Murder Most Actual by Alexis Hall

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From the author of Boyfriend Material and Rosaline Palmer Takes the Cake comes a cozy mystery that revisits the Golden Age of detective fiction, starring a heroine who’s more podcaster than private eye and topped with a lethal dose of parody -- perfect for fans of Clue, Knives Out, and Only Murders in the Building!

When up-and-coming true crime podcaster Liza and her corporate financier wife Hanna head to a luxurious hotel in the Scottish Highlands, they're hoping for a chance to rekindle their marriage - not to find themselves trapped in the middle of an Agatha Christie-esque murder mystery with no way home. But who better to take on the case than someone whose entire profession relies on an obsession with all things mysterious and macabre? Though some of her fellow guests may consider her an interfering new media hack, Liza knows a thing or two about crime and – despite Hanna’s preference for waiting out the chaos behind a locked door – might be the only one capable of discovering the killer. As the bodies rack up and the stakes rise, can they save their marriage -- and their lives?

Source: NetGally; ARC provided by Kobo Rakuten for an honest review

Alexis Hall writing a cozy mystery? Sign me up! Murder Most Actual is delightful mystery that pays homage to Clue and the current obsession with true crime mystery shows. 

When Liza and Hanna check into their hotel they weren't to know that their getaway, which is an attempt to repair their strained marriage, would be hijacked by multiple murders and a snow storm. The hotel is filled with the quintessential quirky characters including a Poirot-like detective who refers to himself in third person. The first murder when it occurs naturally unsettles all the guests, but Liza's inquisitive mind is drawn to the intrigue. As much as Hanna wants her wife to keep away from danger, she knows that this falls squarely into Liza's area of interest. As the bodies pile up, Liza gets deeper into the mystery potentially risking her own safety and that of Hanna's.

I truly enjoyed this book! It felt old-timey in a way and I absolutely go for that stuff being that I grew up on Agatha Christie's Miss Marple and Poirot series. I never got into the true crime frenzy, however, I did enjoy reading Liza's process and getting a bit of an idea of it.

Aside from the mystery, I was incredibly taken with the subplot of Liza and Hanna's relationship. The reason for their holiday is that their marriage has felt a little off recently. Hanna distracted by work, Liza who spends the bulk of her time researching and working on her podcast with her co-host means a lot of time has been spent apart and losing touch with one another. Hanna booked their getaway hoping that would be a kind of refresh button for them. It's not easy closing a gap that's been steadily widening. I think Hall did spectacularly at capturing the nuances of a long-term relationship that has stalled, of a couple who feel so distanced from each other that where the little things they used to like about the other become the things that irritate. All the subtle changes that steadily occur over a period of time that end up gaining momentum and that eventually change the face of the relationship. I understood that so well. 

I've read a few Alexis Hall books and I've become used to his style of writing and the self-deprecating ways most of his characters have. So I was impressed by how easily he switched to mystery-mode and by how it felt different. He's still excellent with the eccentric characters, but the way he wrote Liza and Hanna as more serious-minded and steady individuals with their humor intact was what felt different for me.  I've already said I enjoyed it and yes, I'd recommend Murder Most Actual to any mystery fan or any Alexis Hall fan.

~ Bel

 

Grave Reservations by Cherie Priest

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A psychic travel agent and a Seattle PD detective solve a murder in this quirky mystery in the vein of Lisa Lutz’s The Spellman Files and Charlaine Harris’s Aurora Teagarden series.

Meet Leda Foley: devoted friend, struggling travel agent, and inconsistent psychic. When Leda, sole proprietor of Foley's Flights of Fancy, impulsively re-books Seattle PD detective Grady Merritt’s flight, her life changes in ways she couldn’t have predicted.

After watching his original plane blow up from the safety of the airport, Grady realizes that Leda’s special abilities could help him with a cold case he just can’t crack.

Despite her scattershot premonitions, she agrees for a secret reason: her fiancé’s murder remains unsolved. Leda’s psychic abilities couldn’t help the case several years before, but she’s been honing her skills and drawing a crowd at her favorite bar’s open-mic nights, where she performs Klairvoyant Karaoke—singing whatever song comes to mind when she holds people’s personal effects. Now joined by a rag-tag group of bar patrons and pals alike, Leda and Grady set out to catch a killer—and learn how the two cases that haunt them have more in common than they ever suspected.

