Rosetta Diane Hoessli | Updates

CHANCE'S RETURN, by Lucy Naylor Kubash (Book One of The North Star Legacy Series)

Rosetta Diane Hoessli — Fri, 18 Apr 2025 11:58:31 -0400

Reviewed by Rosetta Diane Hoessli, Author
***** (5 Stars)

I’m going to tell you, right out of the chute (as we Texans like to say), that I’m not ordinarily a fan of romance novels and very seldom even pick one up. But I would’ve been missing out on a beautifully written, truly inspirational love story if I hadn’t surrendered to my urge to read CHANCE’S RETURN, by Lucy Naylor Kubash.

Set on the North Star Ranch near the Teton Mountains in Wyoming, CHANCE’S RETURN is a story about second chances for people who don’t even know they’re looking for them. The characters are vividly drawn, especially the young widow Casey Girard and her sad little boy, Jamie, both trying to learn how to live without their much-loved husband and father, and Chance McCord, the washed-up rodeo star and eldest son of the North Star Ranch who, like the Prodigal Son, has returned to his boyhood home only because he has nowhere else to go. The supporting characters – Jamie, Aunt Billie, Justin and Kyle McCord, even the various ranch hands and the trail horse Buckwheat – add important layers to Casey and Chance’s story.

That’s not to say the plotline is unique; it isn’t. But the tender and sensitive way Ms. Kubash handles it, with lots of soul-searching and maternal guilt on Casey’s part because of her intense physical attraction to a handsome, rugged man not her departed husband, and Chance’s stubborn refusal to allow her into his heart and life because he’s no longer the man he once was, is unique and intensely believable. There are secrets in the McCord family, of course, and Casey is the kind of eternal optimist who feels that if everyone would just come out and talk about those secrets, everything would be fine. But, as is always true, life is never that simple.

I love books that are set in the west, and Ms. Kubash’s vivid descriptions of the magnificent Teton Mountain storms, the surrounding mirror-like lakes and forests, the explosive sunrises and sunsets, and the fields of wildflowers filled with riotous color in spring are breathtaking. She integrates those descriptions into the story seamlessly, almost as if they’re characters themselves, and not once did I speed-read through a description but instead savored it, sometimes more than once.

This isn’t a long novel, and that’s one reason I think CHANCE’S RETURN makes a great first book for Ms. Kubash’s new series, THE NORTH STAR LEGACY. It was originally published in 2009, but she chose to update and re-release it on April 16, 2025 for your reading pleasure. I’m happy to suggest that you take advantage of it!

I’m very glad to give CHANCE’S RETURN five stars. (*****)

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TETONS BY MORNING, by Lucy Naylor Kubash (Book Two of the North Star Legacy Series)

Rosetta Diane Hoessli — Mon, 19 Jan 2026 14:35:13 -0500

Reviewed by Rosetta Diane Hoessli, Author

***** + Stars

I read and reviewed Ms. Kubash’s first novel in her NORTH STAR LEGACY series, CHANCE’S RETURN, and gave it 5 stars. I loved it. It was a terrific kickoff novel, but TETONS BY MORNING is where the meat in this story really begins.

Much spicier than CHANCE’S RETURN, TETONS BY MORNING took my breath away several times – and that’s not easy to do. A gripping, action-packed story, totally believable characters, and a Wyoming mountain ranch setting to die for…well, what’s not to love?

But this novel is so much more than all that. It’s actually about life. Not just life on a ranch and a marriage between two people who are so different they probably shouldn’t have even been friends, much less partners, but how they came together to complement and save one another, then build a family.

Chase McCord is a beat-up, buckle-winning rodeo cowboy who thrives on adrenalin and who’s still running from his past, even at this late date. Regardless, there’s nothing and no one he loves or wants more in his life than his wife, Casey McCord, a woman who worries even when she has nothing to worry about, and who has issues of her own. But she’s stronger than she realizes for no other reason than that she’s forced to be, and one of the things she’s forced to do is maneuver her way through a rite of passage common for all over-protective mothers: step back from her young son and allow him to grow up, free from her maternal interference.

As in Lucy Kubash’s first novel, her secondary characters in TETONS BY MORNING are nearly as interesting her main ones, but they don’t play as large a part in this novel as they did in the first. However, the way she ties them all together is fascinating – especially if you love to study people, as I do. And the dramatic, pulse-pounding scenes they find themselves in will keep you glued to the pages until you close this book!

TETONS BY MORNING, by Lucy Naylor Kubash, will be released on January 19, 2026. Two of the locations you can purchase it are:

https://www.amazon.com/Tetons-Morning.../dp/B0FY3J2ZNJ/

https://wildrosepress.com/product/tetons-by-morning/

Lucy Naylor Kubash's website is located at: https://lucynaylorkubash.com/

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A Life Came Calling: A WWII Love Story, by Ann Howard Creel

Rosetta Diane Hoessli — Fri, 15 Aug 2025 18:09:21 -0400

Reviewed by Rosetta Diane Hoessli, Author

5+ Stars

A LIFE CAME CALLING: A WWII LOVE STORY, by Ann Howard Creel, is a love story set in both Philadelphia and the Smoky Mountain region of Tennessee at the close of WWII. Due to be released on August 18, 2025, this novel tells the story of Janey Nichol, a young woman ‘past her prime’, who suddenly finds herself weighing the proposals of two men: Todd, who’s ambitious, dependable, and rock-solid, and Cole, a now-deceased Naval officer whom she’d only known for three sublime days, two years earlier.

The rub is that in Janey’s memory, a perfect wartime love affair between her and an unpredictable, strong, breathtakingly handsome man has been magnified into an intense, heated, whirlwind romance that no regular human being can compete with. Especially not someone as steady and predictable as Todd. Adding to her trepidation about accepting Todd’s proposal is the wonderful life she’s created for herself: a single woman living alone in a home she bought on her own while working as an up-and-coming secretary for a large electric company – a part of the female work force who took advantage of the shortage of men in the United States during the war, leaving her free to encourage her own ambition and drive.

