Beauty in Hiding

June 8, 2019 / For the Love of Books / Leave a comment

Reviews. Everyone one wants them. Writers, editors, publishers, and book sellers, to name a few. I totally get why they ask and why reviews are so important to them. Unfortunately, I view the requests with frustration. I have no confidence in my ability to deliver what they are looking for.

I am selective in my reading choices, There is a strict criteria, laid out in my head, for the books that make it into this blog. It encompasses things like writing ability, originality, character development, editing. I like tight writing, puns and dry humor, lack of frustrating characters, and stories free of agendas. And, topping the list – emotional experience.

The story has to take me along for the ride. All of the stories I like do this. to a certain degree. I have to take variables into account and relax my position, though. Not every book deserves an A+ but can still be worth the read, and the mention.

Having said all this, it would seem I should be able to offer an opinion. The criteria helps me decide whether it’s worth reading to the end and then it helps me decide if I want, or should, add it to the recommended list. Using a mental checklist doesn’t really give me enough solid thoughts to write a review.

At the end of a great book I’m left with feelings rather than concrete thoughts. I savor the feelings and bask in them for a while but I’ve never tried to put them into words. I think it would be like turning steam into ice. I’m not sure I could. And I’m not convinced I want to.

My daughter says having to critique a book would take the joy out of reading. I can relate to that thought.

For now, anyway, I hope the decision process involved in listing my favorite picks will count for something with the folks looking for reviews

Does anyone else share this guilty feeling? … for reading books knowing it won’t end with a review? I feel like this is a struggle unique to me. It would be nice to be proven wrong.

Beauty in Flight series – Beauty in Hiding book 2 – Robin Patchen ….. Harper has an undeserved prison record which limits her options and she’s desperate with a sudden need to go into hiding. It appears Red, her Alzheimer patient, is being poisoned and she suspects his grandson is behind it. Money and security are major hurdles in this flight. Red is wealthy but she has no way to safely access any of his money, not with his grandson in charge of finances. The first priority is finding a place to hide, she will have to figure everything else out after that.

Finding a believable reason for their presence in a new community is challenging with Red’s memory issues. Jack, her new landlord, isn’t buying her story. He can tell they are running scared from something but she is not sharing. Reluctantly, he decides to find ways to help them until he can figure out if that something is a threat to his little town.

An Angela Marchmont Mystery – The Mystery at Underwood House book 2 – Clara Benson

March's luck Larry Macklin Mysteries – March’s Luck book 5 – A.E. Howe

Love's Redemption Walden Beach Series – Love’s Redemption book 3 – Andrea Boyd

An Alex Vane Media Thriller – The Mockingbird Drive book 3 – A.C. Fuller

Hearthland volume 1 The Hearth Land Volume One – Chautona Havig

Crazy Love – Francis Chan

I’m hoping some of you will chime in on my review dilemma. Does anyone else ever feel reluctant about reviews or do you love giving them?

A Heart Set Free on Flight 259

May 11, 2019 / For the Love of Books / 2 Comments

Before we get started I need to mention…. a new page has been created with the sole purpose of keeping track of authors showing up in these blog posts. I hope some of you will find the new list helpful and inspiring. Personally, it is useful already. I’m gaining a much clearer overall picture of who and what I’m reading. It’s mindboggling to see how many little-known authors are showing up on the list. I find that pretty exciting. The world of writing has changed so much in the last decade or two. It’s now possible for an impossible number of books to be published. The overall quality of writing is consistently higher too, I’m finding. Amazing, and encouraging.

We all go through different seasons of reading in our lifetime, at least I hope we all do. My current season is discovering new things. New and different story ideas as well as authors. I’m happy to see publishers embracing the idea of allowing authors to write outside the box of the last best seller (theirs or someone else’s.) I’m glad, because that kind of thinking helps with a supply that will feed my hunger.

A Heart Set Free – Janet S, Grunst …… Heather Douglas is desperate for a new start after the death of her father, and the betrayal of both her intended and her brother. Left with no resources, fleeing an unjust scandal, she books passage to America as a seven-year indentured servant.

