dreams

Another this-and-that kind of day.

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Another day already, when I have nothing much on my mind. No book suggestions or read books to share. Not a whole lot has been going on in my head either, although I will admit to a few persistent half thoughts. There are some sad parts to my musings but I promise this won’t be a downer conversation. At least I hope not.

I don’t know about you, but I find it takes me years sometimes (most times, actually) to realize I need to change some things. That’s kind of where I’m at right now. I’m gradually waking up to the need for action.

I know I’ve mentioned some of this thinking before but it’s all part of the lead-up to where I’m at today. Ready to make a New Years resolution. Something I rarely do. I hope it sticks and I follow through on it.

When I take an honest look back, I’ve been a loner my whole life. Most memories that come to mind easily are solo activities. Even the years when I had friends and boy friends. My role was always passive, never taking initiative in planning a get together or outing. As an adult I planned things now and then but they were usually group activities.

I’ve always accepted invitations if they were issued and spent time with people when we were thrown together in public gatherings. Through the years I’ve been a lot of places and seen a lot of faces (that’s from a song running through my head right now) and have a large number of people I can call friend, although you wouldn’t know that by the 91 friends I’ve allowed on Face Book.

Probably the underlying thought behind my hermit behavior is if you really knew me you wouldn’t like me. I will even admit, because of this mindset, I have been guilty of sabotaging friendships. Not that I was aware of it at the time. Hindsight sees things more clearly.

I’ve been on my own for a lot of years and I’ve been okay with it. At least I had convinced myself I was happy with it. Covid has changed so much of that thinking. Restrictions have caused pressure, kind of like turning up the heat until it’s unbearable. All of a sudden, emotionally, I’m not okay with it. I’m being forced to take a hard look at the way I do life.

There is an honest evaluation driving my resolution. I need to start taking a responsible role in maintaining friendships, instead of just letting life happen.

In a way this idea has already begun rolling, starting with Zoom type communication with family. Out of casual conversation I took pictures of my puzzle collection, that way my daughter and her friend can borrow what they like. My neighbor popped over, (can’t remember why now) saw the puzzles spread all over the floor and went home with an armful.

It’s Christmas. I’ve responded to some today but there are more neglected emails to answer, cards to send, and phone calls to make.

None of this will take place unless I care. Covid has turned up the heat with all it’s restrictions and now I care. I hope it lasts.

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A lengthy telephone conversation with an elderly relative yesterday showed we are struggling with similar emotions. It was fun laughing together, it brightened both of our days. Must call her more often.

Story prompt – Fire

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The first thing to pop into my head at this week’s word was “fire in my bones”

There is a picture in my mind of what this means but to be certain I looked up the meaning.

Two expressions were first up.

A driving enthusiasm that compelled action.

… intense feeling or passion.

There was a bible verse coming up often in this fire in my bones search too. It’s Jeremiah chapter 20 verse 9. Maybe that’s where I first heard the phrase. In relation to this verse. I don’t really know, but I do have strong memories of feeling this passion in my teens. I have to admit it’s never really left me.

There are two things about this impactful phrase that have followed me all my life.

A passion to make my life count for something. The picture this thought drew in my head did not include great exploits or high positions and wealth. It was simply to make a difference in someone’s life. This thought could have been born out of gratefulness for those who were there for me in my childhood’s time of greatest need. I’ve no idea really. I just remember as a teenager this passion was highly important to me.

The other thing was a recognition of the ongoing need for enthusiasm. Through the years it became very clear to me … to be successful I needed to be passionate about whatever I attempted. I’ve had jobs I liked and some I didn’t. Enthusiasm was a big part of any success I gained.

The other day a friend and I were discussing changes and new requirements that just seem to keep on coming, relentlessly. I laughed and said, I guess it’s a good thing I don’t hate this. A love for what I do keeps me going in the hard places.

I was looking for a picture to go with this fire in my bones thought and did see some I really liked but this one seemed to fit best with the whole thing I’m trying to do here.

It’s a book. What could be more appropriate than that on a blog like mine.

I’ve Got to Write!: It’s Like Fire Shut Up in My Bones!

