HOME TO COMFORT
Comfort & Joy, Book Three
BY KIMBERLY FISH
Women’s Fiction / Contemporary / Cozy Mystery
Publisher: Fish Tales Publishing
Pages: 382
Publication Date: October 10, 2024
Scroll Down for the Giveaway!
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SYNOPSIS
Gloria Bachman has pivoted so many times this year she has whiplash. Now, in the middle of winter and drenched in Mexican sunshine at a five-star resort, she has a role to play: Mason Lassiter’s “arm candy” in a sting to nab his not-actually-dead first wife, Patsy. It didn’t make any sense to her either, but who argues with government officials offering an expense-paid trip and a reason for a new beach wardrobe?
With Patsy leading resort security, FBI agents, and Mason on a merry chase, Gloria knows that if you want to catch a woman of a certain age, you have to think like a woman of a certain age. Thankfully, she’s got the credentials.
If only she could understand the other people in her life—particularly Gardner Rogers. Gloria returns home to Comfort, Texas with a ring, a pressing need to organize her house, and a custom order of Sweeties signature truffles to be delivered to White House chefs. When her business partner embarks on last-minute travel plans, one of her best friends announces a retirement, romances bloom from unlikely sources, and Gardner and her ex-husband, Harry Rogers, come unhinged—quite publicly—it all forces Gloria to face her strangest challenges yet.
This final book in the Comfort and Joy trilogy weaves happy endings for the townsfolk that readers have come to love and just deserts for those they don’t. It’s Kimberly Fish at her finest and a treasure for brave people who don’t retire quietly.
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REVIEW
HALL WAYS REVIEW: What fun it was to return to Comfort, Texas, via Kimberly Fish's final installment in the Comfort and Joy trilogy! Home to Comfort illustrates what Fish does best in her storytelling: bring people and places to life with humor and panache.
My prior escapes to Comfort, a real town nestled in the Texas Hill Country, have been via the five books in the Comfort Stories, Fish's other series set there. Yes, I jumped in and started with the third book this time around! I am certain there's a literary law against doing this, but go ahead and cuff me. No regrets. I already knew the town vibe, and I had no trouble sinking right into the story where, as expected, everything and everyone felt familiar. And wonderfully relatable.
"Why, oh why, had she not chosen the pedicure, or salt sauna, or even the gentle e-Bike ride over the hills? No. She had to prove to herself she could be the person
who exercised while traveling. Foolishness!”
Early in Home to Comfort, I knew that main character Gloria Bachman was my kind of gal. She's a sixty-year-old woman who's been knocked down, gotten up, rebuilt her life, rebuilt her career, and has found the man of her dreams. She's smart, witty, fashionable, and has a knack for getting embroiled in shenanigans that will have readers giggling and gasping. But readers also spend a lot of time inside Gloria's head and are privy to her fears, self-doubt, and insecurities, and we learn how she sees herself and life around her. Gloria is such an authentic character.
"Gloria's heart flipped upside down and spilled worries all over the lovely Saltillo tiles."
Not only does Kimberly Fish write authentic and engaging characters (and mercy, there are a lot of them in Home to Comfort), she has a flair for crafting sentences that breathe life into her scenes. The inclusion of colloquial phrases, like: "From your mouth to God's ears," further enriches Fish's storytelling. This serves readers well with multiple plotlines that move from a Mexican seaside resort to the Texas Hill Country; truly, there are three delicious tales in one. I'm not kidding about the deliciousness factor -- the descriptions of drinks and foods and oh, the chocolate shop delights still have me drooling.
Though I had no trouble understanding the goings-on despite having not read the first two installments in this series, I do believe it would be beneficial to read the series in order. This would surely allow readers more insight into Gloria's nemesis Gardner, better visualize the wide circle of Gloria's friends and frenemies, experience firsthand the various town crises, and experience with Gloria her path to find peace and happiness in Comfort.
Fish is a gifted storyteller, and Home to Comfort, the Comfort Stories novels, as well as her Misfits and Millionaires series are endlessly entertaining. My only quibble with Home to Comfort is that it contains a considerable number of typos that make it feel like it lacked a final proofreading. I realize that many (most?) readers' eyes fly right past these kinds of errors, so it won't affect their reading experience, and admittedly, I am jealous. But for me, it's a huge distraction from an otherwise stellar story.
If you are drawn to stories of second-chance romance, robust characters, cozy mysteries, competent women, and armchair travel, then check out the Comfort and Joy series, and start with the first book, Sweet Comfort. I'll meet you there.
To learn more about the book, look for #LoneStarLitHomeToComfort on your preferred social media platform.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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will receive autographed copies of Home to Comfort
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Wonderful review. You captured all the things I especially liked in the story, especially Gloria. What a great, strong, well-developed character that has carried this series. I've read all three in the series and really enjoyed them.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Maryann. I am definitely interested in going back to the beginning of this series.
DeleteThis is a terrific review and Gloria is a relatable character. Second chances do come along. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThank you! I am really looking forward to going back to the beginning of this series and moving forward with Gloria to this happy ending.
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