Matthew Stewart is in town to visit his children and stock up on supplies. It is a new and unwelcome idea when his friend Maggie suggests he should look over the indentured servants on the new ship just in. His children could go home with him if he had someone there to look after them.

He has no intention of following through with this suggestion but one of the women draws his attention. She seems different than the rest. Maybe…..

Heather watches him watch her and wonders what he could be discussing with a well dressed gentleman. When Matthew steps up to bid on her she is expecting he has arranged for a servant. He accepts possession of her but doesn’t share he’s made arrangements for a hurried wedding before they leave town. What happened to her right of freedom?

The children have just been told and they are as shocked as Heather. They aren’t ready for any of this either.

The Hope Series – Flight 259 book 1 – Staci Stallings …. Three years and Jenna is still reeling from the loss of her father, husband, and daughter. Claustrophobic living with her mother, she decides on a drastic change. Missing her flight by seconds, she can’t turn back or she will lose the courage to try again. A ticket on the next available flight anywhere, as long as it’s East, is what she has to do.

Single parent, Scott and Lane, his two-year-old, are headed home after a visit with Grandma and Grandpa. Lane is not happy about leaving them. Struggling to cope with an uncooperative child, Scott is not winning any friends among the other passengers. Life begins to look so much better when a new crop of passengers board for the second leg of the trip. A new seat mate makes him feel like an angel has been sent to help them survive. Jenna seems to have the right touch when it comes to unhappy little boys.

Everything seems to be going so much better and they will soon be home. A welcome relief…… until they encounter an unexpected, horrific storm. There’s a terrifying explosive cracking sound and the plane begins to go down.

Midnight is My Time – Mike Dellosso …. Andy Mayer is struggling to survive. Just like everyone else after The Event, the one that saw many people mysteriously disappear. War has broken out between animals and the remaining humans. The animals seem to be winning.

Missy, sees with all of her senses, just not with her blind eyes. She sees Andy sleeping in a drainage pipe. She would leave him there but she can tell he has a story and somehow it is supposed to connect with her story, so she wakes him.

They both have a story, a past, and special gifts they haven’t learned how to use. There is an old man who keeps showing up, and somehow, he seems to be helping them get to where they need to be. The old man is not the only one though. Opposition appears in unexpected places, taking them unaware. Someone wants to stop them but why is still a mystery.

The Bargain – Aaron D Gansky ….. Connor Reedly is devastated, his beloved wife is dying of cancer, and he doesn’t want to miss a minute of the time she has left. They’ve made the long trip to visit Nadine’s sister because there is an urgency about her dying wish. He thinks they would be better staying home but he can’t deny her anything.

They arrived just hours ago and Aida has someone she wants Conner to visit now?

Mason is looking for an award winning journalist to write ten articles. The dying town of Hailey needs to be saved from destruction by a tornado. If he writes articles proving there are ten good citizens the town will be spared and Nadine will live. He has ten days to write ten articles and he will be paid twenty five thousand dollars for each one.

Of course, Conner thinks this guy is a crazy and wants nothing to do with him. He is tempted though. Between rising medical debt and pressure from the two women in his life, he is at least considering it. An emergency trip to the hospital makes him consider a little faster.

The interviews he must conduct for these articles are not turning out as expected. Some of these people seem to have more bad than good in their lives. It’s a challenge to write an article proving there is anything good in this town, he has to look pretty hard to see it.

The whole thing is overwhelming and time consuming. The aspect he resents most is having to leave his dying wife. It all feels like a complete waste of time but whenever he gets discouraged and tries to stop Nadine gets sicker. Her best days are when he is writing.

He can’t quit and nothing about this is easy, in fact it’s downright life threatening. Not only by tornados. Someone is trying to kill him, and the people helping him.

There are some rather different books this time, each one going in unexpected but welcomed directions.

A Forgotten Truth and a Twist of Faith

May 10, 2019 / For the Love of Books / Leave a comment

A mixture of Romance and Mystery today.

Every week I find myself watching, with great anticipation, for an emailed windfall of new books. Usually there are five or more books to download and I’m beyond happy. Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas. LPCbooks.com is where they come from. LPC is aggressively looking for readers and they make it very easy to sign up and start receiving emails. Some of the offerings in this list are LPC books.

