Humpty Bumpkin: Page-Turning Cozy With Fun and Fabulous Fur Babies

Great story with good realistic characters. A little romance, no steamy love scenes, a big sloppy dog and murderer to find and plenty "didn't see that coming" moments. This is a voluntary review as I received it for free.

Suspenseful Clean Romance + HEA Humpty Bumpkin by Sam Cheever REVIEWED BY: Shoshanahlila As a person who enjoys country living myself, I'll admit the title of this book set me back a little. Since the author also pokes fun at other things and businesses in the same vein of humor, it takes the sting out of the title. This is what is called a “Cozy Mystery” which is a misnomer implying something warm and fuzzy. Yes, there is humor in this story along with a lack of foul language or gratuitous, graphic sex, but very bad things DO happen in this book. Five, yes 5 murders, attempted murder, violent attacks by the perpetrator and people in supposed positions of trust against the main characters; that was just against people. A dog was also shot while defending her mistress. There was also smuggling, stealing, obstruction of justice, betrayal and assassination of character. This is considered something a granny would enjoy, then she would be one blood-thirsty granny. That being said, I did enjoy trying to solve the mystery along with Hal and Joey using the clues left behind. I also enjoyed the villains being brought to justice and that the main character was able to find closure after her parents' deaths and repair their damaged reputations. The fact that this story took place in and around a small town, makes it no less of a suspense story than one set in “The big city”. In fact, I find it even more shocking because everyone knows everyone else and has done so for years. The entire town and outlying community are in this complex almost like extended family relationship of relying on one another and watching out for or just plain watching each other, so how something like this could have happened is absolutely shocking. If I were naming this genre, I would call it Suspenseful Clean Romance and me hooked. There is plenty of plot, in a well-built setting and characters with layers with a happy ending. Hmm, Granny has good taste in books if I say so myself. This has been voluntary feedback of a Booksprout reviewer copy, read with voice assistant technology.

Read as part of a collection… Good stories; clean, entertaining, and fun to read! I’ve been a fan of Sam Cheever’s work for quite some time. When I received an ARC opportunity for her Country Cousins Mystery Series, I instantly accepted and downloaded it. I am so glad that I did. I had previously read books 5 and 6 in the series. It was a treat to read the first two books in this series to learn a lot of the backstory. Such as how Joey met Hal and how her fur babies entered her life. There are plenty of twists and turns in each book to keep you guessing the identity of the killer. The residents in the fictional town are quite intriguing at times and interesting all the time. So true to life, both good and evil characters. If you enjoy reading a clean, interesting, and romantic whodunit story all rolled into one book; then you need look no further as both books in this collection hits the mark. Recommended reading? Yes, but I would rate as PG due to the topic of murder. I received a free copy of this book from the author via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review. This gift did not affect my review of the book. This review is my voluntary and honest opinion.