I really liked the Focus on Love box set, it was one of my favorite reads in this batch of books. Another favorite was The Forgotten Life of Evelyn Lewis.
Faded Photograph Series – Broken Things book 1 – Andrea Boeshaar ….. Allie was young and wary of marriage. Jack was devastated when she left him behind to take a job with her father in another city.
They’ve both been through disastrous marriages. They’ve each raised a son they adore.
Allie’s job is taking her back to the place where it all began. Maybe it’s time to reach out and make amends. It won’t be as easy as she hoped. The handsome cop she promised to love forever has become a bitter man and he is not happy to see her.
Faded Photograph Series – Hidden Things book 2 – Andrea Boeshaar ….. Looking through her mother’s mail, Kylie opens a wedding invitation and out falls an old photo. A group of friends – three girls and a guy. Her mother is one of the girls and they are part of a political demonstration, by the look of the signs they carry. The date on the picture is April 1969 but that can’t be right. Kylie was born in April and her mother does not look like she’s nine months pregnant. Marching in a protest can’t be right either – her mother was the most private, conservative person she knew. If this picture is real, it would appear her mother has been hiding some things all these years.
It’s too late to question her mother but maybe the others in the picture could shed some light on the truth.
Focus on Love Romance Box set – Catch of a Lifetime, Dance Over Me, Focus on Love – Candee Fick
This is one of my favorite box sets, I loved all three books and they still stand out in my memory as a good read.
Catch of a Lifetime is the blossoming love story between an injured football player turned coach and a injured gymnast turned athletic trainer.
Dance Over Me and Focus on Love are both set in dinner theater. The dancer in the first story discovers her talent is greater than she has been led to believe by others in the cast. In the process of learning the understudy role for the main character, she falls in love with the trumpet player helping with her rehearsal. The dancer in the second story discovers, in spite of what she thought, her love for photography is greater than her love of dance. She has a handsome new photography friend and mentor to thank for the revelation.
First Crush – Ashley Elizabeth Ludwig …… Natalie is shocked to receive a call from a lawyer informing her the grandmother she didn’t know existed is dying and needs her to be there. Newly arrived in town, the pressure is to sell is already being applied.
With her hotel background she sees potential in the property and begins renovations to bring it back to it’s former glory. Someone else has their own big plans for the property and the pressure to sell has escalated to harmful threats.
Nick, the contractor helping with her project, has never gotten over the unsolved murder of his sister. He’s beginning to suspect a connection between her murder and the threats Natalie has been receiving. It could be happening all over again?
The Forgotten Life of Evelyn Lewis – Jane Rubietta ….. Evelyn’s company is on the brink of bankruptcy and a desperate need for a solution has her deciding to sell her inheritance – a farm she loved as a child. The property is tied up in an unexpected and complicated trust, making a quick sale impossible. The pressure mounts as her office demands her time and presence, and the farm trust demands the same.
The manager responsible for operating the farm is worried she will sell the valuable land right out from under him. A buyer is trying to pressure her to do exactly that. So many things to consider. On top of it all, the lure of the farm is calling her back to a life she can barely remember.
Aspiring Hearts Series – Skirting Tradition book 1 – Kay Moser ….. This is book one in the story about a young woman with aspirations of becoming a teacher, in a time when it was socially unacceptable. The second book Ruffling Society was mentioned in the post before this one. It was actually more about Sarah’s training years. This one is more about the characters she had as mentors at the beginning of her educational journey. They were women who defied tradition and achieved most of their dreams. They paid a dear price for those decisions but if they had it to do over, they wouldn’t change a thing. Well, maybe some things but not the ones that counted.
Love on the Santa Fe Trail series – Wagon Train Baby book 1 – Linda Ford ….. Donna Grace does not trust men. Unmarried and pregnant, since her husband was already married, she’s trying to return to Santa Fe where she was raised. Her wagoneer father has decided not to go this trip, leaving her without a male escort. The wagon master will not allow an unattended female to travel with him, ever.
Luke is carrying a heavy load of guilt for his inability to protect the woman he loved and he’s vowed never to leave another person unprotected. When he hears of Donna Grace’s dilemma he steps up and offers a marriage of convenience. She accepts reluctantly and without grace. The wagon master has to be convinced this alliance is real and forces them to work together to prove it. Then, the birth of her daughter, while still on the trail, changes everything.
Happy reading!
Don’t forget to check out the book lists on the genre pages. Maybe they will help give you some inspiration.
Willow Falls Series – The Secret of Willow Inn book 1 – Pat Nichols …. Emily, who has always longed for a sister, is devastated when her parents are killed in a tragic car crash. She’s only just told them she is expecting twin girls.