That First Montana Year – Donna L Scofield ….. Beatrice Anne and Will had been best friends all through school. They had talked of marrying one day…. until beautiful, flirtatious Victoria came to town and Will was hooked. His mother had grand plans for her son and encouraged the romance, hoping Will would go to university, read law, and marry into a wealthy family.

One night accidently stranded together in a snowstorm changed everything for Will and B’Anne. Two months later she realized the consequences of that night and decided to quietly leave town. She’d go to her aunt for help. That idea fell apart before she managed to leave, her brother figured out the truth of the situation and cornered Will.

Forced to marry, their parents outfitted them with everything needed to begin a new life. They were to accept an invitation offered several years back by an unknown uncle in Montana.

There was a long journey ahead of them and the future looked bleak. How could life possibly turn out well if you are married to someone you don’t even like anymore?

Mitchell’s Crossroads – A Twist of Faith book 1- Pepper Basham …… Dee is caught in a bad place. She has earned her doctorate and landed a research position in a small university near the Blue Mountain area where she was raised. Alex, her immediate supervisor, visits her office on the pretext of checking in with her. Before he leaves the real reason comes out, he wants her research notes on accent modification for his presentation as keynote speaker.

Four years she worked as one of his research assistants and now he’s planning to present her results at an upcoming conference. He is planning to take credit for her work. How can he do this to her?

When she objects he tells her she is not ready to make such a prestigious speech and to prove it he gives her a project. In the few weeks left before the scheduled conference she has to work with the college maintenance man to rid him of his strong Appalachian accent. If she is successful Alex will step aside and allow Dee to present her own research findings.

Alex is a snob and hasn’t read the situation correctly. Dee isn’t a snob but she hasn’t made the correct assessment either. This uneducated Appalachian man, delivering keys to her office, isn’t who either of them think he is.

Serenity Landing Second Chances – Discovering Home book 1 – Carol Moncado ….. A lost and bedraggled puppy on the edge of his country estate is about to change Jonathan’s life in unexpected ways. It all happens after a trip to the vet, followed by a stop at the grocery store for puppy supplies. A chance meeting with a precocious little girl is only the beginning.

Kenzie is mortified when four year old Lorelai confronts a man for having a puppy in the grocery store. Her embarrassment deepens when her daughter recognizes him from the wedding several weeks ago and remembers he danced with her. Kenzie is desperate to get out of there but her daughter isn’t having it. She’s enamored with this man and his dog and is excited he will send her some puppy pictures, if her mother will email him so he can.

She has no intention of emailing him but her daughter, helped along by life’s circumstances, has a way of derailing her plans. It seems they had trouble staying on the road and they have no one they can call for help.

Of course they do. They have his business card and Lorelai is convinced they need to call the nice man. He did say to let him know if there’s anything he could do for them.

The Agency Files – A Forgotten Truth book 4 – Chautona Havig …. This is a mystery thriller. I appreciated it but ….. the reading experience was a little murky in places. As always, Chautona comes up with interesting and engaging stories and this one was interesting and still worth reading.

A Jeremy Winter Thriller – Dead of Winter book 2 – Tom Threadgill …. For reasons Jeremy Winter does not understand, he’s been transferred to an FBI desk job in the middle of nowhere, working cold cases. It’s a lonely adjustment and he’s missing his girlfriend, who also happens to be his current boss. Occasionally he gets called in to help on a case, one of her cases.

His legendary track record for catching serial killers makes him a valuable asset and he’s more than happy to be called in as consultant on active cases. This time the tip off is severed fingers showing up in Justice Department mailrooms. They’ve received a finger for every victim found up to this point but that’s the only similarity they’ve found. The wide variety of victims is out of character for most serial killers and makes it harder to identify the type of person they should be looking at.

Aside from all that, someone is trying to manipulate Jeremy and get him kicked off the case. The question is who, and why?

Crossroads Collection Betwixt Two Hearts ….. ….. Betwixt Two Hearts – Amanda Tru, The Swedehearts Glory Quilt – Cathe Swanson, Whole Latte Love – Kari Trumbo, Seoul Refuge – AlanaTerry, Guardian of Her Heart – Carol Moncado, Random Acts of Shyness – Chautona Havig

The box set generated by this group of ladies is always a good read.

