Eye For Revenge

July 11, 2019 / For the Love of Books / Leave a comment

A big thank-you to all of you who read this blog and like the posts. Initiating conversations is not one of my strengths, as you can probably tell by the non-existent comment section, but my readers and followers are always noticed and appreciated, even without comments. Thank you for taking the time to read.

I am feeling pretty happy with this list of books. It’s not often that every book is a winner. Usually there are some I like better than others but this time they were all good. All of the authors except one are regulars on my reading list. Emily C. Reynolds is new to me and I look forward to seeing more from her in the future.

Eye For Revenge – Cheryl Bradshaw … She’s lost her will to live. Her marriage is in trouble, they are fighting all the time. She needs to go back to work to ease her depression. Her husband won’t hear of it. Her best friend Evie has just been murdered, her four year old traumatized son was there to witness it.

Quinn slowly realizes she’s lying in a hospital bed. Voices she recognizes are calling her to wake up. After a big fight with Marcus she’d stormed out of the house and in the rain, slid off the road hitting a big oak tree. That explains why she’s here. It’s stressful listening to the voices and her heart stopped. She felt like she was floating above her body and now she had a choice to make. Stay or go back.

She chooses life but there will be changes. Evie has always been there for Quinn. Now it’s time for her to be there for Evie and her traumatized son. Despite Marcus’ demand that her place is with him in Utah.

She needs to be there as support for Jacob. She is on a mission to figure out who murdered her friend.

One of the underlying issues addressed in this story is bullying. Another is fallout from poor choices. Life is complicated. That’s what makes these stories interesting!

Pcture Perfect Picture Perfect – Emily C. Reynolds … Lily is working two jobs trying to save enough to open her own photography studio. There is an empty shop in the perfect location but the landlord is elusive. It’s frustrating. There are rumors of a new owner and she wants to be sure of a signed lease before that happens.

Punching the new guy in town is not the best way to start a first encounter. She reacts when feeling threatened. It is not wise to grab her shoulder unexpectedly even if it’s meant to be helpful. He didn’t mean to surprise her, he only entered the church she was cleaning looking for a ladder. Micah is impressed with the muscle behind the punch, even if it did result in a swollen eye.

He’s moved back to town to open a martial arts studio. Lily hasn’t recognize him, yet, and it is guaranteed to be awkward with their painful past. It will be worse when they discover they are dreaming about the same building.

Tarnished Silver – Chautona Havig ….. Friends helping friends. Chautona spins a tale like no one else can. It’s always a surprise.

No One To Trust – Lynette Eason ….. It was still dark when Summer opened her eyes to find a man standing over her bed with a gun pointed in her face. In the shadows she could see there was a second man.

They demanded to see her husband. He should have been home from his business trip two hours ago but she can see he’s not here. Something bad has happened or he would be in bed beside her.

They are looking for something he has and if she wants to live she has twenty four hours to find it. It would be a shame if anything where to happen to the two beautiful little girls in the picture on her dresser.

Oh, by the way, your husband isn’t Kyle Abernathy, he is David Hackett. He is involved with some bad people, he stole something from them and they want it back.

Lynette Eason knows how to write a great mystery/thriller.

A Ty Buchanan Legal Thriller – Try Dying – James Scott Bell ….

Wrong place at the wrong time.

A man shoots his wife. Later he jumps off an overpass killing himself while landing on a car travelling beneath him, killing the driver.

Ty is passing the accident scene on his way home when he’s devastated to realize the victim is his fiancé.

On his way to becoming a successful high powered lawyer, he’s willing to risk it all when he discovers it may have been murder. He attempts to share what he’s been told with the authorities but no one will believe him. He’s not about to sit by and do nothing. He needs to know he truth and someone needs to pay.

James Scott Bell knows how to write a compelling thriller.

Happy Reading!

Within The Candle’s Glow

July 3, 2019July 26, 2019 / For the Love of Books / Leave a comment

I think my favorite book in this new list was Madeleine L’Engle’s The Other Side of The Sun. Although Gathering Storm stands out for me too. It deals with murder but it’s treatment is not terribly dark. The story leans more toward family dynamics than it does toward murder itself. Family members are developing compatibility in unexpected ways. Especially the protagonist. Stephanie is savoring the gain of the loving step family she was never allowed to know. And she is beginning to see her father in a whole new light too.