* Source: NetGalley; ARC provided by publisher in exchange for an honest review

A psychic travel agent and a detective teaming up to solve a murder is the pairing I didn't know I needed! I guess it might be weird to say a mystery is adorable but this one was. Along with being suspenseful it was also funny and tender in the right moments.

Leda and Grady meet through unusual circumstances. He hires to arrange his flights but when she reschedules his return flight hoe, he's annoyed. Leda, who's "clairsentient" as she terms it herself, can't exactly explain to him why she's insistent on him skipping this particular flight to wait for the next one. from certain death when she reschedules his flight. It's only when he realizes the certain death she saved him from that he wonders how on earth she did it so he decides to pay her a little visit. After she reveals her little secret - that she's sort of psychic -  Grady has an idea. He wants to hire her to help him solve a murder that's been a thorn in his side. It's an unorthodox approach and he'd probably be ripped for it back at his station if anyone caught wind about it, but he's desperate. He's baffled by certain details of the case and after hitting so many dead ends, Leda's gift could provide a breakthrough. Leda's a whole lot of hesitant about this as she's still learning about her gift but agrees to assist. A little extra cash wouldn't hurt as she tries to get her travel agency business going. It's in the midst of working together that Leda makes the unexpected discovery that Grady may have a connection to her own mystery - the murder of her fiancé a few years back. How the two cases are connected is elusive to her, and as alarming as it is, and as much as she's not sure how trustworthy Grady is, she's sure of at least one thing: that she must see this through and Grady is essential to that.

Though it's a mystery, there's a level of lightheartedness that I enjoyed. Leda is quirky, to say the least. Her best friend, Niki sometimes has to push her. Mind you, I tend to be quite judgmental about best friend characters in stories because I feel that a lot of the times they're written to be so over the top that  they overshadow the main character. In Niki's case, she has that tendency that but I never thought she overwhelmed Leda when they were in scenes together. Leda has a unique way to hone her gift. Her clairvoyant karaoke schtick might seem gimmicky but she's somehow able to tap into people's emotions and convey messages through song. She may not understand why a particular song comes to her but she's willing to be the conduit. Those were sweet moments with the added touch that I also found new meaning in certain songs. 

A good mystery can be so satisfying. Grave Reservations is witty and enjoyable and I especially love when unlikely partnerships occur. Leda's innocent nature and big, soft heart strike a nice counterbalance to Grady's many years of detective work that's probably made him a little tired and jaded. I appreciated that he never condescended to her. He might've been a bit exasperated by her and Niki's goofiness and tendency to not listen very well at times, but he always treated her respectfully. Knowing firsthand that Leda's the real deal probably helps, too. I liked this curious, engaging mystery and definitely recommend Grave Reservations. I also wouldn't mind another one featuring Leda and Grady. It'd be fun to see how her gift continues to grow.

~ Bel

The Heron's Cry (Two Rivers #2) by Ann Cleeves

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Cleeves--New York Times bestselling and award-winning author of the Vera and Shetland series, both of which are hit TV shows--returns with the extraordinary follow-up to The Long Call, in the Two Rivers series, soon to be a major TV series too.


North Devon is enjoying a rare hot summer with tourists flocking to its coastline. Detective Matthew Venn is called out to a rural crime scene at the home of a group of artists. What he finds is an elaborately staged murder--Dr Nigel Yeo has been fatally stabbed with a shard of one of his glassblower daughter's broken vases.

Dr Yeo seems an unlikely murder victim. He's a good man, a public servant, beloved by his daughter. Matthew is unnerved, though, to find that she is a close friend of Jonathan, his husband.

Then another body is found--killed in a similar way. Matthew soon finds himself treading carefully through the lies that fester at the heart of his community and a case that is dangerously close to home.

DI Matthew Venn returns in The Heron's Cry, in Ann Cleeves powerful next novel, proving once again that she is a master of her craft. 

Source: NetGalley; ARC kindly provided by publisher in exchange for an honest review

You know, when I read The Long Call last year, I thought it was good and I liked DI Venn. It surprised me how often I'd think back to the story and in particular, DI Venn. I was drawn to his calmness, his ability to be still in the midst of chaos as he quietly turned things over in his mind while also managing detectives under him whose personalities differed from him. It's a quality I so wish I could master. The Heron's Cry was obviously going to land on my TBR pile. 

