Read and enjoyed April 09, 2022

I loved this book. No contest, it was my favorite read for the week. As usual, another Davis Bunn story was well written and captivating. The characters were complex, and real, with an unpredictable flow in the action. The setting was timely too, given present day world events. I wasn’t the least bit ready for it to end when it did.

The Cottage on Lighthouse Lane (Miramar Bay Book 5) 

Billy Walker is a North Carolina boy whose Hollywood star is beginning to shine. His rough past is in the rear view. Now seeing the world from the back seat of a limousine, Billy has no regrets about what he had to do, and the choices he made, to get there. But all it takes is one death-defying moment for Billy’s world to shift. When an on-set accident leaves him shaken, plagued by haunting dreams, he’s in desperate need of a rest cure. Given keys to a getaway cottage on Lighthouse Lane in Miramar Bay, he’ll regroup, relax, and recover. Yet as Billy’s dreams grow darker and more fearful, his only promise for light is in a stunning, mysterious, and uniquely gifted stranger . . .

And your next act is rewritten  . . .

 Mimi has never forgotten her tragic childhood in eastern Ukraine. Violence, a vanished family, abandonment, and a hard-won struggle to escape. Miramar Bay couldn’t be a more beautiful or unexpected refuge. In yoga and dance, and imbued with a talent to read the unrestful visions of others, Mimi has a seemingly divine ability to comfort.  She may be everything Billy desires, but Mimi knows what Billy needs. He must confront his troubling past—and not just in his dreams. As their connection deepens, Billy finds himself falling in love, and waking up to something he’s never felt before. But when the real world comes calling again, how can he say goodbye to a woman who’s changing his life one illuminating sunrise at a time?

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My current read is shaping up to be a favorite as well. One thing I have to say, the story line is not tired and well used. It is fresh as a daisy. Not that there aren’t familiar elements here and there, that’s pretty much unavoidable no matter where your story goes.

This bargain won’t last long, so hurry if you don’t want to miss out.

Beneath the Surface (Dive Team Investigations Book #1)

After a harrowing experience with an obsessed patient, oncology nurse practitioner Leigh Weston needed a change. She thought she’d left her troubles behind when she moved home to Carrington, North Carolina, and took a job in the emergency department of the local hospital. But when someone tampers with her brakes, she fears the past has chased her into the present. She reaches out to her high school friend turned homicide investigator, Ryan Parker, for help.

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I’m in Chapter four, the no-brakes part of the story. It’s a little early for a main character to be seriously injured so I will assume the best, for now anyway. The tone of the story tells me things are likely to get a lot worse though.

Join me, it’s a good read.

Bargain book April 09, 2022

BookBub has an attractive suggestion for us.

Beneath the Surface (Dive Team Investigations Book #1)

After a harrowing experience with an obsessed patient, oncology nurse practitioner Leigh Weston needed a change. She thought she’d left her troubles behind when she moved home to Carrington, North Carolina, and took a job in the emergency department of the local hospital. But when someone tampers with her brakes, she fears the past has chased her into the present. She reaches out to her high school friend turned homicide investigator, Ryan Parker, for help.

Ryan finds satisfaction in his career, but his favorite way to use his skills is as a volunteer underwater investigator with the Carrington County Sheriff’s Office dive team. When the body of a wealthy businessman is discovered in Lake Porter, the investigation uncovers a possible serial killer–one with a terrifying connection to Leigh Weston and deadly implications for them all.

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A great beginning to this story and I want to read this next I think.

In the meantime, this is it for the moment, if anything else shows up, I’ll be back.

I will likely be back anyway, to share my current read. It is, hands down, my favorite read of the week and I need to talk about it. Soon.

Happy Reading guys.

Bargain books April 08, 2022

1531 Entertainment has interesting bargain suggestions for us. Several authors are new to this site and that’s always something to celebrate. It’s lovely meeting new people.

Woman in Shadow

Award-winning author Carrie Stuart Parks combines her expertise as a forensic artist with her talent for crafting a gripping story in this page-turning web of light and shadow.

A woman off the grid.

Darby Graham thinks she’s on a much-needed vacation in remote Idaho to relax. But before she even arrives at the ranch, an earthquake strikes. Then a barn on the edge of town is engulfed in flames and strange problems at the ranch begin to escalate, and Darby finds herself immersed in a chilling mystery.

