Month: December 2021

Free and bargain books December 06, 2021

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There were interesting suggestions from a few sources today.

BookBub has a FREE suggestion.

A Colorful Life: An Emotional Journey to Love, Life & India (Sweet Stand-Alones Book 1)

They say that death happens in threes, but so does life.

This is the story of three incredible women–a widow who, more than seven years after her husband’s death, would rather hide inside her favorite books than face life without her beloved; an aspiring artist who finds new inspiration in her whirlwind romance and unexpected journey to New Delhi, India; and the pregnant teen who will show them both that God can fix anything, if only you let him.

Join them in this beautifully felt novel of exciting beginnings, haunting mistakes, and a world of dizzying color from a New York Times bestselling author.

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1531 Entertainment has two suggestions.

Burden of Proof

Three weeks after his twenty-third birthday, Ethan missed the chance to save his brother’s life when he was murdered on the steps of the courthouse in Jacksonville, Florida. Ever since that fateful day, Ethan has sensed a deep disconnect between the man he should have been and the one he has become. His days play out a beat too slow, his mind replaying the scene of his failure again and again.

But when his brother’s widow appears, asking for his help in uncovering what was really behind his brother’s death, Ethan is stunned to hear that she and her late husband were involved in a much larger case than he knew–one that threatens the global power structure. As Ethan joins the search for answers, he will enter into his own past–and discover a means of redeeming his future.

Bestselling and award-winning author Davis Bunn invites you into a world of intrigue as a man held captive by his failure learns how to move forward with hope.

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Alaskan Rescue (Alaska K-9 Unit Book 1)

A mountain search-and-rescue mission

turns into a fight for their lives.

Sent to find a wedding party that disappeared during a hike, Alaskan state trooper Hunter McCord and his K-9 partner, Juneau, discover bridesmaid Ariel Potter hanging from a cliff. But this was no accident—she was pushed—and her hiking companions are missing. Now it’s up to Hunter and Juneau to find them…and make sure whoever wants Ariel dead doesn’t finish the job.

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Several more interesting bargains showed up and I will put them in a separate post.

Happy Reading!

This and that, Part two December 05, 2021

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Whew, finally finished reading the current Christmas collection. Now it’s time to decide what’s next on the list.

I’m adding new books to my library on a regular basis but usually wait awhile before downloading them. It’s distracting to see attractive possibilities close to the top of the list, especially when the current read is a little boring. I am prone to jumping ship and moving on, leaving a string of partially read books in my wake.

The dilemma tonight is choosing genre. The last few reads have been Christmas Romance collections. After that many similar books in a row I think a change is in order.

I’ll let you see the newly downloaded books so you can understand what I’m up against. Sixteen books.

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Checking these out, I think maybe I’ve decided. This next one is billed as Romance but the synopsis sounds like it is more than that, at least on first look. I could be wrong in this assessment, time will tell. Anyway, a change of pace is appealing at this moment so I’ll take a chance. I can always jump ship if needed.

Always By My Side: A Christian Romance (New Hope Falls Book 9)

She’s lived her life under the cloud of her sister’s disappearance.

Josie Thompson was ten when her sister went missing and her mother’s battle with mental illness intensified. Though her family is now fractured, Josie has managed to get a degree and a job as a homecare nurse for a wealthy retired businessman. After a year working with the elderly philanthropist, her role has expanded to include caring for his home as well. It is a life that brings her peace and contentment.

After being injured in an attack on his squad while deployed, he’s come back to the one place that he’d always loved.

Kenneth Charles Hawkins III, AKA Hawk, has found himself medically discharged from the military when injuries sustained in an attack leave him unable to continue his job as a sniper with the Army. He heads to his grandfather’s home near New Hope Falls to recover.

Josie finds joy and purpose in caring for others, so she happily takes on the care of her employer’s injured grandson. As she gets to know him, a friendship is forged between them, despite the decade plus difference in their ages. She finds herself falling for him but keeps her feelings close to her heart with no intention of revealing them. Having endured repeated rejection by the one person who should have loved her, Josie trusts only in her father’s unconditional love for her.

Hawk wouldn’t have thought he’d have much in common with a woman so much younger than him, but he finds that he enjoys the time they spend together. Her calm demeanor often soothes his somewhat volatile emotions as he deals with the pain from his injuries.