I think the greatest thrill about any Ann Cleeves novel is that she's able to pack in so much story. She seamlessly moves from character to character, inviting the reader into their private thoughts and drops all sorts of insightful, curious notes. I like her way of storytelling because whether or not those details are pertinent to the main mystery at hand, they're excellent for understanding the various personalities that populate the village or community the story is set in. With regards to DI Venn, she strikes a perfect balance between his professional and personal sides which he himself tries to keep as separate as possible. While he's often deliberate in his intentions and carries himself in a disciplined manner, Cleeves shows us his tender qualities, which are drawn out whenever he's around his husband, Jonathan. They're not showy displays of affection but simply more honest, more vulnerable interactions where Venn feels safest and allows for a more emotional connection. The first book in the series examined his strict religious upbringing and his continued struggle to make peace with it. The Heron's Call continues that line and also brings Venn closer to possibly reconciling with his religious mother. If not that, at least understanding her better.

In The Heron's Call, the victim, Dr. Yeo is an admired member of the community. Not only is he personally known to one of the detectives on Venn's team, a few of the suspects are as well. And some of them are even high profile. The personal and professional sides clash a bit amongst the detectives which for sure make conducting the investigation trickier. Dr. Yeo was working for an organization that advocates for patient rights and his latest casework involved the deaths of patients who had been suffering from depression. (As this is a sensitive subject and the investigation uncovers some troubling details I will leave a few content/trigger warnings at the end of this review.) 

I would say my only disappointment with The Heron's Cry was that I figured out the whodunnit a few chapters before the big reveal. It's weird because most often when I read mysteries, I like to try to guess at it and I'm generally wrong which is a good thing for me because I'd rather that twist or surprise, but in this case I wanted that question to carry me through the end. It didn't take away from Cleeve's marvelous writing or the suspense of the story, however, so I still say this reading experience is a win. Cleeve's writes the kind of mystery that I crave - thrilling, compassionate, deeply emotional and thoughtful. Fans of small village British mysteries will take to this one as well!

~ Bel

 

Content Warning

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 - depression; death of one of the previous patients by suicide; mention of online suicide chat forum; a separate group within that suicide forum that encourages taking action towards suicide

The Wrong Family by Tarryn Fisher

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Have you ever been wrong about someone?

Juno was wrong about Winnie Crouch.

Before moving in with the Crouch family, Juno thought Winnie and her husband, Nigel, had the perfect marriage, the perfect son—the perfect life. Only now that she’s living in their beautiful house, she sees the cracks in the crumbling facade are too deep to ignore.

Still, she isn’t one to judge. After her grim diagnosis, the retired therapist simply wants a place to live out the rest of her days in peace. But that peace is shattered the day Juno overhears a chilling conversation between Winnie and Nigel…

She shouldn’t get involved.

She really shouldn’t.

But this could be her chance to make a few things right.

Because if you thought Juno didn’t have a secret of her own, then you were wrong about her, too. 

Source: borrowed from HooplaAudio

Wow. Just wow. This was one head-scratching WTF-ery kind of a plot twist. This is one of those stories where no one appears redeemable, save for Samuel, Winnie and Nigel's teenage son. That's because he's either on the periphery or in the middle with events happening around him, but he is definitely not the creator of all the strife. The Wrong Family has this hybrid bitter-melancholy-edgy-desperate tone that only intensifies as it continues.

Without giving much away, Winnie and her husband Nigel are having marital problems. They're emotionally distant from each other and seem to be operating on different wavelengths. It's hinted that an incident years ago affected their marriage and it hasn't recovered since. Samuel is the only thing keeping them together. Winnie was initially a sympathetic character but she turns unreliable and even erratic at times. Juno, who provides the other POV seems pretty normal, at least compared to the Crouches but then that initial perception of her is turned upside down as the plot progresses. She's highly observant having been a therapist so she's able to analyze the Crouches' behavior and sees how it affects Samuel. During one of Winnie and Nigel's arguments that Juno overhears, something is said out loud that alarms Juno. 

I did not feel good as I read this. Everyone's behavior felt so icky and intrusive. If you're someone who's all about boundaries (I am that way), then you should be aware that boundaries are often crossed here. Part of me wondered if I really wanted to go on but I also wanted to see the story through. The plot descends into a deep, dark, nasty mess that leads to tragedy.