Janey feels she must come to grips with all that will change in her life, plus make certain her feelings for Todd are genuine and will last forever, before she can give him her answer. She decides to make a trip to Cole’s hometown in the Smoky Mountains to see where he’s buried and to meet the family he’d spoken of so often. Enter Luke, Cole’s cousin – the third disturbance in the growing web of confusion now clouding her usually laser-focused mind.

This book is beautifully written. Creel doesn’t shy away from description in the way that romances often do. Her prose describing V-E Day in Knoxville, Tennessee is so vivid that I could see, taste, and feel everything as clearly as if I was there. (I especially love that sequence because V-E Day is an event I’d love to have been a part of, and I felt as if I truly was.) Her descriptions of the Smokies and small mountain towns are breathtaking, her characters are perfectly delineated, and her dialogue never feels stilted or out of place. Even Janey’s struggle to make up her mind, which sometimes seems a little contrived and far-fetched, fits perfectly into the restrictive dictates for single women living in 1940’s society.

I really loved this novel, and I strongly recommend that you buy a copy just as soon as it releases on August 18, 2025. I give it 5+ stars.

A LIFE CAME CALLING: A WWII LOVE STORY, by Ann Howard Creel, will be available on Amazon at: https://www.amazon.com/Life-Came-Calling-Howard-Creel-ebook/dp/B0FB9GKXWK/

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RAG LADY by Susie Black (Prequel to Book One of A Holly Swimsuit Novel)

Rosetta Diane Hoessli — Sun, 02 Mar 2025 17:23:33 -0500

Reviewed by Rosetta D. Hoessli, Author

***** (Five Stars)

RAG LADY, by Susie Black, is a scream of a book – mostly. Our heroine, Holly Schlivnik, is a 4’9” hot-tempered, slightly pompous, well-educated, wannabe reporter know-it-all who blows her first interview upon college graduation when informed by her prospective boss that she, like all female reporters, must ‘start out in the secretarial pool.’ She explodes in feminist fury and crawls home to her parents and grandmother in Miami, her tail between her legs and hoping for a little sympathy.

But her Jewish nana never wastes time on regrets or looking backward, and refuses to allow her granddaughter to do so, either. From the moment Nana walks onto the page, she stole my heart. To me, she’s the engine that makes this story run, and Holly, for all her flaws, loves her with her whole being. Nana is filled with practical Jewish analogies and superstitions, sort of a female Tevya from Fiddler on the Roof, without being so steeped in tradition that she can’t move forward. She’s a thoroughly modern grandma whom Holly accuses of missing ‘the day they taught Jewish Grandmother Nurturing.’

It isn’t until Holly’s father, a successful sexy apparel salesman with a huge territory and an even bigger heart, has a family emergency and begs Holly to help him that she decides to climb out of her comfort zone and try something completely different. She takes on a portion of her father’s territory – some of the Deep South – and discovers that the United States of America might as well be two different countries. Maybe even three or four.

A scene in which she listens, appalled, to her dad talking to truckers over his CB radio – in a totally foreign language – is absolutely hysterical, and through snorts of glee I could definitely relate. Being vertically challenged myself, I screamed with laughter as I saw her pushing racks of garment bags across streets, so tiny no one could see her, and then bristling with indignation whenever a gentleman offered to help. Her discovery and ultimate opinion of the southern staple ‘grits’ (‘slop’ in her view) mirrored my own – I’ve never been able to stomach it, either, even though I’ve lived in south Texas for more than fifty years.

But it's the characters she meets – Jody, a 6’6” transwoman who once played in the NFL, Cora Lee with the ‘enormous cone-shaped breasts pointed straight out at attention,’ Wanda Lou, a bottle-blonde waitress who says ‘bone appetite’ when she serves orange juice ‘fresh from the can,’ Herman Neumann, a wealthy businessman and a concentration camp survivor, and countless others – who flesh out this coming-of-age tale with the intimacy of your favorite childhood friends.

Susie Black’s The Rag Lady is filled with thought-provoking lessons, and as Holly learns them all, she begins to evolve and grow into herself. While some of the lessons are riotously funny, others are frightening, and still others are downright tragic, but they’re all important. Holly learns the only constant in life is change, not to judge books by their covers, to appreciate her failures far more than her successes, and most importantly: Don’t be afraid to live.

As her nana always says, “Man plans, and God laughs.”

The only downside to this terrific novel is that the author sometimes goes into a bit too much detail on the apparel business - but that could just be me. I’m one of the few women I know who don’t like to shop. But the business itself seems much more interesting than I ever figured, especially the interactions between buyers, models, and sales reps. I also found it fascinating that Jewish people were so deeply involved in business in the south as far back as the Civil War, but that there was so much bigotry against them in the late 1970’s – two facts that the author skillfully weaves through her story.

This unique prequel is a great standalone novel. It will give readers a terrific introduction to the other books in the Holly Swimsuit Mystery Series, which I haven’t yet read but intend to read as soon as I can. The Rag Lady is a book that grew on me, and that I enjoyed even more after I’d finished it because it gave me so much to think about.

You’ve done a superb job with this novel, Susie Black! I’m giving RAG LADY Five Stars!

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DEATH BY SAMPLE SIZE, by Susie Black (Book One of A Holly Swimsuit Novel)

Rosetta Diane Hoessli — Sun, 02 Mar 2025 17:33:51 -0500

Reviewed by Rosetta Diane Hoessli, Author

***** (Five Stars)

FROM THE COVER:
Everyone wanted her dead…but who actually killed her? The last thing swimwear sales exec Holly Schlivnik expected was to discover ruthless buying office big wig Bunny Frank's corpse trussed up like a Thanksgiving turkey with a bikini stuffed down her throat. When Holly's colleague is arrested for Bunny's murder, the wise-cracking, irreverent amateur sleuth jumps into action to find the real killer. Nothing turns out the way Holly thinks it will as she matches wits with a wily murderer hellbent for revenge.

DEATH BY SAMPLE SIZE is just plain fun. Take a look at this cover and you’ll know I’m right.

The first book I read in Susie Black’s hilarious Holly Swimsuit Mystery Series was RAG LADY, which was released in November 2023, nearly two years after the first book in the series, DEATH BY SAMPLE SIZE, came out (2021). I don’t usually read cozy mysteries and really didn’t think I’d read beyond the prequel – but I loved RAG LADY so much, I’m in the process of reading all five books in the series, in order. (In my opinion, you should begin with RAG LADY if you haven’t read any of them yet. It’s a beautiful standalone novel that fills in all the blanks and adds meat to the regular characters.)

