Carlisle is also a romance writer and it's starting to show in this series. I don't say that like it's a bad thing, but the focus of the books has definitely become the love between Brooklyn and Derek, and the strong family ties of both. I like it, but it can sometimes get a little too sticky sweet, and completely unrealistic. Say, for example, when both sets of in-laws come to stay for a week (meeting for the first time) and everyone stays together in the same apartment and gets along like a house on fire. I won't say it's impossible, but definitely unrealistic.

The mystery was a tiny bit slapstick at the end. I liked it; it worked for me, mostly because Carlisle was obviously having fun with it too and wasn't expecting high drama out of it. Frankly, the fate of The Courtyard was screamingly obvious from the start, but that didn't bother me much either, it's a small thing and made no difference to the plot at all.

My favourite part of these books continues to be Brooklyn's work with books. I love the moments where she talks about the books, their construction, and her work preserving or restoring them. This time around, it was all about making your own paper and she made it sound so easy I am determined to try it myself this summer. My only complaint is that at the end, rather than the recipes she included, I'd have rather had definite instructions on the paper making.

In general, this one didn't wow me, but I enjoyed it and I learned something new, so of course I'll be back for more. ( )

This one was quite a bit shorter then the others, but just as good. The main book Alice in Wonderland is a favorite of mine so the background on the original publication was interesting, as was Brooklyn's description on how to make paper. I'd really like to give that a try someday. I was sorry to finish this book as it was just released this summer so I'm afraid I'll have rather a long wait for the next book. ( )

Now that Brooklyn and Derek are settling into their renovated expanded condo in San Francisco, they are exploring their own neighborhood and have found lovely shops and restaurants (good since Brooklyn can't cook!) but they are sadden when they find one of their new friends/shopkeepers dead and another injured. When it appears that the death was no accident, Brooklyn and Derek set out to find who murdered their friend and disrupted the tranquility of their home area. At the same time, Brooklyn is worried about meeting her future British in-laws and how they will get along with her former hippie parents

The interaction of the parents and how they connect was really amusing!

Love the series and the characters! ( )

I honestly tried. I really wanted to find a book series that I liked. Listened to the audio versus reading, this might have made a difference. I stopped before I was half way through the book. Sorry. It just rubbed me the wrong way. ( )

This was a great book. The story was very entertaining and I held my interest the entire time. The characters were likable and I cared about what happened to them. This is a series I will definitely continue.

When a shop owner is killed in a store across from Brooklyn's home, she becomes involved in solving the mystery of who murdered him. Along the way, she spends a lot of time at Eddie and Terrence's book store in the same building. There is a rare copy of Alice in Wonderland that is a part of the mystery. I loved the information the reader gets about rare books, and also about hand made paper. Little details like that make me happy.

Brooklyn and Derek are wonderful. It is so refreshing to see a couple who are in love and are supportive of each other. They are getting their parents together for the first time prior to their marriage. All of the parents were great and added some humor to the book. I would recommend this series to anyone looking for a good cozy mystery.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. ( )