A town on fire.

More fires erupt around town, and a serial arsonist sends taunting letters to the press after each. As a forensic linguist, this is Darby’s area of expertise . . . but the scars her work has caused her are also the reason she’s trying to escape her life.

A growing darkness.

As the shadows continue moving in, pieces of the town around her come into sharper focus. To make it out alive, Darby must decide if she can trust the one man who sees her clearly.

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Beyond Justice 

Hayden McCarthy is on track to become the youngest partner in her prestigious D.C. law firm . . . if the case she’s just been handed doesn’t destroy her first.

Hayden McCarthy knows firsthand the pain when justice is not served. It’s why she became an attorney and why she’s so driven in her career. When she’s assigned a wrongful death case against the government, she isn’t sure if it’s the lucky break she needs to secure a partnership—or an attempt to make sure she never gets there.

Further complicating matters is Andrew, her roommate’s distractingly attractive cousin. But Andrew’s father is a Congressman, and Hayden’s currently taking on the government. Could the timing be any worse?

The longer she keeps the case active, the higher the stakes become. Unknown enemies seem determined to kill the case—or her. Logic and self-preservation would indicate she should close the case. But how can she, when justice is still just beyond her reach?

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Divine: A Novel (A Clean, Contemporary Christian Fiction Story of Life, Loss, Love, Faith, and the Miracle of Resurrection) 

With hallmark tenderness and power, #1 New York Times bestselling author Karen Kingsbury weaves a tapestry of life, loss, love, faith—and the miracle of resurrection.

Mary Madison is educated and redeemed, a powerful voice in Washington, D.C. But she also has a past that shamed polite society. A survivor of unspeakable horror, Mary has battled paralyzing fear, faithlessness, addiction, and promiscuity. Yet even in her darkest valley, Mary was sustained from afar, prayed over by a grandmother who clung to the belief that God had special plans for Mary. Now a divine power has set Mary free to bring life-changing hope and love to battered women living in the shadow of the nation’s capital—women like Emma Johnson. A single mother fleeing an abusive relationship, Emma wonders whether there is hope for her and her young daughters. She is desperate, broken, and unloved . . . and tempted to commit the unthinkable. Then Mary introduces Emma to the greatest love of all, greater than any either of them has ever imagined.

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I’m going for the first two, only because I have to hold the line, it’s running away on me.

The author of the third book has been a favorite for a very long time and I’m sad to leave her behind.

I hope you find something here appealing to you too.

Happy Reading y’all!

Bargain book April 05, 2022

1531 Entertainment has an interesting bargain suggestion. Another long time favorite author of mine with a book I’ve not read yet.

Vicious Cycle (Intervention Series Book 2)

Bestselling suspense author Terri Blackstock offers a harrowing look at drug addiction, human trafficking, and the devastating choices that can change lives forever.

When fifteen-year-old Lance Covington finds an abandoned baby in the backseat of a car, he knows she’s the newborn daughter of a meth addict he’s been trying to help. But when police arrest him for kidnapping, Lance is thrust into a criminal world of baby trafficking and drug abuse.

His mother, Barbara, looks for help from Kent Harlan—the man she secretly, reluctantly loves and who once helped rescue her daughter from a mess of her own.

Kent flies to Barbara’s aid and begins the impossible work of getting Lance out of trouble, protecting a baby who has no home, and finding help for a teenage mother hiding behind her lies.

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That’s all I’m seeing for the moment, if anything else shows up I’ll be back.

Happy Reading y’all

More free and bargain books April 04, 2022

LPC Free Books has FREE repeat suggestions and one new bargain.

Rhapsody in Red (A Preston Barclay Mystery Book 1)

It was a bad day to find a corpse on campus.

Preston Barclay is a self-made recluse (and he likes it that way). Teaching college history allows him time to grieve the loss of his pianist wife and find relief from the musical hallucinations that have been playing in his head since her death.