Holly Schlivnik, a Ditzy Swimwear sales exec and our heroine in each book, is so sarcastic and funny that I found myself writing down some of her thoughts and comments just so I wouldn’t forget them. The author, Susie Black, uses her own background in the fashion industry to create unforgettable characters that had me laughing out loud – including, even, the bad guys.

Written in the first person, Holly Schlivnik is hilarious. She's vertically challenged (4’9” – picture, she says, a barber pole having a child with a fire hydrant), but she more than makes up for her height issues with Attitude. She's definitely relatable because, for one thing, she's genetically predisposed on her nana’s side to laugh hysterically at the sight of a dead body, and I so relate to that. And she seems to be eternally optimistic because, to her, pizza, ice cream, and a huge glass of Chardonnay makes any kind of day a perfect one.

This tiny firebrand is the lucky gal to discover our victim, fashion executive Bunny Frank, dead in an elevator with a size-10 bikini stuffed in her mouth. But Holly declares to a determined detective, Miguel Martinez, that the real question isn’t, Who wanted her dead? The real question is, Who didn’t?

Everybody, including Holly herself, has a reason to hate this sales bigshot who has given an all-new meaning to the slogan, Follow the Money.

I mean, this lady is BAD. She’s not above blackmail, bribery, sleeping around, stalking – you name it, she does it. The only person without a motive seems to be an ancient security guard who never responds to anything because he’s always watching novellas on Estrella TV.

Ms. Black has a ball tossing in red herrings galore and dressing them up to become some of the funniest characters ever, while moving the story along at a fast pace via short chapters and no extra words. When two office lotharios (and main suspects) beat the crap out of each other, her descriptions and ensuing toothless dialogue had me wiping away tears of laughter. She takes her time describing people you’ll only see once (but hope to meet again in subsequent stories), using their physicality, unique quirks, and irreverent character traits to guarantee they’ll stand out long after you’ve closed the book.

This is a character-driven story with a not-too-complicated plot, but an ending I didn’t see coming.

Do yourself a favor and treat yourself to DEATH BY SAMPLE SIZE. I’m giving it 5 stars.

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ABANDONED, by Margaret Tanner (Book One of the Snowbound Western Women Series)

Rosetta Diane Hoessli — Thu, 27 Mar 2025 15:34:15 -0400

Reviewed by Rosetta Diane Hoessli, Author

**** (Four Stars)

Set in the 1870’s, the novella ABANDONED, by Margaret Tanner, accomplishes much in few words. I have to admit, I’m not necessarily a fan of short books, but the premise of this one intrigued me:

With the best intentions of being a loving and obedient wife, Hannah Starr has married Isaac, the son of a cult leader, but discovers within six months that he’s not the man she thought he was. Refusing to give up her strong Christian beliefs and believing that she and Isaac have reached a compromise, she agrees to travel via wagon train to Colorado with Isaac and his father’s religious cult, The Constellation Followers.

But Hannah has a secret, and a hidden agenda as well. She’s expecting Isaac’s baby – and she’s hoping to find her brother, Mal, who was horribly disfigured in the Civil War. He resides (she prays) with a group of equally-scarred soldiers on a mountain ranch known as The Haven, near the small town of Raccoon Folly. As more time passes, she sees that Isaac has no intention of leaving the cult and realizes that she must take her life in her own hands and escape the clutches of this evil cult.

When Isaac drowns crossing a river and her father-in-law and his group abandons her, Hannah is rescued, nearly frozen, by Captain Drake Noble, the scarred and reserved leader of The Haven. And this is where the story really takes off.

Captain Noble is, in my opinion, one of the most interesting characters in this novella. Tanner has brought him to life by illustrating how his disfigurement is internal as well as external, and this is where my heart was most touched. Even though the depth of this man’s feeling for his damaged men is overwhelming, the demons from his past have already devastated his future to the point where he can’t conceive of ever being allowed to live a promising and happy life - and he believes he doesn’t deserve any of God’s bounty, anyway.

Hannah, who’s grown to love this warm but guilt-ridden leader of men, must convince him that God brought them together for a purpose, and that they are truly worthy of the happiness they can find in each other.

This is a sweet and well-written story; I thoroughly enjoyed it. I’ve given it four (4) stars.

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DESERTED, by Margaret Tanner (Book Two of the Snowbound Western Women Series)

Rosetta Diane Hoessli — Sun, 06 Apr 2025 18:45:30 -0400

Book Two of the Snowbound Western Women Series

Reviewed by Rosetta Diane Hoessli, Author

**** (Four Stars)

DESERTED, the second novella in the Snowbound Western Women Series by Margaret Tanner, is similar to the first (ABANDONED, which I recently reviewed) in that it’s also set in the rugged mountains and small towns of Colorado during the 1870’s, but there the similarities pretty much end.

This time Marla, our heroine, who has lived with her selfish, frigid-as-ice aunt since she lost her parents as a child, finds herself homeless and with no options. But before she even has time to process these events, she finds herself drugged, kidnapped, and ultimately left alone to starve in the wilderness.

Although Tanner establishes Marla early on as a woman who doesn’t like confrontation and she seems so intimidated by authority that I wasn’t sure I’d even be able to relate to her, we now see the grit our girl is made of. Even though she’s freezing and terrified, when her will to live takes over and gives her the strength to think straight, she remembers the location of her grandfather’s cabin a few miles away and manages to make her way there.

As we see the methodic progression of how she intends to stay alive, my appreciation for her tenacity and bravery steadily grew – and so did my interest in her story. I especially admire how she never lost her moral compass to bitterness or a desire for revenge as she fought to survive, but instead uses that energy for positive outcomes.

It's when our hero, wounded rancher Brett Harley, literally crawls into Marla’s life that the story takes a turn and she begins to focus on the needs of someone else. Here, Tanner’s descriptive abilities kick in as she vividly portrays his injury and what Marla goes through to save his life. She also does a magnificent job of showing his growing romantic feelings for the woman who’s taking such good care of him – and all the masculine uncertainty that creates. This is a feat not always satisfactorily accomplished by a female author writing in the male point of view.

