{"id":26811,"date":"2021-01-22T08:06:18","date_gmt":"2021-01-22T13:06:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/?p=26811"},"modified":"2022-10-11T16:57:28","modified_gmt":"2022-10-11T16:57:28","slug":"review-the-broken-spine-by-dorothy-st-james","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/2021\/01\/22\/review-the-broken-spine-by-dorothy-st-james\/","title":{"rendered":"Review \ud83d\udd0d The Broken Spine by Dorothy St. James"},"content":{"rendered":"<!--themify_builder_content-->\n<div id=\"themify_builder_content-26811\" data-postid=\"26811\" class=\"themify_builder_content themify_builder_content-26811 themify_builder tf_clear\">\n    \t\t\t<!-- module_row -->\n\t<div  data-lazy=\"1\" class=\"module_row themify_builder_row tb_bbbcac8 tb_first tf_w tf_clearfix\">\n\t    \t\t\t<div class=\"row_inner gutter-narrow col_align_top tb_col_count_2 tf_box tf_rel\">\n\t\t            <div  data-lazy=\"1\" class=\"module_column tb-column col3-1 tb_49667e8 first\">\n                                                        <div class=\"tb-column-inner tf_box tf_w\">\n                        <!-- module image -->\n<div  class=\"module module-image tb_7036296 rounded drop-shadow customBorderRad_top image-center auto_fullwidth tf_mw\" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div class=\"image-wrap tf_rel tf_mw\">\n\t\t    <img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/the-broken-spine-dorothy-st-james.jpg?w=640\" title=\"Review \ud83d\udd0d The Broken Spine by Dorothy St. James\" alt=\"Review \ud83d\udd0d The Broken Spine by Dorothy St. James\">\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<!-- \/image-wrap -->\n    \n    \t<\/div>\n<!-- \/module image --><!-- module text -->\n<div  class=\"module module-text tb_a1982ef customBorderRad_bottom repeat \" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div  class=\"tb_text_wrap\">\n    <p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #ffffff;\">Trudell Becket, book-loving librarian, finds herself in a bind when the library where she works is turned into a state-of-the-art bookless library. In a rare move of rebellion, Trudell rescues hundreds of her library&#8217;s beloved books slated for the recycle center. She sets up a secret book room in the library&#8217;s basement and opens it to anyone who shares her love of the printed book.<\/span><br \/><br \/><span style=\"color: #ffffff;\">When the town councilman, who was the vocal proponent of the library&#8217;s transformation into a &#8220;futuristic technological center,&#8221; is crushed under an overturned shelf of DVDs, Trudell becomes the police&#8217;s prime suspect for his murder. She was the only person in the library at the time of his death, or so the police believe. But that&#8217;s not true. For the past month, Trudell had been letting a few dozen residents into the building through the basement entrance so they could read and check out the printed books.<\/span><br \/><br \/><span style=\"color: #ffffff;\">But if she tells the police about the backdoor patrons who were in the library at the time of the murder, she&#8217;d have to explain about the secret book room and risk losing the books. In order to protect herself from being arrested for a murder she didn&#8217;t commit, Trudell&#8211;with the help of a group of dedicated readers&#8211;decides to investigate. She quickly discovers you can&#8217;t always judge a book by its cover.<\/span><\/p>    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- \/module text -->                    <\/div>\n                            <\/div>\n                        <div  data-lazy=\"1\" class=\"module_column tb-column col3-2 tb_23787e9 last\">\n                                                        <div class=\"tb-column-inner tf_box tf_w\">\n                        <!-- module text -->\n<div  class=\"module module-text tb_2d1ea91  repeat \" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div  class=\"tb_text_wrap\">\n    <p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-25879 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/smitten-top-pick-banner-1.png?resize=296%2C72\" alt=\"\" width=\"296\" height=\"72\" \/><\/p><hr \/><p><strong><br \/>Release Date:<\/strong>\u00a0Jan 19, 2021<br \/><strong>Series:<\/strong>\u00a0<em>Beloved Bookroom<br \/><\/em><strong>Book: <\/strong>1<br \/><strong>Publisher:<\/strong>\u00a0Penguin Group<br \/><strong>Imprint:<\/strong>\u00a0Berkley<br \/><strong>Price:<\/strong> $13.99<\/p><hr \/><p><br \/><br \/><\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Every now and then, you come across a book that secures itself a home in your heart.\u00a0 <em>The Broken Spine<\/em>, part of the <em>A Beloved Bookroom Mystery<\/em> and the first in its series by <strong><em>Dorothy St. James<\/em><\/strong>, is a delightful read, bursting with originality and wit.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Welcome to Cypress, where the town council has deemed to convert the town\u2019s image into <em>a town of the future<\/em>.