I will give Fisher this - she was good at setting out clues, and where Juno interpreted things one way, there'd be a rational explanation later from a different perspective. It just impressed upon me the danger in having only half the information and making assumptions from there. Juno's curiosity gets the better of her and with every intention of helping to right wrongs, she digs a little further, oblivious to the fact that in doing so she's setting off a sequence of events from which there's no turning back.

 

Would I recommend it? Sure, if you like the dark, twisty mysteries that unsettle you throughout. (I'm including CW/triggers at the bottom. In order to avoid spoilers, I've made it so that you have to highlight the section to see them.) 

~ Bel

Note: It's now been a couple days since I finished it and I've had more time to ponder some of the details. I liked how Fisher set things up and l liked how she left the breadcrumbs that seduced Juno's inquisitiveness which really propelled both the speed and sinister nature of the storyline. And I guess in the aftermath I feel more pity for Winnie and Juno. The Wrong Family is my first novel by Tarryn Fisher and I'd certainly read another one of her books in the future.

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Content Warning/Triggers (highlight to read):

- multiple miscarriages (Winnie's memories), wanting to get pregnant again, counseling runaways/drug addicts (Winnie's previous job), child abduction (Winnie's involvement with one of her previous cases), degenerative disease (Juno), homelessness (Juno), alcoholism and drug abuse (Winnie's brother), marital problems, almost infidelity (Nigel), murder, child death

Retrograde Release Blitz

Retrograde by Desiree Holt

Book 1 in the Galaxy series

General Release Date: 22nd December 2020

Heat Rating: Burning
Format: EBOOK
ISBN: 978-1-83943-470-9
Sexometer: 2
Word Count: 80,672
Language: English
Book Length: SUPER NOVEL
Pages: 297
Genres: CONTEMPORARY, EROTIC ROMANCE, THRILLERS AND SUSPENSE

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Book Description

Hot ex-military, desperate woman, tight conspiracy…wait for the explosion!

Peyton West is desperate. Her brother-in-law is dead, her sister is in a coma and no one seems interested in finding any answers. With every door slammed in her face, she’s referred to Scott “Blaze” Hamilton and the men from super-secret Galaxy.

Conducting meetings on a plane and digging into the underbelly of Tampa politics, she sees a ray of hope…and discovers Blaze lives up to his name in more ways than one. She crosses her fingers that the scorching sex will continue to blaze once the killer is found.

Reader advisory: This book contains scenes of violence, murder and attempted murder.

Excerpt

Well, didn’t this just turn out to be a clusterfuck.

“They’re gaining on us,” John ‘Rocket’ Hardin called from the rear of the van.

“I’m pushing this baby as hard as it will go,” Matt ‘Viper’ Roman ground out.

The tension inside the van was so thick they could almost see it. Disaster was always waiting for them around the corner, but Scott ‘Blaze’ Hamilton knew if anyone could get them to the exfil point, it was Viper. No one could outdrive him.

“Damn it,” Blaze swore under his breath.

A previous rescue attempt by another group had failed and put the hostages in jeopardy. That was always when Galaxy was called. When Blaze had done his research, he’d learned that the only reason the hostages were still alive was because the kidnappers needed them to make sure the ransom was paid. At first, it had sounded like a by-the-book rescue. Jim and Nita Rosen, one of America’s one-percenter couples with money to burn, had been kidnapped for ransom. Their daughter, Angela, afraid her parents would be killed if she called in the FBI, had paid it, but the jerkoffs had come back and asked for more.

When the first people she’d hired had botched the job, that was when she’d turned to Galaxy.

For the four highly trained former SEALs, this should have been a simple retrieval. Tapping into every source, they were unhappy to learn that the kidnappers were less than sophisticated. They were offshoots of a cartel whose leader was barely second tier and had big ideas about establishing himself. Kidnapping was his prime source of income while he built up enough of a bank to take on the big cartel chiefs. These people were the most dangerous kind, since they had oversized egos and small brains. The crew who worked for him came from the dregs, which meant things could easily go wrong.

Reaching out to all their contacts, they’d gotten the location where the Rosens were being held—an old warehouse just outside the little town of San Felipe. Only two guards were on duty at any one time, an indication of the kidnappers’ stupidity and arrogance. The one good thing was that the so-called brains behind this kidnapping only showed up once a day, about midday, to check on their victims. It certainly sounded like amateur hour to Galaxy, but sometimes those were the ones that went sideways.