As in all sweet or cozy westerns or mysteries, there’s no heat or spice in this, but it’s insinuated quite well. And, as always, the ending is happily perfect – no revelation there! – but the growth of these two characters is surprising because it's accomplished in a novella-length western.

I thoroughly enjoyed DESERTED, and am looking forward to diving into ENDANGERED, the third book of the Snowbound Western Women Series.

I’m giving this novella four stars (****).

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DAUGHTERS OF RIGA, by Mirian Exall

Rosetta Diane Hoessli — Sun, 02 Mar 2025 18:25:16 -0500

Reviewed by Rosetta Diane Hoessli, Author
**** (Four Stars)

Billy Graham once said, “Courage is contagious. When a brave man takes a stand, the spines of others are often stiffened.”

Many individuals in pre-WWII, WWII, and post-war WWII history illustrate the truth of these words. Think Oskar Schindler who saved more than a thousand Jews, Miep Gies who hid the Otto Frank family and four other desperate Jews for more than two years, Irene Sendler who was a Polish Catholic social worker and her network of ten compatriots who rescued 2,500 Jewish children from the Warsaw Ghetto, among many other unsung heroes.

Basing her novel on such true events, Mirian Exall, author of DAUGHTERS OF RIGA (The Wild Rose Press, 2024), weaves a story that begins in 2003 and hurtles us backward to 1938, when two ordinary little girls, Dani and Berta, meet in the Dutch Consul’s office in Riga, Latvia. Although I knew about the Year of Horror (1940-1941) in Latvia, this tiny country wasn’t well-known to me. I had to locate it on a map right at the beginning of the novel, just to get my bearings, but the story doesn’t stay in Latvia, nor does it remain in 1938. Told in a completely unique fashion, we experience Amsterdam, London, Paris, and the countryside of the Netherlands as well – at different times, and through the eyes of different characters.

Beginning as a simple story of various individuals struggling to keep their balance as the world explodes all around them, DAUGHTERS OF RIGA surprises the reader as it builds in intensity and suspense until it finally winds down and relinquishes the past. The next generation, formerly unable to comprehend the horrors experienced by their elders, learn to accept and forgive.

I’m giving DAUGHTERS OF RIGA four stars only because I sometimes found myself having to go back to the beginning of a chapter to find out who is telling the story, when it’s occurring, and where they’re located. This interrupted the flow of an otherwise superbly written novel about one of my favorite subjects.

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SECRETS, SHAME, AND A SHOEBOX, by L. B. Griffin

Rosetta Diane Hoessli — Sun, 02 Mar 2025 18:07:20 -0500

Reviewed by Rosetta Diane Hoessli, Author

***** (Five Stars)

I have to admit it. I love cozy mysteries, sweet romances, and happy endings. L. B. Griffin, author of SECRETS, SHAME, AND A SHOEBOX (prequel to THE TWENTY-ONE YEAR CONTRACT), has written one of the best.

This novel is deceptively quiet, for lack of a better description - at least in its first several chapters. Ms. Griffin lovingly creates her characters, taking her time to build perfect people with spot-on interactions, and uses them to lull readers into believing they can predict where this story is going.

But I’m here to warn you: You can’t.

Just when you’re beginning to wonder how all these terrific characters are going to play together, the story takes off and our heroine, shy and naive, is suddenly forced to fight for her life when she’s confronted by characters you only slightly mistrusted. Excitement and adrenaline ramp up every page, and you find yourself skipping ahead to be sure everything comes out all right.

In addition, Ms. Griffin, a lifelong resident of Bath, England, uses colloquialisms native to her region in such a truthful way that this Texan was intrigued enough to do a little extra research – but that touch added great reality and energy to her setting and her characters. I found it humorous, touching, and a perfect addition to her story.

I’m off now to purchase a copy of THE TWENTY-ONE YEAR CONTRACT. I suggest you do the same!

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THE TWENTY-ONE-YEAR CONTRACT, by L. B. Griffin

Rosetta Diane Hoessli — Sun, 02 Mar 2025 17:47:01 -0500

Reviewed by Rosetta Diane Hoessli
***** (Five Stars)

I’m giving five stars to her latest novel THE TWENTY-ONE-YEAR CONTRACT (the sequel to SECRETS, SHAME AND A SHOEBOX), in which L.B. Griffin recreates the cultural revolution of the 1950’s and 1960’s right there in England, where it all began. She propagates her seamless yet unpredictable storyline with delightful characters, some who don’t have huge roles but definitely need to be onstage, and two main characters – Kate Westfield and Harriet Laws – best friends who have no idea what’s in store for them.

But the character I fell in love with is Uncle Jack, a drop-dead gorgeous, freewheeling, wealthy playboy who is so much more than he appears to be. To me, he personifies Ms. Griffin’s work; her stories and characters belie the simplicity of her writing style and show us by the end of the novel how deep and remarkable they really are.

THE TWENTY-ONE-YEAR CONTRACT is the gentle study of an era that seems to now be repeating itself, yet Ms. Griffin doesn’t hit us over the head with a hidden political agenda. She’s simply telling it like it is, and I appreciate that so much. She examines the pain of loss and the human spirit’s need to overcome it, as well as the fear of abandonment and the longing to trust – all weighty themes that she handles deftly and with subtlety. This is a most satisfying and enjoyable read, and I highly recommend it!

I'm giving this novel five stars (*****).

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MURDER AT SEA OATS BEACH, by Karen C. Whalen (Book One of the SEA OATS BEACH Series)

Rosetta Diane Hoessli — Thu, 15 May 2025 17:19:08 -0400

Reviewed by Rosetta Diane Hoessli, Author

**** 1/2 (4 1/2 stars)

MURDER AT SEA OATS BEACH, by Karen C. Whalen, is the initial book in her SEA OATS BEACH series. You may remember that I reviewed Ms. Whalen’s second book in this series recently (WASHED UP AT SEA OATS BEACH), and I mentioned that I thought I might have enjoyed it more had I read the opening salvo first – and I was right.

