Surprise, and things July 22, 2023

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Last post, I promised I’d found another interesting book to share. I did and I clicked order sooner than usual. I was that confident. Oops. I didn’t notice the book was only 100 pages long and the story was spread over 4 short books. Normally I avoid short books like the plague. Oh well, I did want to read the story so what can I say. I’ll be more careful next time. In the meantime, here it is. . . the first installment anyway. Not sure I will read the rest.

Last Seen at Lighthouse Lane (An Outer Banks Mystery Book 1)

Laura Williams hasn’t stepped foot in her hometown since she was old enough to leave.

But when a doctor calls about her mom’s declining medical condition, she has no choice but to return home and look after her.

Besides, it couldn’t be as bad as living in a city with the man who broke her heart. 2 weeks before their wedding.

As a 35-year-old journalist, hanging onto her job by a thread, and healing from a broken heart, Laura goes back to North Carolina to take care of her mom, agreeing to take on any stories that come her way.

When she arrives, the small-town is on edge because a thirteen-year-old girl has gone missing from Lighthouse Lane…again.

Memories come flooding back, and it all sounds eerily similar to when Laura’s best friend went missing from that exact location 17 years ago…

It gets more complicated when she realizes she knows the missing girl’s father. Harry Matthews, who is just as handsome as she remembers.

Laura makes it her mission to do whatever it takes to help Harry find his daughter.

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While we are on the subject of short books, I came across one from another author I like and thought why not? I have one short book, may as well go for two. On the bright side, I think with this one the story is complete and that makes me very happy. I’m looking forward to both of them.

False Security

Alex Pierce needs Laney Winters to help him prove neither of them is responsible for the millions of dollars that went missing after Laney arrested him for bank robbery five years ago. Besides Laney not believing he truly repented in prison, there’s the problem of the real thief trying to kill her and the police department treating her like a dirty cop.

With the possibility of another crime being pinned on them, Laney finally teams up with Alex to save her life. If only she could trust him with her heart, as well.

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On a totally different topic . . . I love words, I’m always on the lookout for good ones. I found one the other day. It was from a conversation with a character in a book. She was expressing her disdain for what she considered drivel (nonsense). She had no time for it. would not spend precious time on it.

What a great word. I try to avoid drivel at all costs so shouldn’t have to use it often but I like it just in case I do.

I think I should start keeping track of these great words, though, because as I try to think back over recent treasures they’ve all disappeared from my memory. Every last one of them. Hopefully, they will come back just when I need them.

I need to get reading now. An author I follow had a special offer for her email followers. In honor of her birthday she made many of her books available as free for a day. I downloaded 26 of them and challenged myself to read most of them before I move on. Not sure I won’t be lured away by recent downloads, like these ones today, but I’ll try. This lady is prolific and over the years I’ve downloaded 110 of her books. There are still more. I’m on the fourth one of this recent batch and need to keep moving before I lose steam.

Her books aren’t always my favorites, mainly because sometimes I can’t relate to her characters. Some of her books I love though and so I’m glad to have them.

Chautona Havig is her name, I’ve mentioned her many times over the course of this blog and I’m happy to do it again.

New book suggestions July 22, 2023

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This is catch-up day. Neglected suggestion emails are back-logged and need attention, especially since the first email I looked at just now had an attractive recommendation. This could turn out to be a good day for books! Let’s hope. This first one is suggested by BookBub and it looks like we’ve read other books in this series so it won’t be entirely new.

The Art of Rivers: A Coastal Hearts

Rivers Sullivan bears both visible and invisible scars—those on her shoulder from a bullet wound and those on her heart from the loss of her fiancé during the same brutal attack. Not even her background as an art therapist can help her regain her faith in humanity. Still, she scrapes together the courage to travel to St. Simons Island to see the beach cottage and art gallery she’s inherited from her fiancé. When she stumbles upon recovering addicts running her gallery, she’s forced to reckon with her own healing.