Witin the Candle's Glow Ella Dessa’s Story – Within the Candle’s Glow book 2 – Karen Campbell Prough … This is a complicated love story where hearts are broken. Ella Dessa and Samuel are best childhood friends and he’s grown to love her. She loves him as a friend but it’s his older brother Jim she’s in love with. Then there’s Josh. A dirty, unkempt, and injured miner, Josh has recently come to town with a bag of gold and wild tales about how he got it. He fancies himself in love with Ella and will resort to kidnapping to have her. Samuel loves her enough to risk his life to rescue her and return her to his brother.

But, ….. it’s not quite that as simple as all that.

Ella Dessa’s Story – With This Peace book 3 – Karen Campbell Prough … There is a third brother in the McKnapp clan, the wanderer Duncan. He’s spent many years away from the family farm always returning with grand tales of fame and fortune. This time he returns with arguments to convince his brothers, Jim and Duncan, to join him in a venture that he says can’t lose. He tells them stories of vast fertile farmland in Florida, just for the taking. Ella Dessa was not in favor of the trip to begin with and with confusing inaccurate maps and continually changing plans she faces hardship like she’s never known. Left alone with her children in an unfamiliar part of the world, she would have died without the help of kind souls travelling the same lonely, isolated path.

When Darkness Falls – The Gathering Storm book 1 – Barbara Warren … Stephanie hasn’t seen her undependable and dishonest father in three years. She’s shocked to see him at her door now. He’s here to convince her to visit the grand hotel he shares with his celebrity wife. Suspicious of his motives she refuses to go with him.

It seems too easy. He accepted her refusal and left. It was too easy. The valuable diamond necklace borrowed from her aunt is missing. He doesn’t need it. It’s an enticement. He knows she will follow him to get it back.

In a rage, she storms through the hotel looking for him. She finds him alright. In his room, dead. And they think she did it.

So, why did he want her here? If she knew that, maybe she could figure out who would want to kill him.

The Other Side of The Sun – Madeleine L’Engle … Stella is barely married when her new husband is sent on a diplomatic mission to some unknown place in the world, for an indefinite period of time. He’s left her alone in the deep south, beach front, family cottage. Living with elderly relatives she’s just met, in a culture she knows nothing about.

Day to day living has her stumbling into dark family secrets she wasn’t supposed to find. The three ancient aunts warn her against certain people and certain places but she doesn’t listen. People approach her with invitations she sees no reason to decline. She has no idea what kind of clan she’s married into, or the dangerous repercussions of exposing their long buried secrets.

She may not have survived without the wise intervention of the one aunt who knows all of the family secrets, and the identity of the true owner of the massive cottage with the legendary pirate history.

Madeleine L’Engle is a master story teller and weaves an awesome tale.

The Gilded Curse – Marilyn Turk … Her brother Robert died at Pearl Harbor. Shortly after, came the death of her mother in a mental hospital. Lexie is left as the sole heir to a crumbling family empire. A common dilemma for the wealthy of those days. Her empire has been reduced to an abandoned family cottage on a holiday isle of the wealthy. A cottage her mother claims is cursed.

The clubhouse is still catering to their members and staff arranges to meet her ferry, even though she hasn’t advised them of her arrival time. Both the fact she was met and the identity of the person meeting her are surprises. She is arriving with plans to sell the cottage but Russell has another agenda. He plans to convince her to change her mind and keep it.

Another story with dark family secrets and hidden agendas.

It’s summertime and publishers are promoting an abundance of reading material for those days of leisure at the beach and cottages. I’m thrilled. I hope you too. Are you taking advantage of the extra opportunities?

Happy summertime reading!

Second Time Around

July 1, 2019 / For the Love of Books / Leave a comment

Morris Fenris is a new author to me, although it appears I did download book 1 in this series back in 2016. Second Time Around is book 4 and Sara in Montana is book 1 in his Second Chances Series. A peek at his website morrisfenrisbooks.com tells me he specializes in Romance in a number of different genres and is a Fiji born Australian. I’m not sure his place of birth impacts his writing as his website tells me his focus is on emulating his favorite authors. This series is set in the US and it feels right at home.

I have many positive thoughts on Second Time Around. My only negative thought would be he uses a lot of detail that, to me, feels unnecessary and is sometimes distracting. Other than that, it is a solid story with well developed characters and it drew me in from beginning to end.

As I write this I haven’t refreshed my memory on book 1 but will do so before I hit publish on this post.

Second Chances Series – Second Time Around book 4 – Morris Fenris … A stalker has terrified Jess, enough to force her to consider relocation. A pediatric oncology nurse, she’s excited when a friend tells her of an opening in a small and beautiful mountain town. The clinic caters to cancer patients with the sideline of a small office for regular local emergencies. It sounded like a perfect fit.