A Southern Season: Four Stories From a Porch Swing – Lillie Beth in Summer – Eva Mae Everson, Ice Melts in Spring – Linda W Yezak, Through an Autumn Window – Clair Fullerton, A Magnolia Blooms in Winter – Ane Mulligan ….. I found these stories didn’t all appeal equally but were still worth the read. Each romance was unique.
Lord of Her Heart – Sherrinda Ketchersid …. Her father sent her to a convent allowing only sporadic visits to the castle she calls home. She’s worried because he’s not answered her letters in more than a year. She overhears a conversation between two nuns, planning to marry her off soon unless she willingly takes her vows as nun. Disguising herself as a young lad she runs away before this can happen.
Finding Love in the Low Country Series – Somewhere a Rainbow book 1, After the Storm book 2, Southern Gentleman book 3, Catch of a Lifetime book 4 – Yvonne Lehman …. All four were stories worth reading. Painful pasts, secrets, family responsibilities, learning to trust again.
Aspiring Hearts Series – Ruffling Society book 2 – Kay Moser …. Sarah is the daughter of an immigrant farmer and is destined to marry the son of a neighbor so that, jointly, their farms will prosper. Her dream is to become a teacher. Her mother had such a dream, once, and is determined to help Sarah escape.
American Heiresses Series – Flights of Fancy book 1 – Jen Turano …. this is about an heiress needing to flee an arranged marriage to an elderly, disgusting man. She is desperate to find a way to disappear and not be dragged back.
Sight Unseen Series – Will Not See book 2 – Chautona Havig ….. Housekeeping awakens her when they enter a hotel room they think is empty. They begin to back out of the room when they see her but stop at her cry for help. She’s distraught because it’s a strange world. She doesn’t know who she is, where she is, or why she’s here.
A Bradford Sisters Romance – True to You book 1 – Becky Wade …. She is a librarian, genealogist, and business owner – with a painful romantic past. She’s decided marriage is not for her. She’ll immerse herself in her career and business ventures. That will be enough.
Among the Poppies – J’nell Ciesielski …. She has no interest in becoming a lady of privilege. She’s been allowed to learn much as chauffer’s daughter and now…. All she wants is a chance to put her knowledge of engines to work and do her part in helping to win this war.
Silver Lining Ranch Series – For Love of Liberty book 1 – Julie Lessman …… They were arch enemies in school years, always battling for first place honors.
Carolina Cousins Series – A Perilous Proposal book 1 – Michael Phillips …. This is a story of life for blacks after the abolition of slavery. The life of slavery was hard but life after slavery has it’s challenges too. Just in different ways.
The Second Noel – Chautona Havig ….. She learns that a family has been scammed. The Diabetic Alert Dog worth thousands is a fake, he has not been properly trained. The community feels ripped off because they contributed for this one and now many think they shouldn’t be asked to give a second time. She feels bad for the dilemma of this family and is determined to find a way to help them. Their son nearly died because the dog missed the signs.
Blow Out the Candles and Say Goodbye – Linda S Glaz ..
A Smokey Dalton Novel – A Dangerous Road – Kris Nelscott (pen name of Kristine Kathryn Rusch) ….
A Preston Barclay Mystery – Rhapsody in Red book 1 – Donn Taylor ….. Preston Barclay has returned to half days as Professor of History, just to have a little contact with others. A solitary existence as a sheep farmer since the death of his beloved wife has been his choice and while he needs to get out more he’s not prepared to give it up entirely.
At First Glance – Susan L. Tuttle ….. Penny Thornton is a popular, successful, and insecure, estate planner. Her insecurity is tied to her controlling, dysfunctional family. She’s beautiful but feels she can never measure up to her sister Belle, especially when it comes to attracting men.
The Children of Main Street – Merilyn Howton Marriot … Katie Collier didn’t expect things to go this way when she opened her mental health clinic. She was prepared for adults – not the overwhelming number of broken children seeking her out.
Summer of Deception – Elva Cobb Martin …. Rachel York is wanting to get away from difficult circumstances at home and can’t rest not knowing what happened to her Drug Enforcement brother. They’ve been told he went down in a plane crash near Charleston but details are sketchy.
A Season to Dance – Patricia Beal ….. This is a book of second chances. Ana Brassfield has a passion for dance but it seems she can never achieve the high level of her dreams. Relationships go wrong for reasons she doesn’t understand. Amazing opportunities present themselves and yet there are setbacks and betrayal.
The Wardrobe Series – Sing a New Song book 2 – Candee Fick …. Pampered Diva Gloria Houghton has her successful dinner theater career cut short with a knee injury. She can still sing but dancing is out of the question.
A Perfect Weakness – Jenifer A Davids … Dr. John Turner is leaving medicine. The experience of civil war in America plus the loss of a patient close to him has left him with a huge burden of guilt. He thinks the world will be a better place if he finds another occupation.
For the Love of Books 