Happy Reading All

Broken Things, Hidden Things

April 28, 2019 / For the Love of Books / Leave a comment

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.

Hdden Things 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 box set 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.

The Secret of Willow Inn

April 28, 2019 / For the Love of Books / Leave a comment

Here is another installment in the long list of books already read. As always, there were some I enjoyed more than others but they were all a good read. Lots of variety in the story lines and a number of authors I’d not read before. Eleven books in all since two were box sets.

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.

Her parents dream for this small town is the restoration of Willow Inn and the crumbling hotel next door. They are pursuing an investor but haven’t heard from him in weeks. If he doesn’t come though will it be possible for Emily to carry on with their dream?

Rachel wants to be an actress, that’s been a dream since childhood. Her driven father has other plans. He expects she will take over as head of his highly successful real estate investment business one day. A client, with an interest in establishing a vineyard in Willow Falls, wants to take her for an onsite visit to help close the deal. Will time away help her find the courage to stand up to her father?

Sadie has recently been released, having serving a thirty year prison sentence for shooting her step father. With nowhere else to go, she has returned to Willow Falls. The Sheriff and his wife believe in her but many of the other residents don’t and feel she needs to leave. Emily sides with the Sheriff and is willing to give Sadie a chance. There is more to the story than anyone has been told.

It seems this small town holds many secrets. And somehow these lives are woven together.

Stories from a Front Porch 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.

Malcolm is in a hurry, he’s travelling with the intention of winning a tournament to secure property for himself. His sense of honor has him taking the time to rescue a scrawny young lad, suffering a beating at the hands of two burly men. He has no idea he’s rescued a girl. Or that they share a destination.

Her secret is out when she suffers a serious knife wound in a skirmish and he has to treat the wound. Her identity and purpose for travel is still a mystery. She may live to regret not trusting him.

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.

Lee is drawn to the beautiful new young woman. Sarah is drawn to him too, but she’s afraid. She believes marriage would destroy any hope of achieving her teaching dream.

Mentors with means are opening doors for her, wanting to help her realize her potential, while quietly encouraging love.

Lee doesn’t seem to be going anywhere. Her dreams are important to him and he can wait.

More to come.

Happy Reading

Among the Poppies – and six more

April 27, 2019 / For the Love of Books / Leave a comment

Last post I mentioned I was behind (no lie, I am) and that there would be bare bones information given until I could catch up. That was the intent but it was impossible not to say something, so, each book has a small blurb. I hope you feel enticed to read some of them.

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.

The plan she comes up with is to answer an ad for help in a small rural community, using an assumed name. The position she finds is for housekeeper, something she knows nothing about. She hopes she can fake it enough to be believed.

The man hiring her is desperate, for several reasons. He can see she is lying but his family has taken to her and convinces him to give her a chance.

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.

Not knowing what else to do, they take her to a hospital for help. This is not a first time situation for hospital staff. They still don’t know how to deal with it so they call in the first victim, hoping her experience will offer the help they don’t have.

The contents of her hotel room suggest she has powerful connections somewhere, but where? What possible dangers could her past hold?

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.

He has had a successful military career. Now he’s faced with medical issues which means he needs insight into his genetic makeup. Finding anything about his birth family has proved to be a challenge and he needs help. That’s why he’s here… he’s been told she maybe be able to uncover the information he’s after.

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.

Gender and social status work against her in normal channels but an alliance with a powerful benefactress gives her the opportunity she needs. She’s determined to become an ambulance driver on the battlefield.

Love for a handsome captain isn’t enough to keep her from volunteering for dangerous missions.

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.

She’s completed her university training and taken a job in journalism. One of her first tasks is to interview the director of a major railway company. Her nerves are on edge, she has to do well at this if she wants a chance to be taken seriously.

Waiting is torture. With her attention on the view outside the window the approach of someone from behind catches her unaware. It’s a shock to turn around and find the person she is here to interview is…….. her arch enemy.

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.

Michael Phillips has a heart for hearing stories that need to be told and he tells them well.

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.

For some reason, he feels compelled to try and help her with this cause. He is unaware of her animosity toward him for not calling again after their first and only date five years ago.