Bryan Jackson is burnt out after three years deep undercover for the FBI. He had a major part to play in taking down a foreign drug cartel. He’s seen and done things in his role as gang member that haunt him. His superiors have other places they would like to send him but agree he needs time to heal first. They have an isolated and highly secure safe house that’s up for sale. They’ll put the sale on hold and he can have the use of it for as long as it takes him to figure things out.

It’s a very small town, everyone knows everyone, and everything. Bryan figures this out when he arrives sooner than expected. His infected knife wound is giving him trouble after long hours on the road. He decides the drug store would be the place to help him out, with ointment and bandages. He doesn’t expect to have the first person he sees know his name and estimated time of arrival, never mind, calling in a nurse to tend a wound they already knew he had. Reluctantly, he submits to her care even though he’s used to tending his own wounds.

The long years of undercover have left him in a constant state of high alert. When the nurse’s face drains of all color after receiving a text, he notices. She says it’s nothing but he doesn’t believe her. He’ll bide his time but he intends to find out, soon, what it is that has her terrified.

Second Chances Series – Sara in Montana book 1 – Morris Fenris … Sara entered the small town drug store in the middle of a snow storm looking for a bathroom and cough syrup, in that order. She was doubled over with coughing and exhausted from so many hours on the road but she had to keep moving. She doesn’t feel safe enough to stop yet.

Trent, the local sheriff was enjoying coffee with the pharmacist when he noticed a unfamiliar vehicle with California plates pull up out front. Ever helpful, he planted himself in front of the woman who was obviously in distress with a deep cough. She kept trying to get around him. She was on a mission and he was in her way.

There was something about her answers to his friendly questions that raised red flags in his mind. She wasn’t dressed for the weather, was plainly sick and unfit to drive, but was still determined to keep going. He had nothing he could use to keep her from leaving even though something about her seemed off to him.

Hoping to find a reason to detain her, he quickly ran her name and license plate. The search turned up a warrant for her arrest. It was alleged she’d stolen a car and attacked the owner. Somehow this didn’t line up with what he could see of her but it would be a place to start. Other than the arrest warrant her record was clean, not even a parking ticket. The owner of the vehicle, on the other hand, showed up as a person of interest in federal investigations. What was she involved in? Who was she running from and why?

He was anxious to hear her side of the story before making local authorities aware he had her.

Trent went looking and found her on the side of the road several miles from town. She was wrapped in a blanket in a cooling and unlocked vehicle. Passed out but still breathing. Even without the arrest warrant she would be staying in town after all. He intended to find out what she was running from. Bruises showing up in the doctor’s exam solidified his resolve to keep her safe.

He has contacts with answers. If the Feds are involved in this, they will be happy to hear from him.

Happy Reading, on this Canadian long weekend.

Lost and Found, Words

June 30, 2019 / For the Love of Books / Leave a comment

Ginny L. Yttrup digs deep when searching for stories. Reading what she comes up with is an emotional experience, resonating to one’s very heart. There are two books, one I read last year and one just now. I want to tell you about them both. They were so good.

The second story was inspired by the autobiography of Madame Jeanne Guyon (1648-1717). Her book is still popular and still in print. I’ve downloaded a copy and it’s in my TBR stack.

Words

Yttrup book read last year – Words. It’s about a young girl who couldn’t, or wouldn’t, speak due to trauma at the hands of her caregiver. The two of them, child and caregiver/captor, are living isolated deep inside a forest. An unexpected hiker catches a glimpse of a little person hiding in a hollowed out tree. It’s Kaylee’s secret room, a safe place to briefly escape her abuser and the disturbing reminders of her everyday life with him.

Sierra is standing still, deep in thought. She needs time alone, surrounded by a vast forest, to wrestle with her own situation. A sudden moment of awareness and she is startled to realize she is looking into the eyes of a wary child, one who is suddenly running for her life.

The desperate circumstances suggested by a fragile appearance filter through and this grieving mother’s heart is captured. Now she’s desperate to find a way to connect with this terrified little girl.

It’s a beautiful story of compassion and rescue. A favorite at the time of reading.

Lost and Found – Ginny Yttrup

This time the Yttrup book read is Lost and Found, a story with trauma of a different sort.

Her mother’s best friend Brigitte has taken Jenna under her wing. As a young teen she lost her mother to cancer and in his devastation her father is grateful to have Brigitte assume motherly duties for his daughter.

As CEO of a lucrative empire, Brigitte has a brilliant plan. She will groom Jenna to be wife of her son and heir, Gerard. He is considerably older but the marriage will result in an advantageous merger between family businesses. A merger Brigitte is determined to have no matter what the cost.