Amazon quote:

STORIES THAT INSPIRE Jeremiah 20:9 (NIV) But if I will not mention his word or speak any more in his name,” his word is in my heart like a fire shut up in my bones. I’ve Got to Write! It’s Like Fire Shut Up in My Bones is a compilation of smoldering, heartfelt stories of love, compassion, faith, hope, forgiveness, and amazement inspired and told by members of the Chosen Pen Writers Group. For many of our authors, this is their first published work. Yet, the passion and resolve in bringing to light a story that was burning on their hearts can be found on the printed pages inside.

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I will admit I don’t have a fire in me to write. At least not in the most accepted sense of writing. My longing is to make a difference. I don’t feel compelled to be a writer.

Things pop into my mind that could be comforting or encouraging and I feel compelled to share them. I have to write to do that.

I feel compelled, in our world of non readers, to encourage others to become readers. To do this I share books I’ve found to be worth reading. I have to write, at least a little bit, to accomplish this.

This is the fire that keeps me posting often. To encourage.

Learning to write is a side effect of this activity.

It looks like it could be becoming a new passion though.

I guess that must be why I keep writing for this story prompt!

Newly emerging fire.

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Story Prompt is hosted by Confusing Middle’s – Sunday Scribblings

Free and bargain books November 04, 2020

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Today is one of those days where I haven’t posted in a while and the well is dry. What to do, what to do.

While I was trying to come up with a little of this and a little of that to talk about I opened Amazon and happened upon a FREE book I’d seen mentioned and then forgotten about a few days ago.

So, I guess we will start with a book. A novel idea hey?

I’ve read other books from this author and this one is not a bad place to start.

Southern Gentleman (Finding Love in the Low Country Book 2)

Amazon quote:

What’s best for the baby? Norah Brown must answer this question when Thornton Winter pushes his way into her life. Baby Camille’s parents, Thornton’s brother and Norah’s sister, were killed in a terrible accident. Now both feel responsible for the baby. But by the time Thornton comes along, Norah has already formed a strong bond with Camille. Will Thornton try to take the baby from her?

To keep her greatest fear from being realized, Norah reluctantly agrees to move with the baby to Thornton’s family home in South Carolina, where she soon finds herself in a battle of wills with his take-charge manner. It certainly doesn’t help that Norah begins to lose her heart to this Southern Gentleman.

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I tripped over another FREE book mentioned and forgotten about recently, in the busyness of life. I’ve read this one in the last year or so.

Her Deadly Inheritance (Jill Shepherd Suspense Book 1)

Amazon quote:

First a runaway. Now running for her life.

Won’t Jill’s family be surprised when she returns home to end their scheme to have her declared legally dead?

Clay Merrick may seem to be nothing more than a handy-man restoring homes, but when the former Special Forces operative tracks a brutal killer to Jill’s home town, he has most of the evidence he needs to bring the killer to justice … until Jill gets in the way. And when Jill exposes the mastermind behind her family’s murderous scheme, she ends any chance she has of remaining alive.

When the assassin moves in for the kill, it’s not just Clay’s mission on the line, but his heart.

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Book three in a series I’ve been reading has shown up as a bargain. I loved book one, didn’t enjoy book two as much but it was still good. Now I think I’d better give book three a try.

Cape Corral Keeper (Saltwater Cowboys Book 3)

Amazon quote:

They agreed to marry. But they never agreed to fall in love.

When Cape Corral Fire Chief Dillon McGrath saves a woman wearing a wedding dress from drowning, he knows he’ll have a great story to tell the guys at the station later. He never expected to get personally involved in the woman’s plight to stay alive.

Gracie Loveland had no choice but to run only moments before saying “I do” to her manipulative fiancé. Staying would have ultimately meant her death at the hands of the cruel man. Desperation, along with a dormant feistiness, surfaces as she fights to survive.

Only one plan might keep Gracie safe and help Dillon preserve the island’s wild horses. The idea seems crazy, but Dillon and Gracie can think of no other options. However, a foe from Gracie’s past is closing in, determined to get what he wants regardless of whose life he destroys in the process.

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Currently I’m reading a WWI historical novel. It’s not really about the war so much as it’s about family left behind to worry and make do as best they can.

