The recent death of my Kindle slowed me down, (read the story here  (Happy New Year ) , but  now I’m back in business with the arrival of the new and improved version.

The upside to technology is; improvements. The downside is ….  improvements – nothing is ever the same, and I’m sad.

It looks like having to adjust to new layouts may help  unearth long forgotten unread books, of which there are many. This may even inspire the reorganization of all 2500 downloads. Cull the herd, so to speak.

Who would have thought it possible to find so many suggestions tempting me to click the download button.

I have to admit, I didn’t love all of the downloaded books when I got right into them. Then I felt bad rejecting them because it occurred to me that others may find them  interesting even if I didn’t. Conflicted emotions only lasted a short while and I moved on.

We all have different tastes and that is as it should be.

I’m hoping you are finding ways to discover books you can get excited about.

Now, on to some of the latest books read.

I liked all of these books well enough to talk about them but the first one was my favorite. I’d like to read the sequel if there is one.

I think I’ll stick to Romance in this post and save Mystery for the next one, change things up a bit from the usual mix.

  A Pleasant Gap Romance – Just the Way You Are book 1 – Pepper Basham….. How embarrassing, the contents of her purse are spread across the airport floor because someone bumped her from behind. And, as if that isn’t bad enough, her heel caught in her purse strap and now she’s landed on top of someone. Her mortification is complete – she has squished  a silver haired grandpa.

As she helps him up it’s obvious he is injured, and when he recognizes her as the guest  he was sent to meet, she feels even worse. With a twinkle in his eyes, he assures her it will all be fine but please don’t mention this to his son when he picks them up.

The glare was the first hint about the reason for the strange request. His devastatingly handsome son is clearly unhappy with her visit.

Be that as it may, she has promised her uncle she will research family secrets for his upcoming book and she intends to keep that promise. No matter what kind of disapproval she faces in this handsome but glacial man.

The question is: why is he so upset by her presence? What is there about her that makes him feel so threatened? Does he have his own secrets? Are they tangled up with the secrets her family has been protecting all these years? She plans to find out, one way or the other.

  Seven Brides  Seven Brothers Pelican Bay – All This Love book 3 – Belle Calhoune …..  The Donahue brothers of Pelican Bay are cousins to the Donahue brothers in the popular Cape Code Series. (This distinction is important if you are like me and on first glance you’re thinking wait a minute……)

Most of the brothers in the Donahue family were adopted.  (A miracle in Heath’s life – after the untimely death of his single parent mother.) They are a tight knit, fiercely protective family and they would do anything necessary to be there for each other. If they knew what needed to be done.

Heath has been keeping secrets, he’s come home from Afghanistan with deep wounds of the unseen variety, added to that, the trauma of coming home from school to discover his mother in her  untimely death. Now he is barely hanging on emotionally and no one knows.

Deciding it would be kinder to sever the connection with the love of his life, to spare her  the effects of the darkness in his life, he breaks up with her and walks away. Leaving her confused and devastated.

Five months of intense work with a therapist has made a difference. Now he’s beginning to second guess the break up decision and needs to see Bella, hoping to re-establish their relationship.

He’s devastated to discover she’s pregnant, and he didn’t even know, you’d think in a town this size he would have heard rumors. He wants to do the right thing and be there for her but it’s not going well …. she’s unwilling to let him back into her life just like that.

Secrets are a huge problem… so, how far is he willing to go to fix things?

   Holmes Crossing – The Only Best Place book 1 – Carolyne Aarsen ….. Her husband’s business has failed and their marriage is in trouble, her husband has admitted to having an emotional affair with a co- worker. He says it’s over but she doesn’t trust him. They have grown so far apart it doesn’t seem like there is anything left to work with anymore.

It’s decided that the only alternative they have to stay afloat financially is to move back to Dan’s home town. Leslie is reluctant because she knows very little about his life before they met, and she’s a city girl – what does she know abut farming?

The surprises are huge and daunting. Leslie had no idea God was a big part of family life for him growing up. Not only is she not a farmer, she does not fit the description of a suitable mate for their son and brother.

Dan promised they would stay a year and move back to the city.  Under his family’s influence, she finds he has already gone back on that promise. He has even started making other major decisions about their life and finances without consulting her.

Leslie wants to fit in and gain the family’s approval but it seems like a losing battle.

In despair with no one to talk to, she runs into the most unusual woman at an auction sale. She seems to be a free spirit, totally out of place in this farming community, and yet for some inexplicable reason she seems to fit in. The connection between them is instant and Leslie intends to get to know her better, Maybe her new friend will be able to help her navigate life in this uncomfortable place.

  The Shadows Series – Secrets and Sacrifice book 4 – Juliette Duncan …. Grace is in the middle of closing arguments in a high powered case when her brother Caleb slips into the court room, sending worry into her heart. What’s happened, why is he here?

It’s their sister, she’s been found, in a run down apartment barely alive. She’s in hospital with an overdose and they all need to be there.

Brianna promised to stay clean this time but obviously hasn’t. Drugs was always her go-to place when she couldn’t handle the voices from the past. With Grace it was work. She would bury herself in it to still the voices. She wasn’t destroying her body but she was destroying her relationship with her sister, never there for her when she was needed most.

Determined to be there for her this time, Grace decides to take her sister home with her. Brianna is not comfortable in the posh surroundings and it turns out to be a bigger challenge than expected to make it work. At a loss she think’s maybe a trip with a change of scenery would work better. A plan like this would mean a leave of absence from the District Attorney’s Office. Could she do it? This job is her whole life and she’s worked very hard to get this far.

Her brother Daniel runs a successful recovery program and, with a trip in mind, Caleb is pressuring her to make use of Daniel’s offer to help. Grace is not interested, she has nothing but disapproval for his methods.

It isn’t until she runs out of options coping with Brianna that she gives up and heads in Daniel’s direction.

Now she has another dilemma in her life. Niall, the prosecutor back home is an old flame trying to rekindle the relationship. The complication is the good looking teacher, part of Daniel’s staff, who makes her heart race and her cheeks blush.

Brianna seems to be fitting in well but where does this leave Grace? Go back to her job and Niall or stay here to build a connection with family and explore the possibility of Ryan?

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Happy Reading!!