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.

Thriller and Historical Mystery

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

Two books that I enjoyed enough to read all the way through, a number of weeks ago.

Enjoyed is probably not the right word for a thriller dealing with destructive behavior but I think you know what I mean.

I managed to write a synopsis of the first one but not the second, in spite of time spent planning it out. It was planned enough that I feel like I did write it. It was a big surprise (and disappointment) to find I hadn’t. Oh well.

I want to add these books, and others, to my lists of books read but I am seriously so far behind that I have to find a simpler way to move on. The other choice is to stop keeping track altogether and I don’t want to do that.

I am already culling the list I keep, by raising the bar on what will be included. This means leaving off some of the books I’ve read and are worthwhile.

Maybe I will add some straight to the list without adding them to a post first. There is some merit in that thought. Sometimes I need a way to remember what I’ve read, even if it was less than 4 star. Straight to the list would be good.

So there you have it, I’ll add books to the posts with less fanfare for a while, at least until I can get caught up.

Or, like a book so well that I just have to talk about it. There have been some of those alright.

Whatever happens will be a surprise, by the looks of it.

Blow Out the Candles and Say Goodbye – Linda S Glaz ..

A thriller…. little girls, kidnapped and sold into overseas slavery, or given new identities and adopted out to the highest bidder.

A couple, posing as upstanding citizens move into an unsuspecting community. They gain everyone’s trust and then hold an amazing birthday party ending in a sleepover. Arriving the next morning to retrieve their five year old daughters, the parents meet with shock and horror. Everyone in the house has vanished, including all evidence anyone has ever lived there.

Brandy’s little sister, Tory, vanished after just such a party and life has been forever changed for their family. Brandy and her father Joe both suffer the anguish of misplaced guilt, believing they are responsible somehow. Brandy’s mother suffered two years of unbearable pain over the loss of her baby and ended it by taking her own life.

Crooked cops, unscrupulous lawyers, blackmailed judges, and award winning actors posing as upstanding citizens, have all worked together to make this lucrative enterprise a success.

Until now.

Things are beginning to slowly unravel.

A Smokey Dalton Novel – A Dangerous Road – Kris Nelscott (pen name of Kristine Kathryn Rusch) ….

A Dangerous Road happens in Memphis near the end of Martin Luther King Jr’s life

I enjoyed this book.

The mystery is figuring out who responsible for a large donation to his checking account. The next thing to find out is why. A decade later and another infusion of cash ramps up the concern and the need to know where and why.

A beautiful rich woman, looking for a particular detective, seems to be connected to his mystery. Could their mysteries be related?

I hope you are finding as many books as I seem to be finding these days.

Be sure to check out my Romance and Mystery Pages if you could use some reading suggestions.

Happy reading!

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!

What are you reading?

March 19, 2019 / For the Love of Books / Leave a comment

Personally, I hate this question. I was reminded of this fact a few minutes ago while reading a blog post giving advice to introverts attending writers conferences. One of the suggestions was to ask what are you currently reading as a conversation opener.

Generally, I’m speechless when someone uses that question on me……. even when I am in the middle of reading a book in a public place.

Not always, but most times, I’m enjoying the book and under the right circumstances would be excited about sharing why, in great detail. So why is this question a conversation killer for me?

The first thing that comes to mind is hype around what is considered to be a must-read book. Pretty much never, is how often anyone will find me reading a critically acclaimed book. Filtering what I’m reading through this criteria robs me of words. I assume the asker will be expecting me to name some fabulous book. Maybe I assume wrongly…. I might need to give that some thought.

The reason I rarely read recommended books is because (in my mind) book critic’s ratings are on the same scale as movie and fashion critics. Their picks usually appeal to a niche market, not the mainstream. I march to the beat of my own drum. I like what I like and don’t spend time worrying about what’s trendy or popular. How’s that working out for me? Very well, I have to say.

The second filter has to do with time. When I hear the question, what are you reading, I feel like the answer should be along the lines of – this month we are reading ____

The thing is; most often the current book was started a few hours ago and in a few more hours it will be a different one. That’s just the way it is for me. Gobble, gobble. The only time a book lasts longer is when it doesn’t appeal and breaks are needed to help get me through it.

Maybe the last reason I’m reluctant to name a book is because I expect it will be a conversation stopper when you hear what I’m reading.