Jenna is fooled into thinking Brigitte has her best interests at heart and has learned over the years to be compliant with all demands. Even the ones she hates. Required to live in the same house, under her mother-in-law’s rule, is the hardest to swallow now that they are married.

Brigitte rules with an iron fist and is pleased business plans are on track with her long term goal. What she doesn’t realize is: Jenna, in her unhappiness, is waking up to the abuse and is beginning to fight back.

Andee Bell, an ambitious young woman pursuing fortune and fame, has landed a relationship with Jenna’s brother and she is taking advantage of new opportunities. Her motto is: do what’s best for business. Best for business is rarely best for relationships. She is beginning to feel guilty about some of her decisions and she needs to. Some of them are about to backfire in a big way.

Each character is making decisions based on hopes and dreams. They have no idea what is about to be unleashed on all of them as a result.

The thing I like best about this story – it is presented in many layers with new revelations in each one. The characters are complex and well developed. Deep issues are raised throughout and faced head on, with bullying as the biggest one.

This was a #1 favorite for me.

Stealthy Steps

June 21, 2019 / For the Love of Books / Leave a comment

This sci-fi, Stealthy Steps, was my favorite read this time. It was well written, believable, and it took me on a wild ride. Judging by the lengthy list of references at the end, the idea of nanophysics is not just a figment of someone’s imagination. That’s cool. This book was intriguing and I’m looking forward to reading the rest of the series.

Nanostealth Series – Stealthy Steps book 1 – Vikki Kestell …. Gemma Keyes is unremarkable. With a degree in business and little-to-no knowledge of science she find herself employed in a high level nanophysics research center and she’s not sure how or why it happened. The lab is housed in an abandoned military weapons storage facility built into the side of a mountain, with unobtrusive escape tunnels and multiple security fences. Her duties are to care for the administrative needs of two researchers – physicists who seem to hate each other.

The project is top secret and of great interest to a hard nosed, two star general who happens to be an elegant but shark-like woman. It’s no secret she has a hidden agenda for her presence in their offices and what she has in mind will not be good for their country.

Tension is high in the lab this morning and Gemma finds herself in a life threatening situation with Dr. Bickle. Feverishly working to pack up his invention and run, he’s convinced the General is about to swoop in and take possession of his work. He will do anything to keep his nanobots from falling into the wrong hands.

Time is up, the army can be heard running toward his lab. Desperate to hide them, he smashes the glass wall of the cage and commands the released cloud of nanobots to hide. Expecting the enemy to burst through the door with guns blazing, he orders Gemma to run. “Hide, Gemma run” he yells.

Soldiers and guns are everywhere, Dr Bickle said run but he didn’t seem to be behind her. The bots fled their cage but she didn’t see if they managed to hide in time.

When Gemma becomes aware of her surroundings, she has no idea how she managed to escape the facility. She’s found her car and on the way home, distressed to think the doctor perished in the gunfire. She can’t imagine how he could have survived.

Heart-sick over Dr. Bickle, she glances in her rear view mirror… and…

Her face is not there.

A Reluctant Melody Reluctant Melody – Sandra Ardoin … Joanna is anxious to sell her rundown property after the death of her husband. Partly for lack of upkeep funds, partly to escape vicious rumors. There are some who think she was responsible for her husband’s death. Joanna’s willingness to sell disappeared when she discovered the prospective buyer is a mistake from her past. How did he know where she was, or did he know?

Be Mine Be Mine – Rick Mofina … Molly has been waiting at Jake’s Bar & Grill for over an hour. It’s not like Cliff to be late without calling. Something is really wrong.

A shocking murder scene greets her as she checks out his apartment. Shock made worse by the message left for her… written in blood.

The homicide department is up in arms at the senseless execution of one of their own. It looks like Molly is a target but she’s determined to do her part in tracking down the killer, hoping her fellow crime reporters will help.

She’s unaware of the strange flowers that show up in her office on the heels of another killing.

A tense psychological thriller.

Conclusive Evidence – Al Macy … Garrett Goodlove used to be an arrogant defense lawyer and he’s lost the stomach for it. Family Law is easier to live with. His twin sister, Carly, finds herself in need of a good defence lawyer and insists she wants him. He’s worried he’s lost his edge and won’t be able to give her the defence needed. He may be right.

The police detective assigned to the case has a grudge against Carly and will do whatever it takes, legal or not, to make sure she is convicted in the death of her husband.

A Preston Barclay Mystery – Murder Mezzo Forte book 2 – Donn Taylor … Two professors stop by a colleagues office, as requested, and discover she has been murdered. This time they have witnesses to prove they aren’t the killers. Unlike their first involvement in discovering a body.