Jane: A Fierce Heart (Harvey Girls Book 3)

Jane is determined to make the world a better place even when everything seems so bleak in this clean and wholesome historical western romance story.

Independent, red-haired Jane Harris is twenty years old in 1917 when war breaks out and changes her life. In her hometown of Beaumont, Virginia, she does her best to be a good sister, a good daughter, and to volunteer however she can for the war effort.
But it’s not enough. Her brothers, many of her friends, and the man she loves are gone to France, and Jane needs to do more than knit socks for them. She needs to be busy. She needs to leave home. Luckily, her mother understands, and soon Jane is interviewing to be a Harvey Girl.

The job comes with challenges she has never before experienced. Far away from home, she must stand against her adversaries, and sometimes against her friends. She will have to work hard to achieve things that come easily to those around her, but luckily she will learn that character triumphs over talent, especially when times are hard.

Watching a new world unfold all around her, Jane realizes she is changing too. Will she recognize the difference between childhood devotion and true love? Will she choose the man who can give her the love she deserves? And will he make it home safely?

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Well, this whole exercise has turned out to be much more productive than I ever expected which is awesome.

I’m going to poke my nose in this current book for awhile. The end is in sight and I’m ready to be done and start something new.

It has been a good book and I’ve enjoyed it but the downside is it has more detail than I have patience for. It’s time to move on.

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I have a short attention span when books are calling my name. Almost forgot to finish this off.

Now, I’m outa here!

Happy Reading everyone.

Free and bargain books October 19, 2020

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1531 Entertainment has an interesting offer for us.

I look forward to this is collection every year at this time, it’s becoming a tradition. And it’s always at a bargain price too. The stories are stand alone but connected in small ways. The final book ties them all together.

Five Gold Rings (Crossroads Collection Book 7)

Amazon quote:

Some of today’s best-selling Christian authors weave five completely new, unique, interconnected stories where once jilted lovers find worth more precious than gold.

Christmas Mercy by Jaycee Weaver
As the web of lies that kept Rob away from Vera and their daughter unravels, the months following his return test their capacity for mercy, forgiveness, and a second chance at love.

The Seven Year Glitch by Hallee Bridgeman
Seven years earlier, Timothy left Leanne at the altar stealing years of happiness. Leanne rescues him from a rooftop in a floodplain and it is clear there is much more to the story. Can their love redeem the hurts of the past to rescue their future?

Laughing All the Way by Lesley Ann McDaniel
When Jessica’s friends put her up to “fixing” their commitment phobic co-worker, Conner, she doesn’t take them very seriously. Conner doesn’t know whether to laugh at Jessica or tell her to mind her own business.

Ghosted at the Altar by Chautona Havig
After his fiancée, Brenna, abandons Mitchell on their wedding day, she insists she loves him and still wants to marry him. As truths come to light, her little sister, Lauren, turns sleuth to solve the mystery of why Brenna ghosted Mitchell at the altar.

Five Gold Rings by Amanda Tru
When three relationship-challenged couples wish for Christmas weddings, commitment coach, Oliver, teams up with a wedding planner, TeraLyn, to help make their marriage dreams come true.

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LPC Books has a few FREE and one bargain suggestion for us. I enjoy the first author and I’m looking forward to this. And the others … except for the two I’ve read.

Things We Once Held Dear 

Amazon quote:

New Yorker Neil Sadler returns to his hometown of Mason, Ohio, where the small-town was rocked by the suspicious death of Helen Syfert, the mother of Neil’s friend, Mary.

As the pair reconnects, Neil learns their once-close relationship hasn’t survived the tragedy of Mary’s loss. In time, though, the couple finds that what pushed them apart years ago now seems to be pulling them together. Still, Neil finds himself struggling to recover from a more recent loss, one he keeps tucked in his heart.

While the mystery of Helen’s death remains unsolved, finding closure will require opening old wounds, mending broken relationships, and facing new fears.

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Devil in the Dust 

Amazon quote:

June 1933: — Their small Oklahoma town is dying. Lillian remembers how acres and acres of wheat once waved under jewel-blue skies. Now the dirt stretches across the flat land as far as she can see.