So, what am I currently reading? …… Blog posts.

I’m taking a break, a new book will be starting shortly.

I have been reading awesome authors with amazing stories. Maybe I just need to get over my own insecurities and stand tall and proud about what I’m reading.

In this setting, I like telling you about books I’ve read. I’m still behind, so more are coming …. soon.

Happy reading!

Mystery

March 17, 2019April 27, 2019 / For the Love of Books / Leave a comment

There are repeat authors on the list this time and only one new one – Tom Threadgill.

The regulars are Christy Barritt, Blake Pierce, Margaret Daley and Kristen Heiztmann. They are excellent writers and they often give good deals on their books. Such a great way to acquaint readers with their work.

I enjoyed reading the new author’s book too, Coming of Winter, and look forward to seeing more from him.

I highly recommend every book on this list. Good reads – all of them.

Disillusioned – Christy Barritt …… Sometimes we don’t know who we can trust, or, if there is anyone we can trust. Nikki is relieved to have her brother home from Columbia after escaping a terrorist group. When the hospital releases him to her care and the bodyguards sent to keep them safe turn out to be the enemy, all trust is gone.

Bobby and Nikki manage to escape their would be captors and call the one friend they know could help. Now all three of them are in this together with arrest warrants out on all of them, They are running for their life.

The authorities are convinced Bobby is in league with the terrorists, he says he’s not. He is trying to stop the bombings plotted against the US, not cause them.

There is something strange going on with Bobby and at times Nikki can’t be sure if she knows which side he is truly on. She is convinced the threat is real though and time is not on their side if they want to stop it.

A Kate Wise Mystery – If She Knew book 1 – Blake Pierce …. Retired after a successful thirty year career with the FBI, Kate is restless with a year of living small town life under her belt. Not sure what to do with herself she has thought about re-establishing some sort of connection with her old life but can’t decide if she should.

She’s pondering all of this as she enters the restaurant for the weekly gathering with her friends. It’s strange. Deb is usually there first and isn’t, what’s with that?

The shocking news is her daughter has been murdered. The police are looking for the killer but Deb is determined that Kate has to investigate too.

She has a proven track record for finding serial killers. The trouble is, she has no authority and the local police won’t be happy with her poking her nose into their investigation.

They weren’t happy – they contacted her old FBI boss to complain. Not exactly the way she wanted to renew connections with her old life.

The Agency agreed to work with her and give her limited resources but the loss of even that is threatened as the bodies keep mounting up without an arrest.

She does have a proven track record though, and if she hasn’t lost her touch …..

Freefall – Kristen Heitzmann ….. A bruised and battered young woman has stumbled into someone’s yard after surviving a long trek out of the Hanalei Mountains, dehydrated and starving. She has no recollection of anything to do with who she is, what’s happened to her or why. She doesn’t remember leaving an injured someone behind, waiting for her to get help and return.

Cameron Pierce is hostile toward yet another stray showing up in his sister’s garden, taking advantage of her tender heart. The only reason he is here now is because he was asked to help figure out where she came from and what’s happened to her.

He wants to turn the woman they call Jade over to the police, or at the very least take her for medical help, but for reasons she doesn’t understand Jade resists, feeling threatened by going to the authorities.

The person she’s left behind has serious injuries and he’s caught behind a waterfall where it’s cold, damp, and there’s no way to get food when his meagre store runs out.

Jade is trying hard to remember but nothing is working.

Deciding to put a picture out there to see if anyone recognizes her will not work out the way they’d hoped. They’ll be left wishing they could take it back.

Strong Women, Extraordinary Situations Series – Deadly Fires: Rodeo Knights book 9 – Margaret Daley ….. Alexis Richards is trying hard to please her father after she’s been forced to run their family rodeo business while he recoups from a massive heart attack.

His blood pressure is through the roof when he hears his prize bull was out on the street terrorizing the neighborhood.

Bad things keep happening and it seems to be escalating without anyone knowing who or why.

Her father said he’s sending help and the last person she expects to see is Cole, her ex-husband. Their marriage did not survive the death of their son and Alexis is not happy to see him.

A Jeremy Winter Thriller – Coming of Winter book 1 – Tom Threadgill ….. Special Agent Jeremy Winter, twenty-three year veteran of the FBI has been exiled to St Louis from DC for anger management issues. Without any explanation.