After a drive-by to scope the place out and take pictures, the team planned the operation. They would breach the building, grab the Rosens and get the hell out of there in their borrowed van before the leader and the rest of the bad guys showed up for their daily visit.

‘Saint’ Francis, their official pilot, would be waiting for them at an extraction point with the helicopter.

Easy peasy, right?

Wrong.

As they’d learned in the military, if something can go wrong it will.

FUBAR.

Fucked up beyond all repair.

Especially with kidnappers like these, who were not very smart.

At first, it was smooth sailing. Only one vehicle, an old car, was parked by the warehouse. They knew from their source that this was the one driven by the two men left to guard the Rosens, so they were good to go. Using an infrared scanner, they were able to determine the location inside of the guards—away from the captives, sitting near the entrance to the warehouse. Breaching the door was kindergarten work for them, as was disposing of the guards before the two knew what was happening. They grabbed the Rosens and hustled them out to their waiting van.

Just as ‘Viper’, their designated wheelman, cranked the engine, a car drove up to the warehouse. Three well-armed and unpleasant-looking men tumbled out, even before the vehicle had come to a stop. One looked to be in charge, pointing at the Galaxy van, and at once the others began shooting at them. They pulled out onto the road before the doors were even fully shut, but the other vehicle was after them at once. Blaze thought there must be a hell of a motor in that thing, because they barely got out to the road before the other vehicle was practically on their tail.

Now they were racing down the two-lane road to the extraction spot with shots from the vehicle behind them peppering the van they were using. It pissed Blaze off that a cheap-ass operation like this one had managed to grab two high-value targets and get away with it. But even more, that best-of-the-best Galaxy was barely escaping a deadly showdown.

“Fuck it all,” Viper cursed.

“It’s true, you know,” Blaze reminded his partners. “The only easy day was yesterday.”

“And today will be our last,” Rocket snapped at him, “if we let ourselves get beaten by these pieces of shit.”

“Never fear. The Viper is here.”

Viper was swerving back and forth to avoid the bullets as they sped down the road at a speed that would dry the spit in the mouth of most people.

“Yeah?” Blaze shifted in his seat. “Well, get us the fuck out of here, then.”

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About the Author

Desiree Holt

A multi-published, award winning, Amazon and USA Today best-selling author, Desiree Holt has produced more than 200 titles and won many awards. She has received an EPIC E-Book Award, the Holt Medallion and many others including Author After Dark’s Author of the Year. She has been featured on CBS Sunday Morning and in The Village Voice, The Daily Beast, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, The London Daily Mail. She lives in Florida with her cats who insist they help her write her books, and is addicted to football. 

 You can follow Desiree on Facebook and Twitter and check out her Blog.

 

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Desiree Holt's Retrograde Giveaway

DESIREE HOLT IS GIVING AWAY THIS FABULOUS PRIZE TO ONE LUCKY WINNER. ENTER HERE FOR YOUR CHANCE TO WIN A LOVELY GOODIE BAG AND GRAB YOUR FREE DESIREE HOLT ROMANCE BOOK! Notice: This competition ends on 31th December 2020 at 5pm GMT. Competition hosted by Totally Entwined Group.

19 Souls (Sin City Investigation #1) by J.D. Allen

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Private Investigator Jim Bean is a straightforward, to-the-point man. When his latest client, Sophie Evers, asks him to find her brother Daniel, Jim has no idea how complicated his life is about to become.

Daniel is not Sophie's brother. He is her most coveted prey. Clinging to the belief that they belong together, Sophie kills Daniel's real sister to manipulate Jim into flushing Daniel out of hiding. She will create the "perfect life" for the only man she's ever loved, no matter how many people she must kill along the way.

When Jim discovers the truth about Sophie, he's driven to set things right before her delusional plan claims even more souls.