As he recovers, Hawk realizes he needs to make a decision on whether he wants to return to his past or embrace his future in New Hope Falls, possibly with Josie. But even if he chooses Josie, will she choose him? Will she be willing to trust him when she’s been failed by those who should have loved her?

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I see I’ve downloaded nine other books by this author and I’ve read all of them, including the one just before this one in the series. That is a good sign.

Rarely do I gauge time correctly, I’m usually convinced I can do it in half the time it actually takes to put together a post. Time flies when you’re having fun.

It’s going to be lights-out time before I’m ready so I’d better move it on out of here. Now that I’ve decided on a new book.

I will be happily reading and I hope you are too.

This and that December 05, 2021

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Am I allowed to do a this-and-that type of post two days in a row? I sure hope so because this is another I’ve-got-nothing kind of day. The usual book suggestion sites have not appeared, never mind not having interesting offerings.

Personally, I’m just as happy they didn’t as I need a reprieve from more books. I’m not reading a book a day like I had been and things are getting out of hand. I feel like I have brain fog going on too and it is not easy to settle down and spend the time it takes.

Along with that, YouTube videos call out to me every time I pass the computer, and if it’s not videos it’s games. Highly distracting and time consuming at a time I should be focusing.

As I watched this video with all the debris being carried on down the river I was thinking about the deposits left when the waters recede. Houses with all their contents and vehicles swept away, hopefully with no people in them, will have to show up somewhere when this is all over.

It’s hard to imagine raging water swallowing up people’s property. Nothing left for them to go back to. I wonder how they would be compensated for that? It’s not just damaged, it’s gone.

I’m stopping for lunch and another attempt at finishing the current book. While I’m thinking about what to say next.

Maybe there will be part two for this.

I’m planning on it.

Soon.

A little bit of nothing December 04, 2021

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If I don’t want to break my posting streak… I’d better write

I have nothing to say so this is where I just start talking and see what comes out.

Today was our regular monthly writers group meeting and I was planning to go. I’d signed up for read and critique. I read, they critique. I was looking forward to it and it turned out better than hoped. Now, I’m looking forward to the rewrite. I’ll share soon.

The theme was Christmas.

I’ve been reluctant to write about family traditions, memories, and all of that. With my dysfunctional and abusive childhood, I don’t have many memories, never mind good ones.

This year it seemed it was time to write something.

I have to say, the exercise turned out to be an uplifting experience. The piece started on a somber note and ended with a lighthearted vibe. It wasn’t until I reread it before the meeting that I fully appreciated the transition to happy.

It’s easy to get caught up in past memories, forgetting about present blessings.

Life has been good to me. It hasn’t been perfect, it never is. But when I think about the way life could have gone post-abuse, I’m grateful.

There are many reasons why life turned out so well but I think the main one had to do with choices.

Years ago, a visitor looked around our house and her comment left me stunned. “Why do you get to live in such a nice place.”

I’ve since considered that comment many times. Eventually I could verbalize some things. We weren’t special. We weren’t living in a higher price range with something they couldn’t have had. It all had to do with choices.

Cheerful is important to me. I can handle the tough parts of life if my surroundings are visually pleasing.

We chose to hold out for the right place. We looked at a lot of places before finding the one but it was worth it.

Don’t settle. That’s my motto. Hold out for pleasing.

This day is nearly over and time is running out.

I can’t leave without saying, there have been no good book suggestions today. I have been reading an enjoyable collection, though.

Sadly, the collection is from last year and no longer available on Kindle.

I’m not sure how I missed reading it last year.

There are a few still available in paperback.

Well. I fulfilled my promise of having nothing much to say, don’t you think.

Maybe tomorrow will be better.

Happy Reading.

Bargain Books December 03, 2021 Suspense

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1531 Entertainment has a suggestion and I’m hooked already, just reading the first chapter.

I do enjoy the writings of this gal. And her book doesn’t sound like anything I’ve read before, which is always a plus.

Fatal Mistake: A Novel (White Knights Book 1)

An FBI agent must protect the woman who can identify a terrorist bomber in bestselling author Susan Sleeman’s riveting romantic suspense novel.
Each day could be her last…but not if he can help it.
Tara Parrish is the only person ever to survive an attack by the Lone Wolf bomber. Scared and emotionally scarred by her near death, she goes into hiding with only one plan–to stay alive for another day. She knows he’s coming after her, and if he finds her, he will finish what he started.