This first book has a simple plot, but I’m an animal lover, so it kept me engrossed from beginning to end. The Sea Oats Beach police chief, Derek Stanley, has been murdered at the Animal Control building next door to the police station and his body found in the pen of an adorable but bloodied French bulldog named Samson. Breanna Hart, the main character, is convinced the bulldog had nothing to do with the killing, regardless of all the bite marks on the man’s body, and is determined to prove it. Despite her social anxiety disorder, she takes on everyone and does everything she can to save the little dog’s life.

Ms. Whalen carefully builds all the characters that will appear throughout the SEA OATS BEACH series, and that’s so important to someone, like me, who reads a lot. Breanna is a truly sympathetic individual who stirred my heart, and to whom I could seriously relate. Her girlfriends are very different from one another, which made them easy to keep separate in my mind, but my favorite character, to my surprise, was Roscoe Blue, the former champion ‘surfer dude’ with a crush on Breanna, who spends all his time on the beach, still following the waves whenever his Italian Ice cart will let him.

MURDER AT SEA OATS BEACH is an easy read. I know what it is to feel so compelled to fight for something that you risk everything and believe that failure isn’t an option, so this story is completely relatable to me. I really enjoyed it!

I’m giving MURDER AT SEA OATS BEACH 4 ½ stars.

https://www.amazon.com/Murder-Sea-Oats.../dp/B0CTHRXKSX/

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WASHED UP AT SEA OATS BEACH, by Karen C. Whalen (Book Two of the SEA OATS BEACH Series)

Rosetta Diane Hoessli — Mon, 17 Mar 2025 22:03:15 -0400

Reviewed by Rosetta Diane Hoessli, Author
**** (Four Stars)

WASHED UP AT SEA OATS BEACH, by Karen C. Whalen, due to be released April 14, 2025, is the second book in her new SEA OATS BEACH SERIES. Although I enjoyed this story a great deal, I believe I should’ve read her first novel of the series, MURDER AT SEA OATS BEACH, first – just to get a better feel for the backstory and supporting characters. So, my lack of connection with some of her ‘people’ may have been due to that.

However, the main character, Breanna Hart, with whom I felt a personal kinship, comes to life early on, and she grew on me throughout the book. Originally from Chicago, Breanna has moved to a tiny touristy town in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, where she seems to be hiding out because of her social anxiety, and has volunteered at the local animal shelter – not only because she loves animals, but because she prefers them to people (which I totally get). When she and her ‘surfer dude’ buddy, Roscoe Blue, discover a dead woman on the beach, then see a large dog bobbing on a surfboard out in the ocean, the story truly begins.

The traumatized canine – named Milo by Breanna – is a Golden Retriever that becomes one of the main catalysts in the solving of what becomes a ‘local’ murder - a murder with which Breanna becomes obsessed because she’s so concerned about the welfare of the dog. She agrees to foster Milo while the shelter tries to find his family, but, of course, becomes more than attached to him.

My only complaint about this cozy mystery is that the Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) from which Breanna Hart suffers is in direct conflict with one or two of Whalen’s most important and transitional scenes.

On the other hand, Breanna’s social awkwardness is endearing and something with which I believe most of us can relate. Her close friend, Emma, is a southern staple, using ‘Bless your heart,’ and ‘Give me some sugar,’ as she greets the patrons in her bait shop every morning. Ty Whitaker, a policeman that Breanna has a crush on, is handsome and looks terrific without a shirt on, but doesn’t seem incredibly astute other than that. Entrepreneur Roscoe Blue, a blond, curly-haired surfer ‘dude’ who clearly has a thing for her, is obnoxious in a 'Fast Times at Ridgemont High' sort of way, and I truly hope that relationship doesn’t go anywhere.

My favorite character, other than Breanna herself – and, honestly, the best defined – is her brother, Flynn, an unstable, former drug addict that she's wracked with guilt about, and, typically, feels obligated to take care of.

WASHED UP AT SEA OATS BEACH is touted as a cozy mystery, and it is. To be honest, I appreciated its lack of steamy love scenes and graphic violence, and Whalen’s focus on the beauty and isolation of the Outer Banks beaches of North Carolina is a joy to read. Cozies are all about innocence and a desire to step away from the Helter Skelter Vibes of the Real World, and this book does that. In spades.

I’m very happy to give WASHED UP AT SEA OATS BEACH 4 Stars.

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FEAR IN FIRST GEAR (Book Seven in The Tow Truck Murder Mysteries Series), by Karen C. Whalen

Rosetta Diane Hoessli — Thu, 17 Jul 2025 12:09:53 -0400

Reviewed by Rosetta Diane Hoessli, Author

**** (4 Stars)

I loved Karen C. Whalen’s characters in her SEA OATS BEACH cozy mystery series: flawed, all-too-human, and totally relatable. As are the wonderfully engaging cast of characters in Whalen’s FEAR IN FIRST GEAR. They drive the story, not the other way around, and that always makes me want to settle in for a nice, long read.

Delaney Morran is a petite, red-haired tow truck driver famous for wearing three-inch stiletto heels whenever she answers a tow call in or around the small mountain town of Spruce Ridge, Colorado. To my mind, she’s practically Every Woman: she loves shoes and shopping, a handsome law enforcement officer in uniform, and sinking her teeth into a rock-solid mystery.

But Delaney’s famous around Spruce Ridge for something else, too. She accidentally finds dead people – or, rather, dead people seem to find her. More specifically, homicide victims. And, well, when that happens…you can’t just let it go, right?

In this tale, Delaney starts her day by heading out on a call through a mountain pass in a blinding snowstorm and catches a glimpse, for just for a moment, of a woman sitting, slack-jawed, inside her car. Dead, Delaney’s almost certain, but she can’t stop. When she finally returns to Spruce Ridge and tries to tell the police, no one pays much attention because…well, as usual, no one’s reported a missing woman, and no one else saw her. So, Delaney’s on her own, again – except for Kris, her best friend, who’s always in her corner.

This is a fun read; I read it in one afternoon. It’s written in first person, from the viewpoint of Delaney Morran, and it’s written so cozily and with so much self-deprecating humor that I felt like I was reading a personal diary. Subplots and clues were weaved through the main plot with just enough weight to hold my attention, but not so much that they were overwhelming or confusing. Also, even though this is Book 7 in THE TOW TRUCK MURDER MYSTERIES series, it stands alone just fine.