\u00a0 Unfortunately, their vision of the future includes \u201cconverting\u201d the only library in town into a modern, <em>bookless library<\/em> (gasp)! Not all is what it seems, though, and sometimes, drastic measures and small rebellions must take place in order to conserve a priceless treasure. But when the town\u2019s manager is discovered dead and all signs point to murder, the main suspect is the very one that just committed the drastic measure and small rebellion (oh no). Get ready for this comical story, that will have you laughing out loud and cheering for the quiet ones.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Trudell \u201cTru\u201d Becket, assistant librarian and lover of books, is the protagonist and hero of the quiet rebellion in this story. \u00a0I loved that this character had a reserved personality, making her impulsive actions funny and meaningful. The supportive cast were a riot and contributed to the craziness of the situation. I liked that some of those characters were left with undiscovered history that will set up nicely for the other books to follow (or at least I hope so). But wait, there\u2019s more. Adding to the mix is a surprise love interest with a relatable back story; high school crush comes back home and perhaps there\u2019s something building between them? I sure hope so, because those two had great chemistry.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">I loved the effortless writing of this author. I so enjoyed reading this book, that I read it, in one sitting (this does not happen often for me).\u00a0 This book is full of witty, funny scenes and dialogue with an amazing story flow and purposeful twists and turns. You know the author is taking you around the block, but it doesn\u2019t matter because you\u2019ll just want to keep reading.\u00a0<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">An old-fashioned mystery, where the murder must be solved with good detective work and the help of a cat, of course!\u00a0 All around, a charming and fantastic first book in-series.\u00a0 I already can\u2019t wait for more.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em>~ Patricia\u00a0<\/em><\/p>    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- \/module text --><!-- module text -->\n<div  class=\"module module-text tb_eb0616c customBorderRad repeat \" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div  class=\"tb_text_wrap\">\n    <p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><span class=\"s1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/2Nw1g0t\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Amazon<\/a><\/span><span class=\"s2\">\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/books.apple.com\/us\/book\/the-broken-spine\/id1506484619?itsct=books_toolbox&amp;itscg=30200&amp;at=11l88k&amp;ct=books_the_broken_spine&amp;ls=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"s3\">iBooks<\/span><\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.barnesandnoble.com\/w\/the-broken-spine-dorothy-st-james\/1136806393?ean=9780593098592\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"s3\">B&amp;N<\/span><\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.kobo.com\/us\/en\/ebook\/the-broken-spine\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"s3\">Kobo<\/span><\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/play.google.com\/store\/books\/details\/Dorothy_St_James_The_Broken_Spine?id=FyjbDwAAQBAJ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"s3\">Google Play<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- \/module text -->                    <\/div>\n                            <\/div>\n            \t    <\/div>\n\t    <!-- \/row_inner -->\n\t<\/div>\n\t<!-- \/module_row -->\n\t<\/div>\n<!--\/themify_builder_content-->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Trudell Becket, book-loving librarian, finds herself in a bind when the library where she works is turned into a state-of-the-art bookless library. In a rare [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26812,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[83,127,128,48],"tags":[153,223,367,404,405,485],"class_list":["post-26811","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-berkley","category-patricia","category-penguin-group","category-reviews","tag-4-5-stars","tag-cozy-mystery","tag-mystery","tag-recommend","tag-recommended-reads","tag-top-picks"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Review \ud83d\udd0d The Broken Spine by Dorothy St. James - Smitten by Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/2021\/01\/22\/review-the-broken-spine-by-dorothy-st-james\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Review \ud83d\udd0d The Broken Spine by Dorothy St. James - Smitten by Books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Trudell Becket, book-loving librarian, finds herself in a bind when the library where she works is turned into a state-of-the-art bookless library. 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In a rare move of rebellion, Trudell rescues hundreds of her library's beloved books slated for the recycle center. She sets up a secret book room in the library's basement and opens it to anyone who shares her love of the printed book.