Though Emma’s husband is missing, she keeps house — and keeps her five children fed as best as she can — even as her hopes fade. But when the days stretch to weeks, she considers the possibility that he will never come home. Left with the likelihood of losing their farm, and the ever-present pangs of hunger, she is forced to consider opportunities that, under normal circumstances, no woman should ever have to contemplate.

Jessie, Emma’s oldest daughter, completes her daily chores with tired repetition. Forced to wear her mother’s shoes to avoid the humiliation of bare feet, she watches the dead, dirt road for signs of life.

And then he arrives in his new car and shiny shoes and generous way with gifts and money. Much to the dismay of her mother he catches Jessie’s eye.

Lillian knows he’s too smooth, too willing to help, and much too eager to spend time with a girl less than half his age. But what’s to say he is not the miracle they all prayed for? In times of desperation the wind carries more than one kind of evil.

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The Last Summer

Amazon quote:

For twenty-something Sara Witherspoon and her group of friends, a perfect Southern summer includes lake-house getaways, wedding planning, outdoor concerts, and a dash of romance. But for these seven friends who love each other like family, this year, summer rolls in with changes for everyone.

Sara’s longtime crush, Luke, has been her best friend for as long as she has been a part of the group. When Luke begins seriously dating another of their friends, Sara’s forced to deal with her hurt and jealousy, while outwardly try to support them both.

While Sara comes to terms with her own heart and her friends’ relationships, an unexpected handsome pilot from North Carolina and an old flame are thrown into the mix. Knowing her heart suddenly becomes much more complicated.

But as time unfolds and friendships begin to unravel, Sara and the others are presented with the reality of what a season of change does to old friendships and new love interests.

Does growing older mean growing apart?

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This Quiet Sky

Amazon quote:

There is nothing extraordinary about Tucker O’Shay’s dreams.
Go to college. Become president. Fall in love.
And pretend like he has enough time to get it all done.

Sixteen-year-old Sarah Miller doesn’t expect anything out of the ordinary when she begins her first day at the one-room-school house in her new hometown of Rocky Knob. But when she meets seventeen-year-old Tucker O’Shay—the boy with the fatal illness who volunteers to tutor her in algebra—she finds herself swept up in a friendship that changes the way she sees the world and a love that changes her life.

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I know what I’m reading next. This Quiet Sky

That is, if I remember.

I’m currently reading an eight book collection but I’m only on book 2. That’s a lot of water under the bridge before I get to the next book.

Maybe when I finish book 2 I’ll have to take a little detour through the new book before going back to the collection. A little break could be a good thing.

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It’s been another awesome book day. I hope you are feeling as happy as I am over this new selection of good reads.

I haven’t had much reading time today so I’m off to see what’s happening in the world of murder and mayhem.

Happy Reading y’all

Story prompt – Gold

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Sunday Scribblings  is hosted by peckapalooza – the Confusing Middle

This weeks prompt is Gold.

The first thing to come to mind for this weeks prompt was … There’s gold in them thar hills.

You could justly accuse me of reading too many penny dreadfuls. There are a zillion stories of men afflicted with gold fever. Selling all they had, heading for the gold fields where rumor had it fist sized nuggets were sitting in the streams waiting for men to come by and pick them up.

The many fictional stories are based in fact. The gold rush was at it’s height in the mid-to-late 1800s and stretched from California to Alaska. It’s true there was gold to be found by some but more often than not it was the outfitters who made money on the phenomenon. Life was beyond hard for many of these dreamers and their families. Many loved ones were left behind to wait for a man who may or may not ever come home.

One positive fallout from men chasing their dreams – many areas of the US and Canada were settled with residue from the influx of hopeful prospectors.

Some settlements were short lived and a few of those survived as ghost towns. One is Barkerville in British Columbia, Canada. It’s listed as a world class historical site and well worth seeing. As a BC resident most of my life, I’ll admit to travelling through the Fraser Canyon dozens of times without making the short detour to visit Barkerville. It’s still on my wish list.

There are many non fiction books to be had on the subject but here is one such book by a celebrated author with personal connections to the Klondike.