After the tragic drowning of his cousin, James Cooper Knight spends his days trying to make up for his past mistakes. He not only dedicates his life to addiction counseling, but guilt drives him to the water, searching for others who’ve been caught unaware of the quickly rising tides of St. Simons. When he rescues a peculiar blond woman and her sketch pad from a sandbar, then delivers this same woman to his deceased grandmother’s properties, he knows things are about to get even more complicated.

Tragic circumstances draw Cooper and Rivers closer, but they fight their growing feelings. Though Cooper’s been sober for years, Rivers can’t imagine trusting her heart to someone in recovery, and he knows a relationship with her will only rip his family further apart. Distrust and guilt are only the first roadblocks they must overcome if they take a chance on love.

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BookRunes has a suggestion we’ve not seen and it will be an introduction to another author new to us. The ratings and reviews look good too.

Heiress of Comrie

When Ismay finds herself in Crieff, Scotland, without coins to give the tax man for her small estate, she resorts to stealing a horse and selling it to a cattle drover during the early morning hours of the day. After paying her debt, she wastes no time fleeing to her home and property in the highlands to avoid retribution.

Though hanging on the gallows is no longer a punishment for horse thievery in Scotland, in 1810, Ian MacAllen isn’t about to allow a wee tinker’s daughter to swindle him out of his horse and money without paying him back in full for the amount. He quickly turns his horse in the direction of Comrie to find Ismay and settle the matter between them.

Grizel Hawthorne, a wealthy noblewoman, is furious when she sees, Ismay, a blue-eyed lass with raven-dark hair and rosy cheeks, working to pay off a debt to Ian at his estate. Grizel is determined to find a way to oust the young woman from Ian’s home and out of his life for good.

Ismay holds her father’s necklace in her hand as she eyes the inscription on the back. What was it he’d tried to tell her on his deathbed? Who was the mysterious old woman, Morag Duffy, and what ties did she have to Ismay’s past? How might Ismay rely on her faith in God to find out the truth of the matter?

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Sheep Gate Publishing has a suggestion from an author we’ve read and enjoyed a number of times in 2023.

Over the Horizon: Horizon Series, Book 1

Alone in 1870s Idaho Territory, Paisley Abbott has nowhere to turn. With no other options, she finds herself consenting to an unconventional, but mutually beneficial agreement.

During an unplanned return to his family’s farm, prodigal Tyler Shepherdson inherits three orphans. When Tyler finds a woman hiding in the back of his wagon, an idea begins to form and he makes a rash decision that results in perhaps one of the most spontaneous marriages of convenience ever.

Despite an unorthodox beginning to their marriage, will Paisley and Tyler trust God as they forge ahead to create a home for three children? Will love arise from a desperate situation?

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Then there is a suggestion for a box set from another author we have enjoyed a number of times. It looks like the story of the same couple is spread over all four books. I will have to go back and reread book 1, we read it back in 2019 and a refresher would be in order.

A Time For Everything Series Box Set Books 1-4

Following her husband’s untimely death, Wendy Miller’s life revolves around her adult children, but when she accepts an invitation to her late husband’s grandmother’s birthday party in London, she meets a dashing, silver-haired Texan cowboy in Dublin who captures her heart.

Bruce McCarthy did his best to hold his family and ranch together after his wife died in a car accident ten years before, but following a recent health scare, he decides to live every day as if it were his last and books a flight to Ireland to find his Irish family.

The captivating woman he accidentally spills coffee on one morning stirs something inside him, and Bruce wonders if God might be giving him a second chance at love…

As they meet again in London, Paris and Venice, their friendship grows deeper, but while Bruce is eager to take their friendship further, Wendy is unsure if her adult children will accept a new man in her life, especially when one of them still blames God for allowing her father to die prematurely.