The mention of these books has been in limbo for a number of months, that why one from Christmas made the list.

Happy reading everyone.

Don’t forget to check out the Romance and Mystery pages for a complete list of books mentioned on this blog. You may find them to be a helpful resource.

Rhapsody in Red

April 20, 2019 / For the Love of Books / Leave a comment

Discovering a new source of reading material has been exciting. The rut I was in has been abandoned with the infusion of new material and authors. Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas is responsible for this. I’d come across some of their books at some point in time and enjoyed what I’d read so it was an easy decision to sign up for their weekly free books email. I’ve been downloading five or six a week, gobbling them up, then watching for a new email with more.

So far I’ve loved most of them with just a few I had trouble relating to. That’s pretty normal wit any list of books.

There are seven here today, many of them are books read and loved in the last week.

LPC Free Books is actively recruiting new readers with an offer of free downloads so check them out. Each book has a link for their emails so they are very easy to find.

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.

He is attracted to Mara Thorn, the new headstrong instructor, but resists and limits his interaction with her. The feelings are mutual. Attraction and resistance.

Wrong place at the wrong time has them as prime suspects in the murder of a colleague. It appears they were the only ones in the building when she was murdered. And, the discovery of the body when they went to her office looking for her has only served to compound the case against them.

Administrations inept attitude toward discovering the real murderer is not helping. Preston and Mara need to lay aside their prickly attitudes and find a way to work together to clear their names and keep their jobs.

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.

Jonah is related to Belle’s fiancé and is interested in Penny but she rebuffs his advances, thinking her family is matching making, again. Easton, handsome and flirty personal trainer, makes Penny feel special when she enlists his help. She has agreed to lose enough weight to suit her sister’s demands.

Her insecurities blind her to the truth about motives. Things are not always what she thinks they are, Making choices to prove something to her family, hoping for their approval and acceptance, is leading her to more heartache.

She’s the only one who can’t see the truth of this.

Jonah decides to fight to have her in his life, hoping she will discover the truth about motives before it’s too late.

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.

The inability to have children of their own has broken her heart. She feels compelled to take on an unhealthy workload trying to make a difference and dull the pain – to the detriment of her marriage.

She is unable to say no to one special little girl and, without consulting her husband, has agreed to take her home for a time.

Her husband has been loving and supportive in so many ways but…. this is too much.

She’s caught, faced with a choice between two loves. Either way her heart will break, again.

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.

Her university advisor, and friend, has introduced her to an elderly gentleman looking for a summer nanny for a small girl. She agrees to the position because the plantation is also near Charleston. It will give her a chance to learn more about her brother before she starts her new teaching position in the fall.

Luke Barrett is a wounded and retired special forces marine. He’s also recently widowed, with a small daughter and a plantation to run. When an unexpected young lady arrives at the door, he is full of distrust and is unwilling to believe her story. It seems his uncle has engaged a nanny for the summer but died of a stroke before letting the rest of the family know about his arrangements.

Luke is trying to find out why she is really here, he suspects there is more to the story than she’s letting on. Rachel can’t be honest about why she’s taken this job. She’s promised her brother she wouldn’t compromise his DEA contacts by sharing what she knows. Luke can tell she is hiding something but then so is he. DEA suspects a major drug ring is operating somewhere near his plantation and they have identified him as a trusted source of information.

Rachel hears small planes in the night and wonders. A face reflected in the store window is unsettling, it looks like her brother but when she turns he’s gone. She’s determined to figure out what’s going on.

Stumbling across a packet of drugs in an old trunk in the attic is devastating. Could Luke be involved too? Who can she trust in all of this?

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.

She needs to hold on long enough, to see bad experiences turn into something good.

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.

Heading to Branson Missouri for a summer singing gig; she intends to make a good first impression and secure her place as star of the show. A bucket filled with dirty water and a wet floor soon brings an end to that plan. Her bad first impression is compounded when her bedraggled reaction to the janitor exposes her as a snob.

Over the next few days she realizes she has competition in the diva department. It’s a wake up call. She’s getting a taste of what it’s like to be on the receiving end of bad behavior and doesn’t like it very much. She’s seeing her own actions in a new light and is ashamed when she realises what she’s done to make cast mates dislike her so much.