But when he and a headstrong colleague, Mara Thorn, discover the body of another instructor on campus, Press’s monotonous solitude is shaken up. The preliminary evidence points to Press and Mara. Now they must take some chances, including trusting each other (and bending the rules) to build their own defense. With their unlikely alliance, they must stay ahead of the police, the college’s incompetent administration, and whoever is trying to get away with murder.

If not, they might end up unemployed, behind bars, or worse . . .

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Land of My Dreams

Blessings come when you leave the familiar and take a step of faith.

Alone and betrayed by a former fiancé, American professor Bonny Bryant accepts a position at a small college in Fort William, Scotland. But when she meets a fellow professor, Bonny discovers her wounds may be the scars of healing Kieran MacDonell needs to reach past his own grief. Land of My Dreams spans the distance between New Mexico’s high desert mountains and the misty Scottish Highlands with a timeless story of overwhelming grief, undying love, and compelling faith.

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Bent Tree Bride: A Novel

“Romance. Intrigue. Honor. All that and more. I heartily recommend it.”
—Michelle Griep, Christy Award-winning author

Susanna Moore can’t get him out of her mind—the learned lieutenant who delivered the commission from Andrew Jackson making her father colonel of the Cherokee Regiment. But the next time she sees Lieutenant Sam Hicks, he’s leading a string of prisoners into a frontier fort, and he’s wearing the garb of a Cherokee scout rather than the suit of a white gentleman. 

As both Susanna’s father and Sam’s commanding officer, Colonel Moore couldn’t have made his directive to stay away from his daughter clearer to Sam. He wants a better match for Susanna—like the stuffy doctor who escorted her to Creek Territory. Then a suspected spy forces Moore to rely on Sam for military intelligence and Susanna’s protection, making it impossible for either to guard their heart.

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A day with many books is a good day.

Happy Reading

Current read April 03, 2022

Willow works with her grandfather searching for and finding unknown or lost descendants, usually to settle the estates of the recently departed. The dead looking for the living. This time the search is commissioned by someone living.

Twenty-one years ago a woman posing as a nurse walked out of her room carrying her newborn daughter. The FBI have never been able to catch a break in solving the abduction. Subsequently, many private investigators haven’t fared any better. Katelyn has faith in Willow’s grandfather and his reputation. He has the uncanny ability to find people others haven’t been able to.

Now, Willow is in a tough place. This is the only case her grandfather had going, and he is not here to carry it out. Several weeks ago he was hit and died while riding his bicycle. Willow is feeling reluctant about her ability to solve this case but her attitude changes when someone tries to kill her. First burning down her home where she should have died and then attempting to destroy her office building with her in it. With these recent developments the accident case is now also under suspicion.

It is unsettling to think someone wants to end her life and even more unsettling to find her grandfather has enlisted unexpected help with the case. A case she knows nothing about. Why is that?

Never Let Go (Uncommon Justice Book #1) 

As a forensic genealogist, Willow Anderson is following in her late grandfather’s footsteps in her quest for answers about a baby abducted from the hospital more than twenty years ago. The case may be cold, but things are about to heat up when someone makes an attempt on her life to keep her from discovering the truth.

Ex-FBI agent–and Willow’s ex-flame–Austin McKade readily offers his help to protect the woman he never should have let get away. Together they’ll follow where the clues lead them, even if it means Austin must face the past he’s spent much of his life trying to forget. And even if it puts Willow’s tender heart at risk.

In this fast-paced and emotional page-turner, USA Today bestselling author Elizabeth Goddard keeps the stakes high, the romantic tension sparking, and the outcome uncertain until the very end.

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I’m not so sure about the fast paced part but it definitely is emotional. I’ll admit to enjoying the read while skipping quickly through many places. More detail than is needed to advance the story.

Check it out if this synopsis appeals to you.

Happy Reading!

Another new current read April 02, 2022

This one has been on the back burner for a while now, neglected, lost in the shuffle. Over shadowed by the popular crowd. There are three books in the line-up by this author but none of them have had a fair chance at being chosen.

This book didn’t catch for me back when it first joined the list. With this attempt, continuing on from the last page read (which was only the first chapter or two) seems to have been a good choice. I must say it is catching my interest this time around. Maybe I just needed to be in the right mood. Timing is everything sometimes.