If Wendy can trust God to take care of the details, and Bruce can overcome his fears of his cancer returning, they may just discover that you’re never too old to fall in love…

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Well, I’m finished but not finished. Some of the suggestion strips look like they really need to be explored. Maybe something good will pop up and we will have a follow up post, we may even see each other again before the day is done. I have a good feeling about this.

New bargain books July 17, 2023

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Browsing today is fun. Let’s see what we can find.

I decided on one I’ve seen before, an easy decision after reading and enjoying book 1 in the series. I wasn’t ready to take a chance on it at first sight but I’m good now. I was worried a prequel would be a short read but it actually has 344 pages which makes me very happy.

Chasing Freedom: The Prequel (Against All Enemies Book 3) 

How far would you be willing to go if you were chasing freedom?

When Allie Santiago, international scholar at Oregon State University, and her family are captured and labor trafficked by the same drug cartel that drove her father from Mexico, she learns the cartel thugs plan to sell her to human traffickers. Allie escapes, running a marathon through the mountains of Northern California, and collapses in the arms of Jeff Jacobs, a disgraced Olympic decathlete who wants to regain both his honor and his former glory. When Jeff’s actions engage the FBI and US Marshals to protect Allie and free her family from the cartel, a war breaks out in the mountains along the Oregon-California border.

Will Jeff’s efforts enable the two to survive and their budding relationship to grow? Not unless he can keep Allie and her family out of the black hole known as asylum detention. And the reward he now seeks for his efforts, Allie’s love, might evaporate like his dream of Olympic gold once Allie learns about Jeff’s scandalous past.

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There is another prequel from a favorite author and it looks interesting too.

Target: A prequel story (Denver FBI) by Lisa Phillips

Special Agent Liam Conners is the only witness to his neighbor’s abduction: the Chloroform Killer has struck again. But when his neighbor, Andrea James, returns from a business trip, they realize the killer’s mistake—her sister has been abducted in her place.

Now the killer is coming for Andrea, and Liam and his partner are the only ones standing in the way. Can they catch the killer and protect the target?

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For a moment I thought we were done and then two more showed up. They are part of a series we’ve been reading, how can we pass that up? The chance to read the last two books.

Sanctuary Deceived (WITSEC Town Book 4)

Thrust from their home, Bolton Farrera and Nadia Marie Carleigh are isolated from everyone they trust, and Bolton can barely walk. In need of experimental surgery, Bolton has exactly one thing on his mind: getting to the stash he hid years ago. But the man Bolton put in jail has escaped, and the hunt for revenge is on. Nadia Marie knows God put her with Bolton so she could help him. But when Bolton’s past catches up to both of them, the cost is high. Nadia must choose between what she thought the future would hold, and the reality she’s faced with. She must love unconditionally, even if she has to walk away from the one thing she wants. Bolton must protect the people he cares about, and maybe even admit the real truth about who he is. Even if uncovering his deception means he loses everything.

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Sanctuary Forever (WITSEC Town Book 5)

Gemma inherited a secret when Hal Leonard died–along with the knowledge that he was her father. Now it’s her job to guard what Hal had hidden in the radio station. But when Gemma reveals the secret to her best friend, Pastor Dan Walden, they discover a link to Dan’s late father. Can Dan put his memories of the old man’s anger to rest, or will his past be the blade that tears the town of Sanctuary apart? In this final installment of the Sanctuary series old rivals clash, new foes leave their mark, and a ghost from the past returns in this explosive climax.

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Ok, that’s it for today. Not bad at all, I have to say. I’m looking forward to reading them all, equally. It doesn’t always happen that way and I love it when it does.

Missed one, July 15, 2023

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Too many distractions today. I forgot about the plan to buy book 2 to go along with one of today’s new books. I could say oh well and move on but that idea doesn’t work for me this time. Here it is…

Poppy’s Path to Love: Women’s Fiction – Inspirational Romance (Great Smoky Mountain Getaways Book 2)

When a job for a full-time nanny/housekeeper is posted in Langdon, NC, Poppy Delacorte is quick to apply. Jumping at the opportunity to move after a public shaming by her deceitful ex-boyfriend, she accepts the offer.

