“Four amateur sleuths muck and muddle their way through mysterious disappearances and deaths in the barnyard.”
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“Hog Wild” by Cynthia Hickey
“Shelby Dickens’ idyllic hog farm turns chaotic when her prized hog vanishes before the county fair. Racing against time, she uncovers rivalries and secrets, risking everything to expose the truth and restore honor.”
Series: Does not seem to be connected to any of the author’s other books.
Spiritual Content- A mention of a Scripture; Prayers & Thanking God; Church going; 'H's are capital when referring to God; Mentions of God; A few mentions of prayers, praying, & thanking God; Mentions of church going, church events, a pastor, & youth group; A mention of a Biblical event;
*Note: A mention of (not) being superstitious; A mention of luck; A (teasing) mention of haunting someone; A mention of a haunted place.
Negative Content- Minor cussing including: four forms of ‘stupid’, Some eye rolling; A bit of lying & eavesdropping; Gunfire, Being shot at, Being held at gun-point (x2, including a dog being threatened to be shot), Being grabbed and held hostage (x2), Causing a car to wreck on purpose, Trespassing, & A fire (up to semi-detailed); Seeing a fight & Seeing someone shot (both in defense of another, up to semi-detailed); All about & Many mentions of a stolen animal, thefts, & thieves; Mentions of gunfire, being shot at, & threatening notes; Mentions of fires & animals being trapped; Mentions of injured or possibly injured animals (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of lies, lying, & liars; Mentions of gossip & rumors; Mentions of jealousy; Mentions of butchered pigs & blood (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of manure; A few mentions of injuries & blood/bleeding; A few mentions of arrests & jail; A couple mentions of possibly getting murdered; A couple mentions of teen parties (implied wild); A mention of deaths (of Shelby’s parents); A mention of vandalism;
*Note: A couple mentions of car brands; A couple mentions of a fictional character (Nancy Drew); A mention of Google.
Sexual Content- A cheek kiss, a forehead kiss, two almost kisses (barely-above-not-detailed), and a border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed kiss; Wanting to kiss (barely-above-not-detailed); Touches, Embraces, Flutters, & Smelling (up to semi-detailed); Blushes & Winks; Noticing (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of dates, dating, break-ups, & broken hearts; A couple mentions of flirting; A couple mentions of jealousy; Some love, falling/being in love, & the emotions;
*Note: The love interest sleeps on Shelby’s sofa one night to be there to protect her; A couple mentions of a hog’s “harem” of ladies.
-Shelby Dickens
1st person P.O.V. of Shelby
“The Dark Side of the Moo” by Linda Baten Johnson
About this book:
“Liv Olsen returns from university to her home at Friendly Farm—a place that lives up to its name until the dairy cows become seriously ill and the vet is murdered in the barn. Moo-sterious happenings keep Liv looking over her shoulder as she turns amateur sleuth.”
Series: Does not seem to be connected to any of the author’s other books.
Spiritual Content- A couple prayers; Church going; Mentions of prayers, praying, & a prayer chain; Mentions of church, church going, a preacher, & a sermon; A couple mentions of God; A mention of a pastor; A mention of a gospel radio station;
*Note: A mention of an alien.
Negative Content- Finding a murdered body (up to semi-detailed); Being grabbed & threatened (barely-above-not-detailed); All about & Many mentions of a murder, deaths of a person and sick animals, sick animals (cows), the killer, & the bird flu (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of a death (of a wife/mother) due to cancer; Mentions of a fatal gunshot wound, blood/bleeding, & grief; Mentions of sicknesses, possible heart attacks, & a parent being in ICU; Mentions of jealousy; Mentions of a married couple having issues/secrets (which Liv does not think she’s the right person to give advice to the wife because she’s single) & possible up-coming divorce; Mentions of manure; A few mentions of jails/prisons; A few mentions of lies, lying, & deception; A few mentions of rumors; A mention of an attempted kidnapping;
*Note: Liv recalls struggling to let a certain guy lead her when they danced and wonders if it was because she wanted to “assert [her] equality” and valued her independence; Liv and her parents are strongly encouraged to get the flu vaccine (implied they do); Mentions of vaccines (for animals and humans) & wearing masks; A couple mentions of a band & song (Grateful Dead & ‘Sloop John B’); A quote from ‘Annie’; A mention of counseling; A mention of a car brand; A mention of a possible panic attack; A mention of a miscarriage & grief.
Sexual Content- A hand kiss; Touches, Embraces, Dancing, & Hand holding (barely-above-not-detailed); Noticing (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of dates & dating; Mentions of possible affairs; Mentions of a man flirting and behaving inappropriately with married and single women (including when he was dating another woman or married; including trying to kiss a married woman); A few mentions of flirting; A mention of a couple sharing a kiss; Some love, falling/being in love, & the emotions;
*Note: A mention of a woman’s “voluptuous” figure.
-Olivia “Liv” Olsen, age 28
1st person P.O.V. of Liv
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“Fowl Deed” by Teresa Ives Lilly
About this book:
“April transformed her homestead into an egg farm, chicken-inspired gift store, and Airbnb, then hosted the local farmer’s market—all to keep the town’s realtor, Jeff Barr, plus the bank from taking over the property. But when Jeff is found dead by the chicken coop, April must solve the murder or lose it all.”
Series: Does not seem to be connected to any other book.