He’s had to leave his girlfriend and all his friends behind to work white collar crime in a sterile office with a fake plant.

His anger is simmering when his phone rings and it’s a voice he is expected to recognize, and doesn’t. It’s a connection to his army days, a guy he doesn’t even know all that well.

Randy is worried about one of his ex wives, she hasn’t been cashing his alimony cheques and that’s highly unusual. He’s called the police and they checked it out and said everything looked fine, there is nothing they could do. He’s convinced something is wrong and wants Jeremy to find out where she is.

At first he doesn’t want to get involved but the longer he thinks about it and the more red flags his research uncovers – he’s convinced Randy has good reason to worry.

The challenge will be to find time to investigate without the brass realizing what he’s up to, at least until he has enough evidence to convince them there is a case to be worked on.

May you have many hours of Happy Reading!

Intensity, and Moondust Lake

March 16, 2019 / For the Love of Books / Leave a comment

I’ve been reading The Road Back to You: An Enneagram Journey by Ian Morgan Cron and it’s been very enlightening. Another timely book in my life’s journey.

They tell me Enneagram has not been proven but has been experienced as useful. They also say it is not personality typing in a psychological sense but in a spiritual one. Of the nine categories number eight is Challenger and it is the strongest and most complicated in relationships. I guess that’s why the book deals with it first.

It didn’t take long for me to see myself in Eights description. This is not a surprise as similar results have come up in other tests I’ve taken over the years. It’s nice to see it expressed in a different fashion though as it adds another dimension to my understanding of why I do some of the things I do. A few of the descriptions for an Eight are – intimidating, intense, fearless, and more. To be honest, I’ve never viewed myself this way. I’ve always thought of myself as a wall flower trying not to be noticed. When I take a closer look at my life though, I can see I have been in denial about some things.

It was interesting: At work one day, eight or nine years ago, one of the guys asked me what I was like as a teenager. I couldn’t figure out why he would ask me that. I lead a very quiet life, then and now, so what would make him think I was a handful as a teenager? That question still runs through my mind occasionally and it’s only now, pondering all of this, that I can see what he saw in me. A passive, immovable strength. My brothers would call it stubborn.

As a teenager I wasn’t bothered by peer pressure, and don’t remember being afraid of my teachers or other authority figures. In my mind, it was fine if people didn’t think or believe the way I did. I kept to myself a lot with only a small circle of friends. I didn’t recognize any of these thought patterns as strength back then. As a teen you think what you feel is just normal and don’t spend much time thinking about it. Now, I’m beginning to see things from a different perspective.

Type Eight craves intense and this is so true for me. Both in conversations and in books. An Eight also does things in excess, which would explain the binges in most of my activities. The book describes this habit as go big or go home. I think 10 jigsaw puzzles in a row and a stack of books, all in a few weeks, qualifies.

All of this brings me to the one of the last books read along with Enneagram. A perfect example of intense.

Miramar Bay Series – Moondust Lake book 3 – Davis Bunn …. Buddy Helms has never been able to please his father no matter what. At least that’s the way he feels about it. He hasn’t been able to say no to his demands either. The hardest for him to swallow was the demand that Buddy join the family business. In reality, it isn’t a family business, it is a one man show – dictatorship is his dad’s leadership style and he rules with an iron fist.

Economically the company is floundering and Buddy negotiated a major deal that will put the company back in the black. Along with this deal he’s put together an exit plan to get himself out of the business he is good at but hates.

He’s had to spend time with the new psychologist in town, while setting up a new clinic, and association with her has also helped him find the courage to stand up to his dad. He’s ready to take the plunge and knows it will take a brilliant plan to pull it off. He has one that will do it if he can make the right alliances.

He expects his father to fight this decision to leave but doesn’t expect him to fight dirty. He doesn’t expect his association with her would also bring the psychologist under fire, a devastating blow for her after such a big move.

His mother is beyond thrilled Buddy finally has the courage to stand up to his father.

The family is going to be in shock; but she has a plan too. Enough is enough.

Davis Bunn’s books are always thoughtful and well written. I won’t be forgetting this book in a hurry.

If you like intense as much as I do, you will enjoy this book. I am positive about that.

Happy reading!