When she arrives at her destination, Poppy learns there’s been some kind of mix-up at the agency and her new employer refuses to hire her because she’s not a gray-haired older woman. Something about younger women working for him and vying for the next Mrs. Jordan Perry position. But before she can even make arrangements to figure out what to do or where to go next, Jordan seeks her out and offers her a temporary arrangement since he has no one to watch Katrina.

Poppy is secretly relieved with the reprieve, vowing to be the perfect nanny/housekeeper so that it becomes a permanent arrangement.

Jordan leaves on business—which in turn, leaves Poppy and Katrina trying to muddle through their new relationship and life. Except she doesn’t always get it right, discovering that teaching and nannying are two very different jobs.

Will Poppy need to move on and keeping searching for the place where she belongs and God’s plan for her life, or could this be where she finally puts down roots?

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We were settled on Romance in the last post but a must-have mystery has surfaced. A change to a different genre won’t be a bad thing. This is book three and since we’ve read book two in this series it’s an opportunity that can’t be missed

Dangerous Depths (Aloha Reef Series Book 3)

Sometimes life’s most precious treasure lies at Dangerous Depths.

Leia ditched a promising medical career to settle on a secluded island of Hawaii. She ditched Bane, too, and he’s come to the island to find out why. He’s also in search of a fortune rumored to lie offshore. But an act of sabotage that pushes Bane closer to Leia plunges them both into a tangle of emotion—just as a series of threatening events grip the island.

Theft, a friend’s death, a bizarre intruder, hints of a second treasure . . . and even murder—how can they sort it all out when everyone on the island has something to hide?

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I’m quitting now, before things get any more out of hand. Between the two posts today we have 12 new books.

I’m between reads so it’s wide open for the chance to pick one of them next. I’ll let you know how it goes. Poppy’s Path looks interesting.

New books, Romance, July 15, 2023

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It looks like this could be a Romance kind of day. While browsing through the usual suggestion emails a couple of interesting books popped up, with authors new to us. Now, it’s interesting on two levels.

Sorrento Girl (The Historic Hotels Collection)

It’s 1938, and Ann Brooks has big dreams of her new life as a Seattle College coed. She’s left the old-fashioned ways of her small country town behind to pursue higher education and a teaching career.

But not everyone is ready for change.

Society still preaches that a woman’s place is in the home. Some refuse to see Ann as an equal deserving of an education — let alone a career — and Ann’s friends think school is simply a springboard to pursue a marriage of wealth and convenience.

When Ann meets Paul, an aspiring journalist with strong ideas of his own, she learns an unexpected lesson in courage and discovers what it really means to live her dreams.

Will Ann give up everything she thought she wanted for love? Or can she have it all?

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Juliet’s Journey to Love: Women’s Fiction – Inspirational Romance (Great Smoky Mountain Getaways Book 1)

Escape to the Great Smoky Mountains…

Juliet isn’t sure of God’s plan for her life, but the opportunity to serve as the leader of the Freedom and Faith small group, helps her to feel needed, like she belongs. The group plans to hike sections of the Appalachian Trail, using the back to nature approach to grow closer to God. Determined to succeed, Juliet leads two other women on a hike, but when she falls ill and they’re days away from the exit point of their planned journey, her friends must call 911.

When a man shows up looking more like a grizzly bear than a rescuer, she’s forced to accept his help. Loner extraordinaire, Jake wants them gone. Except when Juliet and her friends are ready to leave, it’s Jake who succumbs to the illness, and this time it’s Juliet to the rescue.