The Klondike Fever: The Life And Death Of The Last Great Gold Rush 

Amazon quote:
In 1897 a grimy steamer docked in Seattle and set into epic motion the incredible succession of events that Pierre Berton’s exhilarating The Klondike Fever chronicles in all its splendid and astonishing folly. For the steamer Portland bore two tons of pure Klondike gold. And immediately, the stampede north to Alaska began. Easily as many as 100,000 adventurers, dreamers, and would-be miners from all over the world struck out for the remote, isolated gold fields in the Klondike Valley, most of them in total ignorance of the long, harsh Alaskan winters and the territory’s indomitable terrain. Less than a third of that number would complete the enormously arduous mountain journey to their destination. Some would strike gold. Berton’s story belongs less to the few who would make their fortunes than to the many swept up in the gold mania, to often unfortunate effects and tragic ends. It is a story of cold skies and avalanches, of con men and gamblers and dance hall girls, of sunken ships, of suicides, of dead horses and desperate men, of grizzly old miners and millionaires, of the land — its exploitation and revenge. It is a story of the human capacity to dream, and to endure.

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If I lived in those times I think I would have become an outfitter to amass my share of the gold. Seems like a safer bet.

Recently Read & Enjoyed.

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The books on my reading list lately have been a joy. They were interesting stories with captivating characters. My only complaint with some of them was an over abundance of detail. There were several with a few too many characters. Aside from that it’s been a memorable week of time spent with strong stories. There were more but I just want to share these three.

This was my favorite. An amazing woman with an equally amazing life. It was not easy but she rose to the challenge every time.

This is a book I would like to read again.

The Awakening of Miss Adelaide (The Women of Rock Creek Book 3)

The Awakening of Miss Adelaide

Orphaned as an infant, Oklahoma heiress Adelaide Fitzgerald has enjoyed every advantage. She possesses a unique gift for music and has excelled on the opera stage in Italy. As a philanthropist, she’s adored from America to Europe.

But Miss Adelaide is about to awaken in a 1918 nightmare.

When the “Great War” and the “Great Influenza” knock, Adelaide finds her uninvited guests more than unwelcome. They threaten her life and alter her identity and purpose.

Snatched from a quiet life in an Italian villa, Miss Adelaide is thrust into conflicts others have created. What battle scars will she sustain? And where will love lead her?

In The Awakening of Miss Adelaide, war and peace, laughter and heartache, love and loss come together to ignite a fresh fire that reveals one woman’s hidden needs and potentials.

What will gaining a fresh understanding of herself require of the Angel of the Opera?

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This next one was not an easy read for me. It wasn’t, but it was life changing on a deep level. It took me a long time to find the courage to read it and when I finally did I was glad. It was a story of deep despair but it didn’t end that way.

A Place Called Morning 

A Place Called Morning

“Another incisive look at family life and secrets.” – Library Journal.

Mae Demaray retreats from life after her young grandson dies accidentally while under her care. What was once a quiet life in an old clapboard house on a quiet Minneapolis street, rich with the hues of security and love, is now shattered. But a decades-old family secret, based on an unlikely friendship over the years, brings redemption and restoration once it is revealed.

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One more.

This last story was special too. Life hasn’t been as dramatic for me as it was for these two characters but I can relate to listening to the still small voice. An amazing experience. I think Lorana Hoopes has done an excellent job in developing this complex story.

The Still Small Voice: Christian Speculative Fiction (Are You Listening Book 1)

The Still Small Voice

Would you give up everything to follow God?

Jordan Wright’s life was thrown upside down when she ended up pregnant in college. After giving up her son for adoption, she sought to find meaning in her life. As she gave her life to God, she began to receive visions and words to tell others. But can she trust God enough to take on the hardest mission of her life?

Kat Jameson had been a lukewarm Christian for years, but when her best friend died, her world was thrown into turmoil. Dreams haunt her evenings and a strange light began appearing around people. Kat believed she was going crazy until she met someone with a special message for her. Will she let go and finally let God use her?

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There is more to share next time.

Happy Reading

Free LPC Books March 24, 2020

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LPC Books has some great FREE suggestions for us today.

With Each New Dawn (Women of the Heartland Book 2) is the first one.