Spiritual Content- A Scripture is remembered; Prayers; 'H's are capital when referring to God; April tries to talk to a friend about God, but the friend doesn’t think that God will care about her problem (April encourages her that He does); Mentions of God; Mentions of Christians & being a Christian; Mentions of prayers & praying; Mentions of church, church going, church events, & services.
Negative Content- Finding a murdered body (up to semi-detailed); Being held at gun-point & Holding someone at knife-point (in self-defense, up to semi-detailed); Many mentions of the murder, the body, how it happened, murderer, & grief (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of stolen items & thieves; Mentions of arrests & jail; A few mentions of alcohol & drunks; A few mentions of rumors/gossip; A couple mentions of blood; A mention of deaths (of mothers, including April’s mother); A mention of suicide; A mention of nightmares;
*Note: Mentions of social media & websites (Facebook & AirBnB); Mentions of car brands.
Sexual Content- A hand kiss and a forehead kiss; Touches, Embraces, Hand holding, & Smelling (barely-above-not-detailed); Blushes & Winks; Noticing & Staring (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of dates & dating; Mentions of crushes, swooning, blushes, flirting, & a flirt; A mention of a woman’s “lover”;
*Note: A mention of a woman dating a man much older than her (which makes April wonder if the woman “went for” older men).
-April Rein
1st person P.O.V. of April
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“Searching for Sunshine” by Janice Thompson
About this book:
“Jessie Kingston responds to an ad to breed her thoroughbred mare, Cosmic Sunshine, with Derby winner Like the Wind. But this opportunity of a lifetime turns disaster when her horse goes missing while in the care of the breeder.”
Series: Does not seem to be connected to any other book.
Spiritual Content- Prayers; 'H's are capital when referring to God; Mentions of God & His will and plans; Mentions of prayers, praying, a prayer chain, praising God, & blessings over food; A few mentions of churches, church going, & a pastor; A few mentions of blessings & being blessed; A couple mentions of miracles;
*Note: ‘Heavens’ is sighed or exclaimed four times; A mention of a “demon-possessed” cat.
Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘duh’, a ‘good grief’, and two forms of ‘oh my stars’; All about a missing/stolen horse & the thieves; Mentions of threats; Mentions of a nasty divorce with the husband not being a good guy (abusive, but not said how he was abusive); A few mentions of margaritas & a drunk; A few mentions of jealousy; A few mentions of rumors; A couple mentions of swindlers; A couple mentions of the possibility of a horse being hit by a car; A mention of a death (of a wife); A mention of gambling (meaning to take a risk, not actual gambling);
*Note: Mentions of car brands; Mentions of places & restaurants (Walmart, H-E-B, IHOP, & Whataburger); A few mentions of brand names (Dr Pepper & Blue Bell Ice Cream); A mention of a song (‘Jailhouse Rock’).
Sexual Content- A barely-above-not-detailed kiss; Touches, Hand holding, & Nearness (up to semi-detailed); Noticing (up to semi-detailed); A few mentions of dates & dating; A few mentions of jealousy & making someone jealousy on purpose; A couple mentions of cute guys;
A couple mentions of couples share a kiss;
*Note: Many mentions of breeding horses, studs, a mare’s heat cycle, & watching the process.
-Jessie Kingston
1st person P.O.V. of Jessie
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Overall Ratings:
Pre Teens-
New Teens-
Early High School Teens-
Older High School Teens-
My personal Rating-
Hog Wild - 2 stars, personally ⭐️ I didn’t feel connected at all to Shelby, but I felt bad for her because of Big Red (her prized hog) was missing. She did jump to conclusions and accusations very quickly, though, which made her a difficult main character to read about. The ending was a little dramatic for being a cozy mystery, but I was glad everything worked out for Shelby.
The Dark Side of the Moo - 2 stars, personally ⭐️ This one started out not too bad, but all the flu/vaccine/mask comments got a little tiring. I did like Liv as a main character; she had a good head on her shoulders when it came to the investigation. The ending was pretty sudden though and then there was a quick time skip that jolted me out of the story. I was confused at the end because some details weren’t clear or shared (such as whose lipstick was on the murdered man’s shirt or who bought the other half of the vet business). Also, the comment from the love interest about wanting to marry Liv, but not being ready to talk about having children with her was strange to me.
Fowl Deed - 3 stars, personally ⭐️ The main character talks to the reader in this third novella which was a fun addition to the story if not a little quirky. I really liked that April prayed often throughout the story and as she was snooping to find the murder becayse it felt natural and you could tell her faith was important to her. I was suspicious of the love interest, but I think that’s just because he was kind of strange anyway. A bit rushed there at the end, but it is a novella, after all.
Searching for Sunshine - 3 stars, personally ⭐️ The one I was looking forward to the most out of this collection and it was definitely a fun read. I was glad that this one (and the first novella) of this collection weren’t murder mysteries, but this final book also didn’t have any intense or hair-raising moments which made it more of the cozy mystery feel I prefer to read. The romance moved a little fast for my tastes, but it was overall cute and reminded me a lot of the “Little Red Truck” mysteries series by this author with the Texas setting and Southern charm throughout the plot.
Overall, there might have been a couple misses for me in this novella collection, but I did enjoy the last two stories!
See y’all on Friday with a new review!
*BFCG may (Read the review to see) recommend this book by this author. It does not mean I recommend all the books by this author.
*I received this Advance Reader Copy e-book for free from the Publisher (Barbour) for this honest review. Some minor details listed in this review may have been changed in the final version of this book.