If you’re looking for something light-hearted and cozy to take you away from ‘all this,’ pick up a copy of FEAR IN FIRST GEAR, by Karen C. Whalen.

I’m giving it four stars.

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Rosetta's Whispers: What Does It Mean When You Read a Story That Refuses to Look Away?

Rosetta Diane Hoessli — Tue, 10 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

*Written with Veridion Smart

Before any book finds its readers, it begins with a difficult question. In the case of TIP THE PIANO MAN, the story was inspired by real events that refused to let me look away. While working on this novel, I often found myself reflecting on the kinds of stories that challenge us rather than simply entertain us, the ones that force us to sit with uncomfortable truths while still searching for meaning. The following reflection grew out of that process and speaks to why certain stories insist on being told.

Some stories entertain. Others confront. TIP THE PIANO MAN belongs to the second category. This is not a novel that tiptoes around pain or simplifies injustice. It looks directly at what happens when systems fail the most vulnerable, and what it costs to tell the truth, anyway.

At its heart, the story asks a difficult question: What happens when silence becomes more dangerous than speaking?

The characters within this narrative are not heroes in the traditional sense. They are wounded, complicated, carrying guilt, grief, and unanswered questions. And yet, they move forward – not because they are fearless, but because they refuse to abandon what matters. What makes this story linger isn’t only its suspense or emotional weight, but its insistence that justice is not abstract. It’s personal. It’s costly. And it often begins with a single person choosing not to look away.

This is fiction that understands trauma doesn’t vanish when the chapter ends. It reshapes lives. It echoes. It demands reckoning. And still, there is hope here. Not the shallow kind, but the hard-earned kind. The kind that grows in broken ground, nurtured by courage, truth, and the belief that even after devastation, meaning can be reclaimed.

Some books are read once and set aside. Others stay with you because they refuse to let you forget. I hope you agree that TIP THE PIANO MAN is one of those stories.

*You can purchase TIP THE PIANO MAN at any reputable online bookstore. Here is the Amazon site: https://www.amazon.com/Tip-Piano-Rosetta-Diane-Hoessli-ebook/dp/B0CW19VFR4/

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Rosetta's Whispers: Writing in Chaos

Rosetta Diane Hoessli — Wed, 25 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

*Written with Veridion Smart

Writers like to imagine ideal conditions. Silence. Time. Clear mental space. But real life rarely cooperates. Sometimes the house is loud. Sometimes grief sits too close. Sometimes the world keeps intruding when all you want is stillness. And yet, stories continue to surface.

Writing doesn’t always happen despite chaos. Sometimes it happens inside it.

In my house, the romantic month of February is more than chaotic. It’s loud, and expensive, and…way too short. Kevin and I chose February to get married 52 years ago for three reasons: He never wanted to forget my birthday, our anniversary, or Valentine’s Day. To him, the best way to accomplish this feat was to get it all done at once, then have an 11-month respite until we had to do it again.

Idiots that we were – young and idealistic in our love – we never stopped to think that other things (sometimes disastrous!) can also occur in the month of February. We had to learn to be sure to cover those bases as well. The last three weeks have proven the truth of that, yet I’ve managed to work through the chaos to the best of my (admittedly limited) ability.

As I write these words, our roof is being totally overhauled after being severely damaged in a 2025 hailstorm larger than any I’ve ever seen hit San Antonio. Then the A/C conked out in our van, the heater bit the dust in my car, and all our tags came due. We’re swallowed up by the ‘donut hole’ for our prescription drugs, we’re scrambling to deal with the paperwork for last year’s taxes, and…blah, blah, blah. It’s always something.

None of this is unusual. For the last 52 years, my prayer has been, “Lord, please, just get us through February!”

Yet, through it all, I’m working steadily on my latest novel, JOURNEY OF THE HEART. Old characters continue to thrive and grow, and new ones show up without warning. Settings flourish, plotlines expand, and internal dialogue develops easily (punctuated outside my office window by the most unbelievable racket I’ve ever heard) – something I never expected. In spite of the commotion and my own neurotic misgivings, I find that another day is gone and the month is nearly over, but the words have continued to come.

There are seasons when words arrive gently, and others when they push through cracks, demanding to be written even when conditions are imperfect. Those are not lesser moments. In fact, they often produce the most honest work. Because, when distractions surround us, pretense falls away and what remains is the core question: What matters enough to write, anyway?

In those moments, productivity doesn’t look like word counts or polished chapters. It looks like fragments. Notes. A single paragraph that tells the truth. It looks like trusting that the story understands timing better than we do. Writing during upheaval is not about discipline. It’s about devotion. Devotion to the voice that insists on being heard, even when the roof is loud, the calendar is full, the mind is worried, or the heart is tired.

Some of the most enduring stories are born not in peace, but in persistence. If today feels noisy, write, anyway. The story knows why.

*JOURNEY OF THE HEART is the second book in my WHISPERS THROUGH TIME series. If you haven’t read the first novel yet, you can purchase WHISPERS THROUGH TIME (2021) at https://www.amazon.com/Whispers-Through-Rosetta-Diane-Hoessli-ebook/dp/B098278M38/.

**If a gritty, in-your-face suspense/mystery/thriller inspired by a true story is more your speed, you can purchase TIP THE PIANO MAN (2024) at https://www.amazon.com/Whispers-Through-Rosetta-Diane-Hoessli-ebook/dp/B098278M38/.

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Rosetta's Whispers: When Characters Stop Asking Permission and Start Telling the Story

Rosetta Diane Hoessli — Thu, 12 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

*Written with Veridion Smart

There comes a moment in writing when something quietly shifts. You sit down with a plan, a scene, a direction, a tidy intention – and suddenly the characters refuse to cooperate. They pause where you expected movement. They speak words you didn’t outline. They make choices that feel… inconvenient.

And yet, truer.

This is often when writers panic. I’m losing control. But seasoned storytellers know better. This is the moment when the story begins to breathe on its own. In a series especially, characters don’t exist merely to serve plot. They accumulate history. They remember. They change. And once they do, they stop asking the author what to do next.

