February | 2025 | Bibliotica

About the book, Home to Comfort

Genre: Women’s Fiction / Contemporary / Cozy Mystery
Publisher: Fish Tales Publishing
Pages: 382
Publication Date: October 10, 2024

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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About the author, Kimberly Fish

Kimberly Fish has been in the writing industry for over 30 years. An amateur historian and fan of cozy mysteries, she weaves history and mystery into her stories of women finding their grit and sweet second chances.

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My Thoughts

It’s always difficult saying goodbye to beloved friends, even when those friends are fictional. I’ve been reading Kimberly Fish’s Comfort books for the better part of a decade now, and when I opened her latest, Home to Comfort, and read that it was the final book in the Comfort and Joy ssub-trilogy featuring Gloria Bachman, I felt a lot like good neighbors were moving away.

As aways, Kimberly Fish is the consummate storyteller, hooking us on this book at the very beginning, when Gloria lament choosing a hot yoga session instead of a massage or a mani-pedi on her resort vacation. True to form, she sticks it out, proving to herself and all of us that you don’t have to be young and skinny to take such classes (though maybe you have better sense than to repeat the process.)

But this isn’t a resort story. Rather, it’s Fish’s trademark mix of mystery and romance, relationship drama, and continued self-awareness, told through the happenings and hijinks of Gloria and the men in her life, Gardner, Harry, and of course Mason Lassiter. Fish’s use of dialogue is on point, as always, and her pacing is dead-on, with the romantic bits enhancing but not out shining the mystery elements of the story.

If you’ve read the previous two books in the Comfort and Joy trilogy, you’ll benefit from familiarity with some of the characters, but it isn’t necessary to enjoy this book.

At 382 pages, this book is the perfect length to savor, much like the perfect summer afternoon as it slips into evening.

Goes well with: chocolate truffles and a glass of red wine.

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About the book, The Border Between Us

Genre: Literary Fiction
Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
Pages: 256
Publication Date: August 27, 2024

The Border Between Us is a poignant coming-of-age novel from one of the most exciting voices in fiction. Ramón López was born along the US–Mexico border but is determined to get out and embrace the American dream—and he’s not sure whether his complicated family is a help or a hindrance. As the son of immigrants, as Ramón grows, his admiration for his entrepreneurial father sours as he watches his

dad’s dreams of success wither on the vine. Ramón’s mother is constantly preoccupied with his younger brother, who struggles with intellectual disabilities. And the outside world is rife with danger and temptations threatening to distract Ramón from his dreams of making it to New York and succeeding as an artist.

As dreams clash with reality and values conflict with desires, Ramón finds the American dream within his reach—but will it demand too big a sacrifice?

Award-winning author Rudy Ruiz brilliantly captures the beauty and danger of border life as Ramón struggles to understand his home and his place in the world. The Border Between Us is a stunning, compassionate story about a son’s fraught relationship with his father, the challenges of pursuing a creative life when one comes from humble beginnings, and the power of embracing one’s whole self.

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About the Author, Rudy Ruiz

Rudy Ruiz is the author of The Resurrection of Fulgencio Ramirez and Valley of Shadows. He is a winner of the Jesse H. Jones Award for Best Book of Fiction, the Gulf Coast Prize in Fiction, and multiple International Latino Book Awards. A bilingual native of the

US–Mexico border, he earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Harvard University. Rudy lives and writes in Texas and New England with his wife and children. Visit his website at RudyRuiz.com.

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My Thoughts

I’ve often said that the Young Adult / New Adult market includes some of the most provocative storytelling in contemporary literature, and Rudy Ruiz’s latest novel, The Border Between Us is proof of this.

Told simply, using Spanish dialogue (without translation) when appropriate, the story of Ramón López, a boy from the southmost part of Brownsville, TX, who makes routine trips across the border-spanning Gateway Bridge with his father, is kind of coming-of-age tale that has you rooting for the protagonist to succeed, even when you’re shaking his head at some of his poor choices.

Author Ruiz brilliantly captures the unique culture of the Texas-Mexico border, and the people who dwell on both sides. It’s a rich tapestry that he gives us: struggling Mexican-American families who live in intergenerational homes and tight-knit communities, more affluent families who are sent to the border to manage companies there, private schools run by nuns, public schools where bullies might carry switchblades or guns or both – and the ever-present angst of knowing that drugs and smuggling are becoming ever more pervasive.

And in this cultural pozole, we have a boy entrepreneur who sells sweet chili packets (foodie readers may recognize this as Tajín) to earn the money for a coveted Evel Knievel bike, until the nuns shut him down and steal his market (in a truly tragi-comic turn of events). The boy mogul finds his second success, years later, in art, and manages to “get out,” as his friend Dante says.

But no one really leaves the border forever, and even when life takes him halfway across the country, Ramón remains connected to his family, his hometown, his culture, even when he doesn’t entirely wish to be.

I loved the characters Rudy Ruiz created. Ramón was the center, of course but his extended family, his friends, even is blonde art-school girlfriend Clara are all painted in vivid colors. Similarly, the landscape is described incredibly realistically. I could feel the hot pavement, taste the dust in the ear, feel the oppressive heat, but I could also smell Grandma Fina’s cooking, taste the cherry (or lemon) donuts provided by Perla, and hear the strumming of David’s guitar.

I also appreciated that none of the characters were perfect, but that their flaws weren’t over the top. Ramón’s father Joe is perhaps the best example of this, as his struggle is a counterpoint to his son’s.

At 296 pages, The Border Between Us is a satisfying read that flows quickly, but may be better appreciated if savored slowly.

Goes well with: tacos with a squeeze of lime juice, mangos with tajín, and Mexican beer like Indio or Bohemia.