In the process, she discovers a man with a heart and a past. Her failure to lead the group prompts her to renew her efforts to be needed, and she’s determined to help Jake get through more than his illness. When she learns of an opening at the medical clinic in Hollow Creek, she applies, knowing it would give her a reason to stick around town and give her time to help Jake get his life back on track.

Her methods aren’t always squeaky clean, but her heart is in the right place. When Jake finds out the truth, the walls come tumbling down. Can the two of them muddle through the past and their own issues to work out their differences?

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The Complete Blueberry Beach Box Set Books 1-8

Escape to Blueberry Beach in this charming collection of sweet, heartwarming romances!

Book 1 – Yesterday’s Treasures: When Lindy leaves her workaholic husband and moves with her teenage daughter to their summer cottage on the shores of Lake Michigan, will she find joy and healing with the help of her new neighbors in the town of Blueberry Beach? And when it comes down to a choice between her bright new future or the value of yesterday’s treasures, does her husband dare to hold out hope that he can win her back?

Book 2 – Tomorrow’s Blessings: Dealing with her husband’s departure, her son’s leukemia diagnosis, and an unexpected pregnancy from a short, sweet summer fling, can Anitra navigate the complexities of her life and find hope with the support of her friends and neighbors in Blueberry Beach?

Book 3 – Beautiful Forevers: Can Gage and Zariah’s relationship, which seems too good to be true, survive the outrageous actions of Zariah’s teenage niece, Macie, who’s caught in a crime spree in Blueberry Beach? And will the small community ever feel safe again?

Book 4 – Precious Memories: Although dealing with a mysterious illness that has depleted her energy and left her listless, can Laura find a future with the mysterious stranger who rents the small apartment above her grandfather’s shop in Blueberry Beach?

Book 5 – Misty Mornings: What will happen when Leiklyn reunites with her high school friends after eighteen years to renovate the Manor they bought for $1, only to discovers her daughter’s explosive secret? Will Leiklyn’s own dark secret come to light?

Book 6 – Sweet Afternoons: Can Willen overcome perfectionism and learn that she’s worthy of love? And how will Drake Jensen, a Hollywood leading man who wants to disappear, choose between Hollywood and the new life that could be his, especially when he falls in love with a woman determined to make him her enemy?

Book 7 – Magical Twilights: Can a broken woman, who has a lot of regrets, sins, and secrets, and a pastor with a secret past of his own, find love and forgiveness in Blueberry Beach despite their troubled histories?

Book 8 – Tender Mercies: Can Bev and Bill, who lost their baby and broke up when they were fifteen, find their soulmates and a family in their fifties, after a long-held secret from the town’s pillar is disclosed and directly affects them, destroying everything they thought they believed?

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Today is a good day for authors we don’t see as often, or ever. The stories look pretty good too.

Clearing out the read pile, July 12, 2023

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One thing I really enjoyed about these first books – they were situations unlike anything I’ve read recently, and I loved them. There were several others standing out for me this way too but I’m not sure I can identify them again. Too many read after them and my memories have become foggy. Everything included in this list was excellent and a great experience, though. There were a few others that didn’t measure up and won’t be shared.

A Christmas to Remember was definitely a different and highly enjoyable read.

My current read is Within These Gilded Halls and I’m still trying to decide if I love it.

One more enjoyable read that I missed including.

That’s it for now.

New book suggestions July 10, 2023

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It’s catch-up time, for the build-up of regular suggestion emails. With my nose in a book most of the weekend, emails were not on my radar and things have gotten a little out of hand. I see some of the mentions are still available and one seems interesting. Maybe there will be more than one. That would be awesome.

We’ve read this first author several times and it’s nice to see her again. BookBub is responsible for this suggestion.

Grave Pursuits (Pennsylvania Parks Book 1) 

When a hiker goes missing and Emily discovers a skull, she finds herself targeted by a dangerous serial killer, putting her faith and love to the test. As the case gains national attention, Emily turns to her high school sweetheart and seasoned detective, Wade Brunner, for help in this Christian mystery thriller. Together, they embark on an exciting adventure, uncovering sinister secrets lurking in the park and solving a small-town mystery.