Always Look Twice (Uncommon Justice Book #2)

At the advice of her therapist, homicide survivor Harper Reynolds has traded her job as a crime scene photographer for a more peaceful life taking photographs of the natural world. But her hopes for a life surrounded by the serenity of the outdoors are dashed when she inadvertently captures a murder being committed in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. She flees the scene in fear–and loses the camera.

Former Green Beret Heath McKade is a reserve deputy in an understaffed county who has been called in to protect Harper, a childhood friend he is surprised to see back in the area. When Harper learns that the sheriff’s department can’t find any evidence of the murder she witnessed, she is determined to do what she can to see that justice is done. What neither Harper nor Heath could know is how many explosive secrets from the past will be exposed–or how deeply they will fall for each other.

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I’m glad it’s working for me now. I’ll let you now how it all turns out.

It’s at a decent price too if you are interested.

Happy weekend Reading!

More bargains March 31, 2022

Today’s current read ended with an ad for the book next in the series. Irresistible. We actually met Maddox in newly read book 2.

Maddox (Lantern Beach Blackout: Danger Rising Book 3)

He’s on the case . . . and she’s his prime suspect.

Former Navy SEAL Maddox King’s latest assignment for Blackout is to obtain information on a possible domestic terrorist operation. To do so, he must go undercover as a maintenance man at an estate owned by real estate tycoon Seymore Foggerty.

Taryn Parsons is his prime suspect. The woman was plucked out of obscurity to become Mr. Foggerty’s personal assistant. Beneath her innocent demeanor, does she have ulterior motives and plans to gain from the man’s wealth and connections?

Maddox has trouble believing Taryn is guilty. But someone is trying to kill Mr. Foggerty and has plans for his property. Maddox is running out of time to find answers, and with more suspects than he can count, this assignment may be his most challenging yet . . . for his heart and his skills.

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There were several other bargains crossing paths with us but this one stood above the rest.

It promises fun humor.

Time After Tyme

WITH TIME ALL THINGS ARE REVEALED

Nancy Drew meets Tom Sawyer in this delightful and thought-provoking romp through the third book in The Watch Series of clean mysteries. Secret codes and university intrigue combine to give Kathryn Frasier and Cece Goldman a new and puzzling mystery to solve. But things get dicey when two misguided young girls wander into the middle of the investigation and decide to solve it themselves.

Can Kathryn and Cece decipher the codes and protect the youngsters before the killer strikes again?

Delightfully clever!” — Jodie Renner, author of the award-winning writing guide Fire Up Your Fiction.

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Enjoy!

Bargain books March 23, 2022

BookBub has bargain suggestions.

Secrets She Knew: A Secrets and Lies Suspense Novel

Boston police detective Dani Lake dreads returning to her small hometown of Skye, Alabama, for her ten-year high school reunion—and not just for the normal reasons.

At only fifteen, Dani tragically discovered the body of her murdered classmate, setting in motion events leading to the unjust conviction of a dear friend and an unshakable burden of guilt she carries to this day. So when new evidence surfaces during her trip home which suggests the truth Dani’s always suspected, she embarks on a mission to expose the real killer. Unexpectedly, she finds help in Skye police detective Chris Newton—who happens to be the man Dani’s best friend is dying to set her up with and the only person who believes her.

But when Dani pushes too hard, someone pushes back, endangering Dani and those closest to her as she unearths secrets deeper and darker than she ever imagined she’d learn—secrets that may finally bring the truth into the open, if they don’t get her killed first.

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A Reluctant Bride (The Bride Ships Book #1)

Living in London’s poorest slum, Mercy Wilkins has little hope of a better life. When she’s offered an opportunity to join a bride ship sailing to British Columbia, she agrees. After witnessing so much painful heartache and loss in the slums, the bride ship is her only prospect to escape a bleak future, not only for herself but, she hopes, someday for her sister.

Wealthy and titled Joseph Colville leaves home and takes to the sea in order to escape the pain of losing his family. As ship’s surgeon, he’s in charge of the passengers’ welfare aboard the Tynemouth, including sixty brides-to-be. He has no immediate intention of settling down, but when Mercy becomes his assistant, the two must fight against a forbidden love.

With hundreds of single men congregating on the shore eager to claim a bride from the Tynemouth, will Mercy and Joseph lose their chance at true love, or will they be able to overcome the obstacles that threaten to keep them apart?