They’re determined to find the killer and someone is nervous. False evidence pointing fingers at them is showing up in their offices, the police are delighted. The uptight university administration is nervous. To protect the school’s reputation from perceived harm, the decision is made quickly to relieve them of duty. Proof of guilt is unimportant. At least they haven’t been outright fired and they sill have their campus privileges. On the bright side – they have more time and freedom to figure this out.

The Lazarus File – Donne E. Taylor … Undercover Agents are dying and they don’t know how it’s happening. Even off-the-books, deeply embedded agents no one is supposed to know about are having their covers blown. The challenge is; to stay alive – and uncover the person behind these killings. Everything points to insider information but how is that possible with only a handful of trusted knowledgeable people? It’s time to involve an outside agency as handlers, keeping inside information to a minimum. It looks like they are trusting a double agent but who.

Secrets and Wishes – Kathleen Rouser …. Maggie, and Thomas, each widowed, struggle to do their best as single parents. Maggie goes to great lengths to avoid Thomas. It’s hard to see her husband replaced by the new pharmacist in the store he loved.

The choice to make a change is taken out of her hands. Their sons have gotten into a school yard tussle and the situation must be addressed. Her son needs to face the father of his opponent and apologize. The surprise of the whole encounter is how quickly the boys figure out they want to be friends.

Still reluctant to have contact with this man, Maggie is horrified when the local doctor requests she nurse the deathly ill pharmacist. She’s the only one equipped for the task and the doctor won’t take no for an answer.

It turns out, Thomas isn’t the only one needing her. His family is in desperate need of parental attention while he is out of commission. The downside to all of this…. his children are learning to love her.

I hope you are feeling inspired, maybe even enough to read some of these books.

Happy Reading!

The Second Yes

June 18, 2019 / For the Love of Books / Leave a comment

Another great Romance collection from this group of writers. These prolific ladies have a talent for fresh, complex, and innovative story ideas. I’ve read a number of Crossroads collections and have yet to be disappointed. I’m definitely looking forward to the next one.

The Second Yes – Five Wedding Dress Romances (Crossroads Collection) – Verde, Havig, Bridgeman, Terry, Tru

Season of Surprises – Alexa Verde … The maid of honour and the best man have a painful past for a high school romance that didn’t end well. Sierra is shocked to discover they are part of the same wedding party and will be expected to work together to accomplish a long list of tasks. When the vintage wedding dress disappears from the shop where it’s been sent for alterations, a road trip becomes an unexpected, and unwelcome, task on the list. The bride will be devastated if they don’t find it. They love her too much to let that happen.

Something Borrowed, Something Blue – Chautona Havig … Wedding preparations are distressing for the bride. With the passive aggressive control of the groom’s family over all decisions, her arrangements and choices have been replaced with theirs. He agreed to pre-marital counselling but found excuses to miss every session. Instead, he made secret appointments to see his pastor, alone. Her pastor is distressed the way the wedding of her dreams is being derailed. It seems so unfair but it isn’t his place to do anything about it… or is it.

Black Belt, White Dress – Hallee Bridgeman … Traci has successfully been avoiding her flamboyant, artistic, mother for years. They are complete opposites. Tomboy versus girlie-girl. When Travis proposes, desperate to avoid the pink and fluffy wedding her mother has been planning since her birth, she tries to talk him into eloping. Travis is caught in the middle because he loves her mother too and can see both sides. When life takes an unexpected turn, Tracie feels the need to rethink her position on the fairy-tale wedding. But, can she follow through on that decision.

Sewn Together – Alana Terry … Woong tells the story from his ten year old perspective and he does a good job. His adoptive parents want to renew their vows on their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary. Their plans are stalled by a family dispute over the altering of an heirloom wedding dress. His little friend’s mother is having a baby that is not expected to live. His life is impacted by this because they spend a lot of time at his house and he wants to help. His mother and aunt haven’t spoken in years because the family didn’t approve of her marriage. He doesn’t understand this and wants to see them make up. He secretly sends a letter hoping to influence the aunt to agree to the alterations and maybe come to the ceremony too.

The Second Yes – Amanda Tru … A successful designer to the movie stars of New York, London moves home because her heart wants to embrace the slower life of a small town. Most of her business is online but she still needs a space for her office and workroom. Leasing part of a bridal salon seems like a good idea until she discovers her landlady is working against her. London has attachments to all of the brides in the previous four books, in one way or another, but they are not the only sticky situations making her life interesting and difficult.

This collection was time well spent and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Happy reading!

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.