Instead, they tell us.

A character who has endured trauma will not behave the same way forever, nor should they. Growth doesn’t arrive neatly, and healing certainly doesn’t follow an outline. When a character resists your plan, it’s often because the plan no longer fits who they’ve become. That resistance is not failure.

It’s depth.

I’ve just experienced this in my current work-in-progress, JOURNEY OF THE HEART – and the character that flipped around and did a U-Turn without any planning on my part is not a person, but a stallion that died more than a century earlier. While I’d thought to use him as a simple vehicle for my heroine, a Lakota woman named Sierra Masters who has a knack for walking into historical mysteries that must be solved, he leaped from my imagination directly into Sierra’s world…as a magnificent black-and-white Medicine Hat American Paint Quarter Horse that provides protection, mystery, and enlightenment to a character who definitely needs it.

All on his own.

I have another character (this one is a person) who insisted on changing the way she died without a single direction from me, and a third whom I thought throughout the entire story would be someone else. I had no warning, and no choice. The characters were all absolutely right about their places in this tale – and I can’t believe I didn’t think of it myself!

The hardest thing for a writer to learn – and the most liberating – is when to loosen the grip. When to listen instead of dictate. When to trust that the character knows something you haven’t consciously realized yet. This is how stories evolve beyond structure. This is how series gain emotional continuity. This is how fiction comes alive.

If your characters have started talking back lately, congratulations. You’re not losing the story.

You’re finally hearing it.

*If you haven’t read Book One in my Whispers Through Time series, the book before my (WIP) JOURNEY OF THE HEART, you can purchase a copy of WHISPERS THROUGH TIME at any reputable online bookstore, starting with https://www.amazon.com/Whispers-Through-Rosetta-Diane-Hoessli-ebook/dp/B098278M38/.

**If you love an edgy, gritty, in-your-face suspenseful mystery, try TIP THE PIANO MAN (2024). Go to https://www.amazon.com/Tip-Piano-Rosetta-Diane-Hoessli-ebook/dp/B0CW19VFR4/ and give it a read! Thank you!

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Rosetta's Whispers: When a Series Starts Writing Itself - Letting Characters Take the Lead

Rosetta Diane Hoessli — Wed, 21 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

*Written with Veridion Smart

There’s a moment that every long-form writer reaches often without realizing it at first - when the story quietly shifts hands. You may have begun with a plan. A plot outline. A destination clearly marked on the map.

But then, one day, a character says something you didn’t expect. Or refuses to do what you told them to do. Or walks straight off the page and into territory you never intended to explore. And that’s when you know: You’re no longer writing a single book.

You’re building a series.

The difference between writing a book and writing a series is really simple, but putting it into effect isn’t. Here’s why – and I’m just learning this as I go along, writing Book Two, JOURNEY OF THE HEART, in my Whispers Through Time series.

When you write one book, you’re responsible for everything. The pacing. The arc. The emotional resolution. But a series is different. A series isn’t just about story. It’s about relationship. You’re not only asking, what happens next? You’re asking, who are these people becoming?

Characters in a series don’t exist to serve plot alone. They evolve, carry memory, and grow consequences. They remember what they’ve survived, and they react accordingly. That’s when they begin to feel alive.

The first time I ever had characters push back, it scared me to death. It happened while I was writing WHISPERS THROUGH TIME, and I had no intention of Sierra ever returning to her former lover, Hunter. But…they insisted…and it was a good thing.

Writers sometimes worry when a character ‘takes over,’ as if it means losing control. In truth, it means the opposite. It means you’ve written them honestly enough that they now have something I think of as 'internal logic.' They have emotional continuity. And they have a moral compass to live by, even if it’s sometimes flawed.

At that point, forcing them into predetermined actions often weakens the story. Listening to them strengthens it. Some of the most resonant moments in a series happen when the author steps back and lets the character lead, even if it means rewriting what you thought you knew.

You must trust the Long Arc. Series writing demands patience. Remember: not every question needs an answer in the first book. Not every wound heals immediately. Not every truth is revealed all at once.

Readers who love a series aren’t just following events; they’re committing to lives. They want to walk alongside characters as they stumble, grow, resist, and change. Letting characters guide the story allows that long arc to unfold naturally, without rushing toward closure that hasn’t been earned yet.

If you let go, just enough, you still steer the ship. You still choose the waters. But, sometimes, the wind knows where it needs to go.

When characters begin to speak more clearly than your outline, that’s not chaos. It’s craft maturing. It’s the sign of a story deep enough to sustain more than one telling. And that’s when a series stops being a project…

…and starts becoming a World.

*If you haven't read WHISPERS THROUGH TIME yet, you can purchase it in either print or e-book at several online retail bookstores. One such outlet is: https://www.amazon.com/Whispers-Through-Rosetta-Diane-Hoessli-ebook/dp/B098278M38/

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Rosetta's Whispers: I Truly HATE New Year's Resolutions...

Rosetta Diane Hoessli — Wed, 7 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

I’m goal-oriented and a self-starter, but I have no use for New Year’s resolutions. If I’m honest, I’ll tell you that I think they’re a waste of time.

As I write this, I’m fighting my annual case of the crud and I’m completely deaf in one ear, my eyeballs are pounding and unfocused, and my lungs burn like they’re going to explode. My brain is a fuzzy combination of cold medication and pain relievers. So, right now I couldn’t set a goal even if I wanted to. I couldn’t make a list about my list, or plot a single scene for my work-in-progress…yet, I know that’s what I should be doing.

Or maybe not.

No, my main New Year’s resolution for 2026 – the only one that truly matters – is to be kinder to myself. Don’t expect so much. Don’t push so hard. Just take a step back, relax, breathe. Live in the moment, as they say, and enjoy it. I haven’t done that in years.

The truth is, my dreams aren’t the same as they once were. They’re not as big, or as earth-shaking. They’re quieter, gentler, more like whispered prayers than world-shattering symphonies. But I need to get back in touch with them, prioritize and focus on them with the same determination I did in my younger days, and perhaps even let a few of them go…the ones that don’t seem so important anymore.