With each new dawn

Amazon quote:

London – Summer 1943. To honor her husband’s sacrifice—and in hopes of learning more about her father, a World War I vet—widow Kate Isaacs joins the Special Operations Executive and parachutes into Nazi-occupied France to work with the Resistance. Domingo, a Resistance saboteur, meets her drop, tends to her sprained ankle, and carries Kate to her first assignment.

During a clandestine mission Kate finds herself attracted to Domingo, but as Allied forces push across France and the Waffen SS closes in, the pair must put aside their feelings for the good of the Underground Resistance.

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Also Free, I recall this one coming around last fall.

The Baker’s Daughter – Braving Evil In WW II Berlin

the baker's daughter

Amazon quote:

While chaos reigns over WW II Berlin, seventeen-year-old Liddy returns to her family’s bakery only to be confronted by a new customer—Keppler, a Nazi officer. Marek, a young man with a secretive past, labors just a few paces away in the kitchen, but where do his loyalties lie? With the Nazis? With Liddy?

Liddy’s father, Klaus, secures a night job as a prison guard where anti-Nazi dissident, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, is being held. Klaus smuggles out the pastor’s letters, but tensions rise as Keppler establishes a tenuous relationship with Liddy’s young brother, Willy. Does the Nazi officer wish to recruit Willy, or is Keppler there to spy on Liddy’s family?

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This FREE book also appeared a year ago. It was one of my favorite books.

A Season to Dance

A Season to Dance

Amazon quote:

Everyone has a dream. A passion. You work hard, you get there. Right? But what if you don’t get there? Despair? It happens… Then what? Give up? Try harder? What if all this time, you’ve been going after the wrong dreams? What if the best part of life hasn’t even started?

Ana Brassfield tries everything to be happy. An important career. A dream of dancing. A famous boyfriend. A move overseas. But all she experiences is a series of almost successes with a side of heartbreak. Then when she hits rock bottom, a stranger opens an unexpected door. Could she change her whole life? Should she? Or would this be another mistake in a life defined by rushed decisions and wrong turns?

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FREE. More from a year ago. This was intense with surprising twists and turns.

Abide With Me (The Barn Church Series Book 3)

Abide With Me

LPCbooks quote:

After ten years of marriage to the only man she’s ever loved, why is Angelina so unhappy? As a wealthy yet lonely wife, Angelina Rousseau pours all her emotions into her paintings. She’s so desperate for affection and attention, she finds herself willing to do almost anything to feel loved. Her husband Nick is determined to provide everything Angie could possibly want, including finally giving her what she’s asked for most—time with him. When what seems to be the perfect investment turns sour, he’s arrested for real estate fraud, and then learns that being accused of multiple felonies is the least of his worries.

Could “having it all” cost Nick and Angie more than they ever imagined?

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I’m currently reading and enjoying…

The Silver Suitcase It is an excellent read and is still a bargain at $0.99

The Silver Suitcase

Amazon quote:

It’s 1939, and Canada is on the cusp of entering World War II. Seventeen-year-old farm girl Cornelia has been heartbroken since the day her mother died five years ago. As a new tragedy provides Cornelia still more reason to reject her parent’s faith, a mysterious visitor appears in her hour of desperation. Alone and carrying a heavy secret, she makes a desperate choice that will haunt her for years to come. Never telling a soul, Cornelia pours out the painful events of the war in her diary.

Many decades later, Cornelia’s granddaughter, Benita, is in the midst of her own crisis, experiencing several losses in the same week, including the grandmother she adored. The resulting emotional and financial stress takes its toll on her and her husband, Ken, who is unemployed. On the brink of divorce, she discovers Cornelia’s diary. Now the secrets of her grandmother’s past will lead Benita on an unexpected journey of healing, reunion, and faith.

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Happy Reading on this fruitful book day

Bargain books February 22, 2020

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BookBub has a bargain suggestion for us today at $0.99. This book showed up for us last summer and I can remember really liking it.

The Red Door Inn (Prince Edward Island Dreams Book #1)

The Red Door Inn

Amazon quote:

Marie Carrington is running from a host of bad memories. Broke and desperate, she’s hoping to find safety and sanctuary on Prince Edward Island, where she reluctantly agrees to help decorate a renovated bed-and-breakfast before it opens for prime tourist season.