<br \/><br \/>When the town councilman, who was the vocal proponent of the library's transformation into a \"futuristic technological center,\" is crushed under an overturned shelf of DVDs, Trudell becomes the police's prime suspect for his murder. She was the only person in the library at the time of his death, or so the police believe. But that's not true. For the past month, Trudell had been letting a few dozen residents into the building through the basement entrance so they could read and check out the printed books.<br \/><br \/>But if she tells the police about the backdoor patrons who were in the library at the time of the murder, she'd have to explain about the secret book room and risk losing the books. In order to protect herself from being arrested for a murder she didn't commit, Trudell--with the help of a group of dedicated readers--decides to investigate. She quickly discovers you can't always judge a book by its cover.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/smitten-top-pick-banner-1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"296\" height=\"72\" \/><\/p><hr \/><p><strong><br \/>Release Date:<\/strong>\u00a0Jan 19, 2021<br \/><strong>Series:<\/strong>\u00a0<em>Beloved Bookroom<br \/><\/em><strong>Book: <\/strong>1<br \/><strong>Publisher:<\/strong>\u00a0Penguin Group<br \/><strong>Imprint:<\/strong>\u00a0Berkley<br \/><strong>Price:<\/strong> $13.99<\/p><hr \/><p><br \/><br \/><\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Every now and then, you come across a book that secures itself a home in your heart.\u00a0 <em>The Broken Spine<\/em>, part of the <em>A Beloved Bookroom Mystery<\/em> and the first in its series by <strong><em>Dorothy St. James<\/em><\/strong>, is a delightful read, bursting with originality and wit.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Welcome to Cypress, where the town council has deemed to convert the town\u2019s image into <em>a town of the future<\/em>.\u00a0 Unfortunately, their vision of the future includes \u201cconverting\u201d the only library in town into a modern, <em>bookless library<\/em> (gasp)! Not all is what it seems, though, and sometimes, drastic measures and small rebellions must take place in order to conserve a priceless treasure. But when the town\u2019s manager is discovered dead and all signs point to murder, the main suspect is the very one that just committed the drastic measure and small rebellion (oh no). Get ready for this comical story, that will have you laughing out loud and cheering for the quiet ones.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Trudell \u201cTru\u201d Becket, assistant librarian and lover of books, is the protagonist and hero of the quiet rebellion in this story. \u00a0I loved that this character had a reserved personality, making her impulsive actions funny and meaningful. The supportive cast were a riot and contributed to the craziness of the situation. I liked that some of those characters were left with undiscovered history that will set up nicely for the other books to follow (or at least I hope so). But wait, there\u2019s more. Adding to the mix is a surprise love interest with a relatable back story; high school crush comes back home and perhaps there\u2019s something building between them? I sure hope so, because those two had great chemistry.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">I loved the effortless writing of this author. I so enjoyed reading this book, that I read it, in one sitting (this does not happen often for me).\u00a0 This book is full of witty, funny scenes and dialogue with an amazing story flow and purposeful twists and turns. You know the author is taking you around the block, but it doesn\u2019t matter because you\u2019ll just want to keep reading.\u00a0<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">An old-fashioned mystery, where the murder must be solved with good detective work and the help of a cat, of course!\u00a0 All around, a charming and fantastic first book in-series.\u00a0 I already can\u2019t wait for more.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em>~ Patricia\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/2Nw1g0t\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Amazon<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/books.apple.com\/us\/book\/the-broken-spine\/id1506484619?itsct=books_toolbox&amp;itscg=30200&amp;at=11l88k&amp;ct=books_the_broken_spine&amp;ls=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">iBooks<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.barnesandnoble.com\/w\/the-broken-spine-dorothy-st-james\/1136806393?ean=9780593098592\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">B&amp;N<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.kobo.com\/us\/en\/ebook\/the-broken-spine\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Kobo<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/play.google.com\/store\/books\/details\/Dorothy_St_James_The_Broken_Spine?id=FyjbDwAAQBAJ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Google Play<\/a><\/strong><\/p>","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26811","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26811"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26811\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26811"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26811"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26811"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}