Source: advance e-galley provided in exchange for an honest review


19 Souls is one heck of a thriller that starts with a gruesome scene where you immediately know who the bad guy or rather, girl is. Readers, she's bat shit crazy! I'll be honest, that first scene was so disturbing that I wondered if I could handle the rest of the book but I stuck with it because well... I couldn't put it down. Sophie is an intriguing villain in that she has one foot in reality and the other way off in some depraved fantasy land which is I suppose how most sociopaths work. She manages to maintain a semblance of normalcy with a day job that funds her ultimate goal: collecting knives and weaponry, stalking her childhood crush, Daniel and killing anyone in her way. It's scary how well she's planned every little detail including recruiting extra help in the form of an unsuspecting PI. Jim, who has an interesting if unfortunate backstory, is normally good at judging character but even he is fooled by Sophie's act. It's too bad that he's so darn good at his job because he's mortified when he realizes how he was used and that he single-handedly led her to her prize. Now he's determined to protect Daniel and capture Sophie before she hurts more people.

This is one suspenseful read and strangely enough, as unhinged as Sophie was, I was also fascinated by the glimpses into how the wheels were turning in her mind. It's an intense cat and mouse game as Jim uses every resource to catch up to her and anticipate her next move. I was so anxious as the action reached its climax and I felt the ending could have gone a number of ways. Since this is the start of a series and I liked it so much, I'll definitely want to read the next book when it comes out. I'm curious to know how Jim moves on from this and if the ending comes into play down the road.

~ Bel

A Distant Heart (Bollywood #4) by Sonali Dev

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Her name means “miracle” in Sanskrit, and to her parents, that’s exactly what Kimaya is. The first baby to survive after several miscarriages, Kimi grows up in a mansion at the top of Mumbai’s Pali Hill, surrounded by love and privilege. But at eleven years old, she develops a rare illness that requires her to be confined to a germ-free ivory tower in her home, with only the Arabian Sea churning outside her window for company. . . . Until one person dares venture into her world.

Tasked at fourteen-years-old with supporting his family, Rahul Savant shows up to wash Kimi’s windows, and an unlikely friendship develops across the plastic curtain of her isolation room. As years pass, Rahul becomes Kimi’s eyes to the outside world—and she becomes his inspiration to better himself by enrolling in the police force. But when a life-saving heart transplant offers the chance of a real future, both must face all that ties them together and keeps them apart.

As Kimi anticipates a new life, Rahul struggles with loving someone he may yet lose. And when his investigation into a black market organ ring run by a sociopathic gang lord exposes dangerous secrets that cut too close to home, only Rahul's deep, abiding connection with Kimi can keep her safe—and reveal the true meaning of courage, loss, and second chances. 

Infused with the rhythms of life in modern-day India, acclaimed author Sonali Dev’s candid, rewarding novel beautifully evokes all the complexities of the human heart.

Source: advance e-galley provided in exchange for an honest review


My favourite couple from A Change of Heart - Rahul and Kimi - finally get their story! If you read my review of it you'll know that I mentioned Rahul being the moral compass of that story. His steadfast loyalty and determination to uncover the truth was what set him apart from everyone else. And his obvious devotion to Kimi was a story I wanted more of.

A Distant Heart gives us their backstory revisiting Rahul's childhood and how he came to know Kimi's family and eventually find a career in law enforcement. The budding friendship between Rahul and Kimi is so sweet and it's apparent that even back then, she was a spunky kid with a fierce will. While he looked at the world in black and white, she viewed the world as a vast, exciting place where all the possibilities were there. In the present, their relationship is strained but that won't deter Rahul from protecting Kimi especially now that the threat from the evil gang lord Asif Khan is even greater than before. Asif who was responsible for his friend, Jen's death. Asif who ran the black market organ trade. Asif who zeroed in on Kimi and has something to do with her heart transplant. Even though Rahul caught Asif, there are still so many questions left unanswered and he knows Kimi can't be truly safe until he gets to the bottom of them.

At the center of this book is Rahul and Kimi's beautiful, complicated friendship, how it developed and shaped who they are today. How their expectations of each other have both held them up in times of need but also held them back. It's also more than that. Honestly, there's so much going on that it makes it hard to put A Distant Heart into just one category, and to do so would be a disservice to its uniqueness. Yes, it's a romance but also a thriller, a mystery, an ode to family and loyalty. Much like last time I have a hard go of it writing a review that feels that I'm doing the book justice. I mean, Sonali Dev is the wordsmith here, an incredible storyteller who infuses passion into all those pages that have captured my attention. Rahul and Kimi came to mean so much to me and A Distant Heart was more than I hoped for. 

~ Bel