Agent Cal Riggins has had only one goal for the past six months–to save lives by ending the Lone Wolf’s bombing spree. To succeed, he needs the help of Tara Parrish, the one person who can lead them to the bomber. Cal puts his all into finding Tara, but once he locates her, he realizes if he can find her, the Lone Wolf can, too. He must protect Tara at all costs, and they’ll both need to resist the mutual attraction growing between them to focus on hunting down the bomber, because one wrong move could be fatal.

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It appears prolific author Christy Barritt has another new book coming out next month. I can never resist another one from Ms Barritt

Secrets of Shame: The Colsons (Fog Lake Suspense Book 6)

A killer’s rampage has just begun . . .

Attorney Isaac Colson only wants to put his past in Fog Log behind him and return to his life in Memphis. He thought the trauma involving the infamous The Good Samaritan Killer was behind him—until an ominous letter beckons him back home.

Isaac Colson is the only man Rebecca Moreno has ever loved. But when his father went to prison for killing her aunt, she was forbidden from seeing Isaac again. Now he’s back in town and old feelings have stirred.

Rebecca has a secret she’s never told anyone, even though it’s caused her years of agony. But now everything is being stirred up again, and painful memories have surfaced. The GSK already turned her life upside once—is he trying to do it again?

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I think one of these books will be my next read.

Happy Reading y’all.

Classical Music December 02, 2021

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Are you a fan of Classical music? I enjoy it selectively, have done so for years.

I’ve heard popular parts of Handel’s Messiah but never the full oratorio. Tonight that’s changing.

A performance by the American Bach Soloists showed up in my YouTube feed and I’m listening as I type this.

I probably should be watching so as not to offend music lovers.

It turns out I really should be watching. I thought a lady was singing this solo. I just peeked and I was wrong.

Watch with me?

It sounds to me like they are doing a good job.

Attending a performance of Handel’s Messiah is a yearly tradition for many music lovers.

Happy Listening.

Bargain books December 01, 2021

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BookBub has an interesting suggestion for us. The first chapter has me hooked.

For the Love of Joy: A Coastal Hearts Novel

Is he married or isn’t he?
 
Years ago, a Dear John letter and then an IED explosion overseas rocked Davis Donnelly’s world and left him unclear about his marital status. He’d signed divorce papers, but broken mentally and physically, he’d never bothered to find out if his marriage actually ended. Now that he’s about to start a new position as an outreach minister, it’s time to settle things once and for all. At the moment he tracks down his wife—or former wife?—she takes a tumble while chasing a little boy. Her son. And that’s when life flips upside down.
 
Joy Jennings Donnelly made her share of mistakes. But one thing she never considered a mistake was her child, and she’ll do anything to protect him. Even keep his paternity a secret. When she’s suddenly injured with not a soul to help her or her son, Joy is forced to rely on the man who has the most reasons to hate her.

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This one popped up in the middle of my search and I couldn’t resist.

Hometown Christmas Dreams: A Contemporary Christian Christmas Romance Collection 

Deck the Halls
Every day, Luce walks by the vacant house she would love to live in. After a fight with her aunt, and a frustrating conversation with her daughter’s father, she sets up an autumn display at her dream home with beautiful thrift store finds.
Jordon is mourning the loss of his parents. Weird things, like someone decorating his parents’ porch with his mother’s donated decorations, make grieving harder. Still, the oddness is the distraction, and call to faith, he needs.

My True Love Gave to Me
Cassidy loves her life. She has a job in a vintage store, a cute Seattle bungalow, and a dog who adores her. But being single is getting old. She receives a Christmas party invitation, and an excuse to find a plus-one. Someone from her singles group…?
Sean’s favorite thing about his delivery job is the pretty woman at the vintage store. But from what he’s overheard, she has plenty of prospects already. Would she be interested in adding him to her dance card?

The Wonder of Christmas
Cheyenne heads north for Christmas, with no idea that a storm will strand her in the small town of Misty Cove. But when she bumps—literally—into handsome Grady, and learns about a family in need, she realizes God sent her there for a bigger reason than meeting a handsome man. But with the way her pulse kicks up in Grady’s presence, maybe God has a dual purpose in mind.