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1531 Entertainment has bargain suggestions as well.

Ember (Ladies of Garfield Book 16)

A DIFFERENT SORT OF LOVE:

At twenty-two, college student Ember Monroe thought she’d found her happily-ever-after in Quinn Abbott. All it took was one ill-fated night and the worst betrayal imaginable to rip those dreams to shreds. Now, almost a decade later, Ember’s happily-ever-after has a new look as she raises the two daughters of her deceased best friend. With a business she loves and a family she never expected, Ember has all she wants…until Quinn comes back into her life determined to break her heart a second time.

HE ONLY WANTS HIS FAMILY BACK:

Quinn went to prison for a crime he didn’t commit and it cost him every good thing in his life. When new evidence sets him free, all Quinn wants is a fresh chance with his children. Unfortunately the only way to repair his family is to tear Ember’s apart.
Can Ember find the forgiveness required to embrace the blessings God has for her? Can Quinn rebuild the family that was taken from him? It’ll take a miracle…Maybe God has one.

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The Girl in the Painting

An orphaned young math prodigy in need of family. A painting that shatters a woman’s peace. And a decades-old mystery demanding to be solved.

Australia, 1906: Orphan Jane Piper is nine years old when philanthropist siblings Michael and Elizabeth Quinn take her into their home to further her schooling. The Quinns are no strangers to hardship. Having arrived in Australia as penniless immigrants, they now care for others as lost as they once were.

Despite Jane’s mysterious past, her remarkable aptitude for mathematics takes her far over the next seven years, and her relationship with Elizabeth and Michael flourishes as she plays an increasingly prominent part in their business.

But when Elizabeth reacts in terror to an exhibition at the local gallery, Jane realizes no one knows Elizabeth after all—not even Elizabeth herself. As the past and present converge and Elizabeth’s grasp on reality loosens, Jane sets out to unravel her story before it’s too late.

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Happy Reading!

Read and enjoyed March 19, 2022

Two books.

The first one The Cryptographer’s Dilemma (Heroines of WWII Book 1)

Full of intrigue, adventure, and romance, this new series celebrates the unsung heroes—the heroines of WWII.
 
FBI cryptographer Eloise Marshall is grieving the death of her brother, who died during the attack on Pearl Harbor, when she is assigned to investigate a seemingly innocent letter about dolls. Agent Phillip Clayton is ready to enlist and head oversees when asked to work one more FBI job. A case of coded defense coordinates related to dolls should be easy, but not so when the Japanese Consulate gets involved, hearts get entangled, and Phillip goes missing. Can Eloise risk loving and losing again?

The unique thing about this book was that while it was totally fiction the story was based on real historical events. The author used creative licence to make time lines and activities fit within the story framework while at the same time using real names and many details. The idea was to honor those involved in this heroic retelling.

It was a thoroughly enjoyable read with a great ending. It’s interesting to catch a glimpse of what life was like in hard times for some of our ancestors

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The second book is Wounded Heart: A Mystery (Reed Family Mysteries Book 5) 

The final book in the crime-fighting Reed Family mystery romance series.

Jackson “Jax” Reed has exchanged his years as a reporter to become a New York Times bestselling author. Being birthed from an affair, Jax has always had a cloud that’s loomed over his life. Despite the growing success of his true crime books, a secret that his mother took to the grave has turned his life upside-down. Jax runs into an old flame, Ebony Hampton, the woman who broke off their engagement fifteen years ago. These two quickly find themselves at odds since Ebony is the FBI agent tasked with investigating the serial killer who happens to be the subject of Jax’s latest book. When their shared “subject” makes a daring escape from prison, the former couple will find themselves risking their lives together.

This was a highly enjoyable read too.

A special part of this story, for me, was the authors treatment of interpersonal relationships. We all have our own approach to living life and it showed up in the way her characters conducted themselves. It was refreshing to see a new treatment to an often experienced scenario. It was more pragmatic and less emotionally reactive.

The mystery part of the story had a fresh take on it too.

Overall, this was a great read. I would love to read the rest of the series.

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Both of these books are still at bargain prices. Grab them while you still can.

Happy Reading!