I’m ready to downsize and simplify my life. I’m sure this comes with age, but I don’t need so many compartments in my mind. I don’t want to be so fragmented. Instead, I want to love harder, with fewer conditions. I want to forgive more, with less cynicism. I want to oust negativity from my psyche and add spiritual strength to my core. I want to communicate with God on a first-name basis, the way I did when I was a child.

If I think really hard about it, I realize that I’ve met a lot of the goals I had when I was younger. But, if I’m honest, I also have to say that the most meaningful aspirations I had were never verbalized, never written down, never shared with anyone. That’s probably why I was never big on resolutions: I’m too private. I know the goals I’ve met, and I’m proud of them. But I also know which ones I can kiss good-bye with a full heart and no reservations.

Something tells me that 2026 will be a time for quiet introspection for me. A time to write what I love – and only what I love. A time for letting go. A time for trust. A time for reconnecting with old friends and family. A time for peace, and – hopefully – the happiness that comes with all that.

I wish the same for you.

*To follow me on Facebook, you can connect with me on either www.facebook.com/Ronni.Hoessli or www.facebook.com/RosettaDianeAuthor. I look forward to seeing you there!

To purchase a copy of WHISPERS THROUGH TIME (2021): https://www.amazon.com/Whispers-Through-Rosetta-Diane-Hoessli-ebook/dp/B098278M38/

To purchase a copy of TIP THE PIANO MAN (2024): https://www.amazon.com/Tip-Piano-Rosetta-Diane-Hoessli-ebook/dp/B0CW19VFR4/

Thank you so much!

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Rosetta’s Whispers: When I Knew I was Born to Write

Rosetta Diane Hoessli — Wed, 19 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Most of my instructors in high school were pretty good, and some were downright comical without meaning to be, but my freshman English teacher was stupendous. I’ve never had a teacher as magnificent as she was, before or since. Her name was Celina Rios (Miss Rios to her students), she was young and beautiful, and every jock in school signed up for her English class just because they wanted to look at her.

But to those of us who were serious about academia…well, that was a different story altogether.

By the end of the first week of school, the jocks had all begged out of her class, and most of the girls just wanted to be her. Those girls didn’t last very long, either. The students who remained were scared but determined – and all I wanted to do was pass. By the end of my freshman year, without my even realizing it, she had prodded my niggling interest in journalism – which became a passion later in my life, set in motion my love for editing and good grammar, and created a monster when it came to argument, debate, and conflict.

For the next three years, I fought for Miss Rios’ English class – and got it, by hook or by crook, every year. Then, when I was a senior, I qualified for her accelerated class, and I was really proud of that. But that’s when the real work started.

Several months before the end of the school year, she announced that our senior term papers would be half our final grade – no extra credit, no curve, no help – and suggested that we begin working on them as soon as we could. She gave us a list of a few hundred books – some modern, some classic, some even banned – and told us to pick one book for a report due at the end of the year. Then she passed out several pages of questions we had to answer in this report, and gave a final instruction:

“Don’t even think about using Clift Notes. They won’t help you.”

I don’t remember why I chose Leon Uris’ novel EXODUS, but I did – and I didn’t worry about it. It was my senior year, after all, and a girl has to play. Besides, how hard could a book report be? There were so many neat things going on and I had plenty of time…

Of course, I waited until two weeks before the term paper was due before I got started – and discovered to my shock that EXODUS was nearly 900 pages long. I curled up with this heavy-duty novel (in both substance and weight) on a Friday night and didn’t close it until late afternoon on Saturday. I read that book straight through, literally unable to put it down.

I’ve always loved to read, but I’d never immersed myself in a story the way I did when I settled in with this one. I’d never experienced a story that way in my life. It unfolded in my brain like a technicolor movie. I could see every character, large and small. They were all so real to me. I felt every emotion, even emotions I’d never experienced before, and walked through the Jewish history as if I was familiar with it, which I certainly wasn’t. Reading EXODUS for the first time was the most important turning point in my life.

The second was when I began to answer Miss Rios’ questions: What is the main theme of your book? Who is the main character? Secondary characters? The main plot? The sub-plots? How would your book be different if the antagonist was the protagonist instead of the other way around? How would your book be different if you had no main secondary character?

And on…and on…and on. There were at least ten pages of questions.

I had to dissect EXODUS. I had to analyze, at seventeen years old, what Leon Uris, one of the greatest novelists in the world, was thinking when he wrote the most magnificent book I’d ever read. I had to figure out what made the story tick, what made the characters tick, and I had to decipher what made both those things work together.

What an exercise in writing! In all the classes I’ve taken since then, in college and elsewhere, I’ve never delved into a novel as completely as I did then. For two days and three nights I worked, practically non-stop…not because it was an important assignment, not because it was half our final grade, but because I was fascinated. I couldn’t stop. I had to do it.

By the time I turned in my term paper, nearly paralyzed with terror, I knew I had to write. I knew it’s what I was born to do. I had to write stories with meaning, with purpose, with heart and truth. When I received my grade (a 99% because I left out a comma) and read Miss Rios’ comment in the margin, I knew I was capable of it.

She wrote, “If this is your work, it is excellent craft.” I still have this term paper in my memory box of items that mean the most to me – now, more than 50 years later.

I don’t think I’ve ever been so thrilled and honored to be almost-accused of plagiarism. I even went into her classroom and thanked her. But far more important than that is now, finally, with two novels of my own behind me, I’m able to acknowledge the woman who woke me to the power of the English language.

This is the teacher to whom I owe the greatest debt of gratitude for setting me on the path that’s given me so much happiness and fulfillment.

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NEW WORK IN PROGRESS: BOOK TWO IN WHISPERS THROUGH TIME SERIES

Rosetta Diane Hoessli — Mon, 17 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Tentatively titled JOURNEY OF THE HEART, Book Two in the WHISPERS THROUGH TIME series, will take Sierra Masters, Hunter Davenport, Skye Morning Sun Parker, and Colt Chambers - main characters in WHISPERS THROUGH TIME - deep into the heart of the magnificent Texas Canyonlands to solve the mystery of a fiery-haired Comanche captive, a feared Comanche war chief, and a Comanchero treasure lost in the infamous Valley of Tears nearly 150 years earlier.

I hope you'll follow along with me as I research and write this new novel!

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