ended really abruptly. Perhaps that’s how the author intended it to be, but it felt awkward to me. Outside of that, I really enjoyed this book.

The illustrations are brightly colored, engaging, and delightful. There is a diversity in the characters. The two mothers appear to be caucasian, as is the little girl the young boy is talking to. The protagonist of the story is a little black boy and the other little boy is Asian. I appreciate that the author/illustrator took the time to make the characters diverse.

I also loved how the questions were very much kid-oriented. They’re great questions and answers as far as which Mom helps the child with various things.

I would definitely recommend this book as a good LGBTQ resource!

** Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book. I was not compensated for my review. All opinions and conclusions are my own. **

5 out of 5 stars.

Rum Luck is the first in the Bar on the Beach mystery series by Ryan Aldred and it does not disappoint in the slightest!

rumluck

Purchase Links: Amazon – B&N

Brief Synopsis:

Ben Cooper’s wedding has been called off, but he and his friend, Miguel, decide to take the non-refundable plane tickets and hotel and get away from the hustle and bustle of life in Toronto. Unfortunately, things don’t go as planned when Ben gets overly drunk one night and ends up purchasing the bar he’s drinking in. When the owner is then murdered that same night, Ben ends up the main suspect. Their friend, Victoria, who is a lawyer, flies down to Costa Rica to help them out and ends up staying. Now, on top of figuring out how to keep the bar solvent and open, the friends need to find out the real killer before one of them is the next victim!

Review:

I started reading this yesterday on my day off and I could not put it down at all. In fact, half of the things I planned to do yesterday didn’t get done because I could not put the book down!

The characters are wonderful. I fell in love with all of them almost immediately. Victoria’s no-nonsense demeanor and knowledge of the law helps when dealing with the police and other legalities of purchasing a business. Ben, once he’s sober, is intelligent and kind, willing to give people the benefit of the doubt. Miguel has his secrets, but he’s certainly loyal to his friends, including the beautiful Ana, the victim’s niece. While we don’t learn a lot of their back story, we learn enough to understand where they are coming from in this book. I’m hoping that we learn more about them as the series continues. They’re definitely complex characters and wonderful ones at that.

There’s maybe a little more descriptions of settings than I normally would like, but it’s just right for the context. Describing another country is not always an easy thing. Mr. Aldred does it with ease. I could easily envision what the streets and buildings are like in this coastal Costa Rican town.

The story line is very fast-paced, but manages to be so without being confusing. Sometimes when a book moves quickly, it’s easy to miss details that are important. I never felt like I missed anything, the story just moved along very quickly. It was very action-driven.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves a good, fast-paced, action-driven mystery. I cannot wait for the next book!

[I received a free e-copy of this book from the author through NetGalley. All opinions and conclusions expressed are my own.]

Tag: beach