Life has taken a downturn in her personal life as well. With the new experience of a money shortage she finds herself working for the lowly janitor just to put a roof over her head and pay the bills.

She’s discovering that things, and people, are not always what they seem and what looks like bad can turn out to be a blessing in disguise.

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.

Penelope Howard has her own heartache. The responsibility of seeing to the needs of the villagers belonging to the Hall helps her to get through the days and weeks. Now her uncle has died and her future is uncertain. His will names John Turner as heir in place of the son he never had. If Dr. Turner arrives from America with a wife, the responsibility for the villagers would pass to her and Penelope will have to find another way to survive.

Everyone is excited about the new doctor coming to help carry the load. It’s a shock to meet him and find he refuses to take on that role.

Penelope is relieved to find he doesn’t have a wife. She will be needed to continue on with her visits and nursing duties. This means regular contact with the Lord of the Manor and it leaves her hoping there will be a chance of convincing him to change his mind. Hopefully it will be soon. They need him.

Instead of getting better, the situation is getting worse. Not everyone has taken his refusal gracefully and he thinks that his leaving will make things better for everyone.

It takes an epidemic rushing through the village to wake him up and change everything.

Happy searching… and happy reading!

Hide and Seek – Lynette Eason

March 27, 2019March 27, 2019 / For the Love of Books / Leave a comment

Lately, I’ve been feeling like I’m in a rut. Same old same old. It feels like I need to find a way to swim in a different part of the pond, to change things up a bit.

When I look back at the books I’ve been reading for the last month or two, the rut feeling doesn’t really hold up. Yes, I’ve been spending a lot more time with certain authors but there have still been a good number of new ones.

Maybe it’s not the part of the pond that’s the issue, maybe it’s the route I take to get there.

A different route works for me when I’m driving so why not here too.

With that in mind, I thought I would sign up for Kindle Unlimited and give it a try. See if it will give me new avenues of exposure. I’ll let you know how that goes.

Another new opportunity presented itself this week, as well.

I saw an ad from a publisher, Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas. It sounded like they were looking for new readers for new books as they came out. If you signed up you would be added to the list to receive free copies. They publish about 40 books a year and you pick and choose which ones you might be interested in reading. I signed up, of course. There have been several emails already, and I’ve ordered and enjoyed reading three or four of their books. It looks like a good chance to see some I may not see anywhere else.

I’m not entirely sure it is what I thought it was – new books just coming out. But, that may be ok, as long as it adds freshness to my reading choices.

Today’s book is one I found on Kindle Unlimited

Hide and Seek

Family Reunions Series – Hide and Seek – Lynette Eason

PI Romantic Suspense

Devastated by the kidnapping of her three year old daughter Molly, Erica James becomes a skip tracer, helping others find their missing children while searching for her own. And, she’s good at it.

It’s been three years with little-to-no progress in finding her daughter but today they have a new lead. A piece of Molly’s clothing was found in a crack-house raid and they were able to lift a fingerprint. It belongs to a girl known to police as a drug addict.

Erica has the address and is determined to see for herself if there are any other clues that may have been overlooked. GPS has taken her into an unexpected rough area where it isn’t safe and she realizes she should not have come on this quest alone. A couple of menacing shapes are approaching the back of her parked vehicle when a police cruiser appears on the cross street ahead of her. The guys quickly disappear. Shaken, she calls her brother for backup and promises to stay in the car until he gets there.

She meant to wait but screams from the girl she saw entering the house has her running to see if she can help.

Max Powell is a private investigator looking for his illusive, and rebellious, addict sister. He’s heard the same report Erica has and hopes to find Lydia tonight. When he parks behind a car with the driver’s door hanging open he is on high alert. What is going on here?

Erica is inside and in trouble. She has stumbled into the middle of a desperate scene.

From the front door, Max hears commotion inside and can see the trouble. He’s hoping police will arrive before someone gets killed.

They do, and take charge of the situation, making arrests, but Lydia has disappeared, again.

In the process of explaining to police what they are doing in this house, they realize they are both searching for the same girl. Just for different reasons. Maybe they would learn more if they worked together on finding her.