Mountain Laurel
When tragedy strikes, Laurel is left alone to raise her son. She wonders if the Lord she’s trusted all her life will help her as she raises her feisty boy.
Jon, who has loved her for as long as she can remember, is good with her son and steadies her through each crisis that comes along. He’s a close friend, but will she ever be able to love again?

Cephalopod Cupid
When Lacey’s boyfriend breaks up with her it opens the opportunity to join a research vessel for six-months.
Then she meets an autistic boy who shares her love of Gabriel the giant Pacific octopus. And Anders, his dad.
Lacey considers staying. It might be crazy to give up her dream for a man she barely knows. It might seem crazier still to stay so she can protect her beloved cephalopod from himself.
But sometimes love means letting go.

To Hear the Angels Sing
Devlin enjoys her role as temporary guardian of her niece while her sister goes through drug rehab, but it isn’t easy. If she works dinner shifts, her job at a Seattle restaurant brings in enough. So, when her niece is invited to evening rehearsals for a church show, the free childcare is hard to pass up. But when they learn Devlin knows how to sew, she’s enlisted as costume designer. How will she find time?
One of Jonah’s favorite parts of his job as church worship leader is directing the music for the kids’ Christmas musical. Between his job and writing his own music, he barely has time for a social life. But there’s something about the costumer for the show this year that gets him thinking. Could there be more to life than music?

The Heart of Christmas
When Wynn sees police lights at Misty Cove’s one-and-only bar, she goes inside to investigate, just in time to see her ex-boyfriend punch the star of her favorite TV show in the face. What is Ryland Sage doing in their tiny Pacific Coast town? Since Wynn is the only medical help for miles around, she has to stitch his face—and maybe his heart—while protecting her own heart from the worldly charmer.

Prairie Rose
For years, Rose has lived alone with her dog. Mitch, a handsome, unmarried neighbor, brings her a bright red geranium and insists on helping with chores. But who should appear but the scoundrel husband who deserted her years ago. Later, a pre-teen runaway adds his troubles to hers, so Rose decides to recapture the peace and serenity of Christmas.

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Lots to choose from in this lot today. Nine books. This should keep us(me) going for a while.

I’ve moved on to book 3 in my current read collection.

Happy Reading y’all

Read and enjoyed December 01, 2021

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I’m excited to share this enjoyed read with you.

In my world, 5 stars are reserved for truly great books.

In this case the definition of a great book is highly subjective. We are not talking literary excellence here with a book appealing to the masses. Although we do hope many will read and enjoy it.

The writing is taken into account and it is at a high level, editorially speaking, which adds to the enjoyment.

The most important thing, though, is this book has chemistry. That is what makes it awesome.

Like in a movie where they have the right story and the right pairing of actors with skill, but also with that special something that just makes it work.

I read a lot of Chautona Havig, and I have to say her book one in this collection is my number one favorite of all time. It has a solid five stars from me.

I’ve moved on to book two but couldn’t wait to share book one with you.

Home for Christmas: The Christmas Lights Collection

♥ The Stars of New Cheltenham by Chautona Havig

Christmas in Rockland—battleground or romantic?

Avalon is ticked—seriously livid.  Who does this Marine recruiter think he is? Her brother is a boy and is not ready to be sacrificed on the altar of “service to your country.”  No. Thank you. When trying to talk sense into Max doesn’t work, she does the only think she can think of. Take it to the top.

Gareth Hudson has an exemplary record as a Marine recruiter and knows a good man when he sees one.  So when Maxton McCollum starts asking questions in a diner one afternoon, it was obvious. This was a match made in military heaven.  One young man anxious to serve his country.  One country ready to train him to be the best version of himself.

So when Avalon walks into Gareth’s recruiting office, all the wrong kinds of fireworks explode. In a peacekeeping move unlike him, Gareth asks for four Saturdays to change her mind. If he can’t, he’ll suggest that Max wait six months before signing up.

Romance wasn’t part of the bargain, and with their age difference, Gareth knows it still shouldn’t be, but how do you resist the pull of love at Christmas?

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I hope you love this as much as I did.

The rest of the collection has authors worth reading too. Just sayin’