More to follow…

Distorted, and other thrillers

March 14, 2019 / For the Love of Books / Leave a comment

Here are a few more thriller suggestions for you. Ghost was probably my favorite…. because of the dry humor. I always like a book that will make me laugh out loud. The twists and turns of the story were fun too.

Distorted – Christy Barritt ….. Mallory feels like she has been given a second chance at life and she is trying to build new and make it count for something. It has been working too….. until a man from her past is spotted at a public event for one of her new ventures. The old fears are suddenly strangling her and she can’t breathe.

Former Navy Seal Tennyson Walker is amazed at the difference in Mallory, he still has nightmares about her rescue from sex slavery. The call now is because of the stalker and while Mallory is grateful to see him again, he has reservations about interacting with her. There are secrets he’s been keeping about her life in captivity and for that he feels guilty.

ghost A Sam Prichard Mystery – Ghost – Sam Prichard Part 2 book 1 – David Archer ….. Sam, a retired cop with a bad hip, is lead singer for a hot new band, with a side business as a private investigator. He’s trying to retire from the PI business but keeps being drawn back in.

He takes his wife out for a nice dinner and nearly runs a man over on the way home. Sam brakes to miss him and sees the man look back to the forest. His head suddenly explodes in a shower of blood before he has the chance to run across the road. Sam and his wife (also his personal assistant) figure they better check to see if there is anything they can do before help arrives. It’s strange; he is wearing a cheap suit but everything else about him spells money. There is nothing in the way of identification and no clues as to why he is out here running from someone. It feels creepy as they wait for the cops to show up.

It’s been a couple of weeks since the shooting, life has gone back to normal and Sam has a nine o’clock appointment. A tall black man with a retired military service dog — they’d survived Afghanistan together and now they have problems on the home front. Jack received a threatening note accusing his wife of cheating on him with his best friend Max. Jack doesn’t believe a word of it and wants Sam to find out who is doing this terrible thing.

Before Sunrise – Rick Mofina …. Will Fortin, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, chose the wilderness of southern Alberta as his place to serve. Life is hard in these remote places and the worst of it is domestic violence, where injuries are extreme and charges are never laid.

Will’s loving marriage didn’t survive his guilt and distress over failing to protect a woman who wouldn’t leave her abusive drunken husband. His promising career didn’t survive either but at least he was still employed.

For some reason his boss, all these years later, is sending him to Washington State to deliver a dangerous offender. They will be flying by small private plane in weather that is less than the best. When they crash in the mountains and most of the passengers are killed, Will is on his own with the prisoner. His challenge is to make sure no one else will ever be harmed by this murderer. A tall challenge.

The Blackwell Files – Tears of God book 7 – Steven F Freeman …. Her mother’s birthday party is in full swing when Mallory and her husband Alton arrive. The place is crowded with military guests, all of them having served with her parents through the years. A chance meeting with a man claiming to have served with her late father is disturbing. He expresses sorrow for the avoidable death – a surprise to Mallory who was told her father had died of a heart attack. He gives them his card and invites them to his home in the morning to hear more. When he doesn’t appear to answer the door, they imagine the worst and break in to find him dying in a pool of vomit on the bathroom floor. Someone has gotten to him first. With his dying breath he tries to whisper words they don’t understand but figure much be important for him to make such an effort.

The mystery deepens. Alton and Mallory try to make sense of the words they heard. They check with their FBI sources for clues and the results are mystifying. The coroner tells them Major Creighton’s cause of death is poisoning. They mention him to Mallory’s mother and find she doesn’t know this man and didn’t invite him to her party. Further research turns up more questions than answers and Mallory cannot rest without answers. It’s a good thing she is not the only one wanting to know because they have no idea what giant will be awakened by their search for the truth.

Men of Valor – Buried Secrets book 1 – Irene Hannon …. Lisa Grant, former Chicago homicide detective, has taken on the role of Chief in a small town hoping for the quiet life. Unearthing bones in a new housing development was not part of the future she had in mind with this move.

Former Navy Seal, Mac McGregor, has been called in to lend assistance and doesn’t get off to a good start when he bypasses Lisa and addresses one of the officers as the person in charge. Oops!

Lisa knows she has to find a way to set aside her prickly response to Mac if they hope to uncover the secrets buried with this person. Maybe it’s not a bad thing, but they have no idea what they are getting in to, or the lengths someone will go to try and keep the secrets hidden.

Happy reading!