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This next one is an author we’ve seen several times and it will be a light read for a change of pace after the last one. Sounds like fantasy. A BookRunes suggestion.

A Christmas to Remember

Time for a Little Christmas Magic?

It’s December in small-town Indiana, and the life of nineteen-year-old Ellie Amerson has been turned upside down. Her mother remarried, and Ellie is no longer welcome in her own house. Sent to Grandpa’s cozy home, she finds a comforting refuge but is handed a detailed project. Can she complete the tasks in time? Her job at the diner has demands of its own.

When a mysterious cat named Trance appears, Ellie begins to have unusual dreams, too vivid to be imagined. She is shocked to learn the places where Trance had taken her are real. In the shadowy time between times, she discovers a handsome young man who desperately needs her help. The more she learns about him, the fonder her heart grows. Can she put the pieces together and save him before time runs out, or will she be lost from her world forever? What will this Christmas bring?

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So, browsing produced this next one. I’m interested for more than one reason but one is that we’ve read book 3 in this series, so why not read book 2 and see what it is about?

Love on Ice (Original Six Hockey Romance series Book 2)

She’s focused on winning gold. He wants to lose the player tag. Can a fake relationship become something real?

Aussie short track skater Holly Travers has one goal – make the Vancouver Games, no matter what it takes. She has no time for distractions, even if they come in the handsome form of her Canadian best friend’s twin brother. This hockey player may say he’s not a player, but can she trust him?
Brent Karlsson has one goal – make his sister’s best friend realize he’s a changed man and she should give him a chance. When a set-up in Hawaii helps these two opposites realize they have more in common than they thought, what happens when he wants to turn their fake relationship into something real? And how can a relationship work when these two elite athletes never see each other and live on opposite sides of the world?

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Another complete change of pace from BookBub. We’ve read a number of books from this author but very few quite like this one.

Keeping Bailey (A Forever Home Novel Book 4)

Through no fault of her own and after spending her entire life with an owner she loves, Bailey’s life is turned upside down. She’s dropped off at the Humane Society where Kim Harper works as the Animal Behavior Manager. Alone and confused, Bailey shuts down completely. She won’t eat or even acknowledge anyone who reaches out to her. Kim knows older dogs are hard to re-home. If Bailey can’t come out of this, it will be impossible.

A retired widow named Rhonda Hawthorne volunteers at the shelter. Rhonda’s dog recently passed away after a long and full life. Rhonda can’t even think about getting another one but hopes doing this will give her a chance to be around dogs, make a small difference in their lives, but without making a permanent commitment. Soon she decides to do whatever she can to help Bailey, before it’s too late. What life-changing difference will this decision create in her own life?

Kim Harper is also wondering about something else…will Ned, the boyfriend she loves, ever get serious and pop the question?

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Last but not least, from a final browse. This will be a new experience with an author new to us. The first chapter has sealed the deal for me.

Within These Gilded Halls: A Regency Romance

Hidden treasure and betrayal mingle with unexpected love within the walls of Avonthorpe Hall.

After studying art under Miss Drake, a renowned painter, Phoebe Radcliff is certain she can finally move beyond the childish mistake that’s kept her away from home. She is thrilled when Miss Drake employs her to complete a complicated ballroom renovation.

Everything changes, however, the moment Miss Drake is murdered. With her last breath she imparts the location of a clue to Phoebe. Can the biggest secret of Avonthorpe Hall be true—the rumored treasure real? Phoebe is tasked to finish her work in the ballroom by Miss Drake’s infuriatingly regimented yet all-too-handsome nephew, Lt. Graham Burke. Determined to fulfill the promise she made to her beloved teacher to find the treasure, Phoebe also works to uncover the truth about Miss Drake’s death—and she must do so before Lt. Burke leases the house.