Seth Sloane didn’t move three thousand miles to work on his uncle’s B&B so he could babysit a woman with a taste for expensive antiques and a bewildering habit of jumping every time he brushes past her. He came to help restore the old Victorian–and to forget about the fiancée who broke his heart.
The only thing Marie and Seth agree on is that getting the Red Door Inn ready to open in just two months will take everything they’ve got. Can these two wounded souls find hope, healing, and perhaps a bit of romance on this beautiful island?

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The Vacant House (Sophie O’Brion Mysteries Book 1) is still a bargain at $0.99. I liked this one a lot too.

The Vacant House

Amazon quote:

She knows she didn’t do it, but everybody thinks she did.

It all begins when best-selling author Sophie O’Brion is the last person to see a murder victim alive. She looks even more guilty when a woman from her church is beaten, and Sophie was seen with her just hours before. Suddenly, people she has known her entire life begin pointing accusing fingers at her.

Marine Master Sergeant Burke Maguire, an old flame who dumped Sophie years ago, has recently been hired as a police officer in Forman Falls, Texas, and is assigned her case. She doesn’t want his help.

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I’m excited to see Angela Hunt has a bargain book out right now. She has been one of my favorite authors for decades. $0.99 is a really good deal for one of her books. There are other similar books in this series and I can’t recall if I’ve read any of them. I don’t think so – though I’ve read similar books. I’m looking forward to this.

Egypt’s Sister (The Silent Years Book #1): A Novel of Cleopatra

Egypt's Sister

Amazon quote:

Five decades before the birth of Christ, Chava, daughter of the royal tutor, grows up with Urbi, a princess in Alexandria’s royal palace. When Urbi becomes Queen Cleopatra, Chava vows to be a faithful friend no matter what–but after she and Cleopatra have an argument, she finds herself imprisoned and sold into slavery.

Torn from her family, her community, and her elevated place in Alexandrian society, Chava finds herself cast off and alone in Rome. Forced to learn difficult lessons, she struggles to trust a promise HaShem has given her. After experiencing the best and worst of Roman society, Chava must choose between love and honor, between her own desires and God’s will for her life.

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I found another bargain book, by an author unknown to me. I’ve read similar books to this one, but they were definitely not the same. I can’t make a recommendation at this point but I do plan to read it to see if I like it as well as I liked the others. This would fall in the Metaphysical Fiction category.

Adam’s Reign (The Hidden Kingdom Book 1) $0.99

Adam's Reign

Amazon quote:

Take a leap of faith into a world unlike any you have ever known, one where mankind still remembers its foundations and all the earth is clothed in perpetual springtime. Here, angels and demons wage war for the souls of mankind, and man lives for hundreds of years, forever growing either in righteousness or in evil. In these days, there are few who acknowledge where they have come from, few who keep hold of the one true God who wrought the world. For those who do, the blinders are ripped off and they see the truth: a world at war. Tucked just behind the veil of sense experience, battles rage and captives are taken as kingdoms collide and man is caught in the middle, a part of the struggle but unaware of his role.

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The last two books will not be quick reads. I think it will be a deep and thought provoking experience, for both of them.

It’s always a good day when we find reads that break away from the usual. Today is a good day.

Happy Reading!

Read and enjoyed Feb 7, 2020

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This is a slow day for book suggestions but we have a few more read-and-enjoyed to share.

Legacy Restored is my 5***** favorite today. It is book 2 in The Legacy series. Book 3 Legacy Reclaimed is scheduled to be released February 11, 2020.  Legacy Rejected is book 1.

Legacy RejectedLegacy RestoredLegacy Reclaimed

Romantic Suspense –  Book 2 is currently $0.99 while the other two are $2.99 each. I’ve only read book two and would love to read the others.

Book one:

All she wants is a home, but there is no safe haven when mobsters are after you.

Book two:

She’s a reformed thief working to take down a murderer. He’s a grieving man who refuses to let another woman die needlessly. When their desires clash, will it lead to hostility… or fireworks?

Book three:

She’ll risk anything to save the company her parents built. He’ll risk anything to save her. Someone will stop at nothing to make sure they both fail. 