They have no idea how grateful they will be for that decision.

I am a fan of Lynette Eason and always enjoy her writing.

Look for samples from Lighthouse Publishing choices in a new post

Happy Reading

Two o’Clock Slump – Chautona Havig

March 27, 2019March 26, 2019 / For the Love of Books / Leave a comment

2 o'clock slump

The Hartfield Mysteries book 3 – Two o’Clock Slump – Chautona Havig

Alexa Hartfield, beloved mystery writer, lives in the small town of Fairbury and is famous, at home and abroad, for her everyday appearances in a wide array of elaborate and authentic vintage ensembles.

The recent arrest and conviction of her best friend, and seamstress extraordinaire, has given her attention of a new and different kind. Murder and mayhem found only in her popular books has leaked out into her personal life. An uncomfortable situation.

Change is unsettling to Alexa and there’ve been many others recently ….. a move to a new and larger house, a new engagement, and the discovery of a possible replacement seamstress – capable of the perfection she requires. All of these things have upset her orderly lifestyle. Strict routine has been her method of coping since breaking free of her dysfunctional family.

Her house and writing area was set up just the way she liked it. That made it possible to create the rituals which became an integral part of her writing process. Nothing is working the same way in the new house and it’s a struggle trying to recreate what was lost with the move.

The latest book is finished and the end always calls for a celebratory roast beef dinner. For years she’s done this alone but it’s different now with another person to consider. She feels the need for the presence of her policeman fiancé, Joe, at this meal. When he isn’t able to show up at the expected time and dinner is ruined, it’s too much. Her fragile hold on this life of change is severely challenged and she’s ready to run.

This concerns both Joe and her brother Wes. Especially Wes, he knows his sister and can see it all happening again.

Joe is happy her decision to break their engagement is tabled for now . She has a bi-annual trip planned to visit her judgemental, critical family. Her brother Wes is his roommate, and that’s given Joe some insight into the distressful family dynamics. He needs time to convince her to stay and take a chance on the good relationship they have together. He knows life can be different for them. The needed conversation can wait until after she gets back, that will buy him time to launch a defense.

Alexa stands up for herself and reserves a hotel room, not giving in to the pressure to stay with her family. Two weeks is just too much, two days would be too much.

She’s exhausted and thankful to crawl into bed after the long trip and the disastrous homecoming dinnertime spent with her parents and sister.

When she’s pulled out of a deep sleep at 2 am by an alarm ringing incessantly in the next room she calls the front desk to complain.

They say it can’t be happening, the room is empty. They keep insisting it’s unoccupied but finally agree to send someone up to investigate. There’s a lot of racket in the hallway and Alexa figures she’d better go see what’s happening since she made the call. She hears vomiting and then there’s a figure backing out of the room. Soon the hallway is filled with other guests wanting to know what the commotion is all about.

It seems the empty room has a body in the bed. A dead body.

The police keep asking her a lot of, what she considers, irrelevant questions. She’s tired and orders them out of her room if they aren’t planning to arrest her. They leave but she gets the unsettling impression they think she had something to do with it. For some reason they think the evidence is pointing in her direction.

It turns out someone is trying to frame her for this murder, but why?

Chautona Havig is always a good read. She has a vivid imagination turning out unique and varied story lines in different genres. She’s prolific, I’ve downloaded and read 30 of her books and there are still many more waiting to be read.

There has never been a moment in this reading experience where it felt like deja vu …. that’s amazing. One thing I have felt though is character recognition – wait a minute .. have we met? There is good reason for that feeling. She likes to link her books and often has characters popping up in the middle of someone else’s story. Sometimes inadvertently. Ooops.

As well as her wild imagination, Chautona has a unique take on life; that makes for interesting characters and situations.

I could spend more time on her books but then I’d be short on time to read all the other interesting authors I’ve downloaded. A wonderful dilemma.

In the meantime I need to get back to Hartfield Mysteries book 4 Front Window. Joe and Alexa are on their honeymoon and it looks like things are about to go awry.

Happy Reading!

Romance

January 8, 2019 / For the Love of Books / Leave a comment

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?

Happy Reading!!