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This next book – Deliverance: Lydia’s Story – is a fictional story about a broken family dealing with drug abuse, loss, hope and restoration.

Deliverance

Amazon quote:

Lydia Blankenship and her husband, Jim, lost their own little girl years ago to a medical mishap. It took Lydia nearly thirty years to stop hating the nurse who administered the wrong medicine. Now, she and Jim are once again in parental bliss as the legal guardians for Lydia’s charming five-year-old grandniece, Gracie. The girl’s mother, however—recently released from prison for drug-related theft—plots to kidnap the little girl and run.

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Heart’s Design was a pleasant surprise too. It can be read free with Kindle Unlimited

Heart's Design

Life as a big city lawyer is not her heart’s desire. It is the plan of her heavy handed barrister father. He expects all three of his offspring to become part of the family business.

On a summer hiking trip with her city-girl friends, they cross paths with a small town mineralogist and college professor. Spending time with him she finds he hears and understands. It’s a new experience, to be heard, and she’s beginning to see life in a different light. Maybe she could stand up to her father and follow her heart.

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Blackbird (Amish Mountain Secrets book 2) free to read on Kindle Unlimited

Blackbird

Women are dying again, found in conspicuous places with a dead blackbird placed beside the body. The man committing the murders ten years ago perished with a fall in a fast flowing river. These new murders look just like his but how could that be.

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Maybe tomorrow will be a better day for new book offerings. In the meantime…

Happy Reading.

Today is a read and enjoyed day

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Today is a lite day for interesting books. It’s a great time to catch up on  read-and-enjoyed stories. The list is probably heavier with Romance than Mystery but there will be a variety, I hope.

A Model Bride is the latest book read and it suited my mood of the day. It is set in England with a side trip to Edinburgh, Scotland. The real story, though, is about the insecurities the characters have to work their way through. It was the perfect balance between lite and heavy, for me anyway.

Model Bride

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A Marriage of Convenience this is the fun story of a much appreciated care-giver and a beloved absentee grandson, jointly inheriting a successful ranching enterprise. To keep the inheritance they have to agree to be married in six months time. She is actively involved in running the ranch and is good at it. He’s from New York and a city boy through and through. And… they’ve never met. She needs her share to provide for her son. He doesn’t need it but decides he wants it.

A Marriage of Convenience

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Garden of Dreams I can’t describe this story as well as Amazon, so here is their quote:

Raised by a mother who was haunted by worry and fear, Jill vowed to live a different kind of life. As a young woman, she planned out what she wanted—a husband, a large home full of children, the opportunity to paint and grow a beautiful garden, a community of believers, and a best friend—then watched as it all came true in the art-filled town of Ashland, Oregon.

But Jill has a secret that she has kept from those she loves most, including her husband and her best friend, Caye…

This is one of my favorite book on this list.

Garden of Dreams

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Cold Terror This is another of my favorites on this list. A forensic artist, she’s vacationing on a secluded island where the local sheriff (who hears the local gossip and knows she can) asks her to do a facial reconstruction on a young murder victim they haven’t been able to identify. In the midst of this task a ferocious someone enters her cottage, and with threats, attempts to kill her. She manages to escape and get help but no one knows who the intruder is or why he keeps trying to kill her.

Cold Terror

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The Turn of a Wheel a blending of romance, intrigue, and danger. A very good story

The Turn of a Wheel

And… a bunch more, all enjoyable.

Hidden ProspectsWillow Falls

FlamesThe Healing Touch

There are a number of partially read collections still in the queue but we’ll wait a bit to mention them.

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Currently I’m reading In The Field of Grace, the story of Naomi and Ruth. A daughter-in- law honoring her husband’s mother even though they are both widowed and are from different cultures and countries. When Naomi decides to return to the land of her birth Ruth vows to follow her and look after her. There have been many retellings of this popular Bible story but this one stands out with it’s different perspective. I’m really liking it so far (I’m still near the beginning) and expect to keep liking it.

In the Field of Grace

I hope you are feeling inspired and ready for the next batch of free and bargain books. Tomorrow could be a good day.

Happy Reading