But dark shadows line the gilded halls of Avonthorpe, and soon enough Phoebe realizes she’s not the only person who knows about the clues. What’s worse, she needs Lt. Burke’s help to stay ahead of whoever is hard on her heels. If only she weren’t so attracted to him.

Caught up in a deadly race for answers, Phoebe must find a way to breach the shroud of lies that surrounds every last resident in the house and, more importantly, face a past she’s been running away from for far too long.

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Five new books! A very nice way to start off the week.

Before heading into today’s search I was having trouble settling on a new read. This new list is looking entirely too enticing.

As for next post, the read pile is building into the double digits and needs to be cleared out again. Sounds like a good plan to me.

See you again soon.

Christy Barritt is right on schedule, July 01, 2023

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Christy likes to have the next one ready for pre-order, to coincide with the publishing date of the previous one in the series. We’ve received book 5 and now book 6 is about ready for the publication queue too.

Deceptive Shallows (Lantern Beach Exposure Book 5) 

He lost her once. He won’t lose her again . . .

After waiting for years, Brandon Hale is finally about to marry Finley Cooper, the woman of his dreams. But when things start to go haywire on their wedding day, Brandon can’t shake the feeling that something terrible looms . . .

Just as Finley emerges to walk down the aisle, federal agents surround her and place her under arrest. Someone has gone to extreme lengths to ensure Finley will spend the rest of her life in prison. But why? Who would frame her for treason?

Brandon and Finley must dive deep into danger to find the answers and prove her innocence. If they don’t find the culprit, their dreams of happily ever after will be lost again . . . this time forever.

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This one comes out in August so I have a little time to get the last one read.

Secret Shores (Lantern Beach Exposure Book 6)

Jonah finds out shocking details about his past, and the secrets behind Ocean Essence are finally revealed in the exciting conclusion to the Lantern Beach Exposure series!

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We are always happy to see another Christy Barritt book.

Sheep Gate Publishing suggestions, June 30, 2023

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Sheep Gate Publishing is featuring an author we’ve read and enjoyed recently. With great prices, it’s a good chance to explore this author a little more. This first book is the main one they were featuring, the others showed up while I was browsing.

Facing the Darkness (Against the Darkness Book 1) 

She scuttled the CCP’s biowarfare plans. When they catch her, she will pay.
Dr. Meiling Chen is a brilliant young virologist with a groundbreaking discovery that could change the face of biowarfare. But when she discovers the Chinese Communist Party’s plans to misuse her work, she knows she must act – even if it means risking her own life. On the run from CCP agents, she must find her way to America while staying one step ahead of her pursuers. 
Ryan Adams, a meteorologist and well-known blogger in Bend, Oregon, is desperate for reliable information on China’s bioweapons program. But when Meiling’s path crosses his, he finds himself in the middle of a deadly game of cat and mouse. With the CCP agents in hot pursuit, Meiling and Ryan must find a way to keep the truth and their lives from slipping away.

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The Janus Journals

Will probing the past, through her father’s secret journals, save her future?For recent college graduate, Alisa (Allie) Petrenko, the Cold War never ended, and events set in motion years ago have endangered this innocent young woman. When her father is murdered, he left her with a warning, an assassin on her trail, and his secret history contained in a set of journals. As Allie tries to elude the assassin and read the journals, she learns that the loving father who raised her was not the man he appeared to be, and the man she must now trust with her life is someone Allie must never trust with her heart.At strong safety, Grady Jamison could defend against opponents in the red zone, but he couldn’t stop the drunk driver who hit his car and killed his sister. Does Allie Petrenko’s call for help mean Grady has been given a second chance, a chance to do things right? Once again, he’s defending in the red zone. And he must not let the world-class assassin score, because the goal line marks the end of Allie Petrenko’s life.The Janus Journals, set in Virginia and near Lake Chelan in Washington State, is high-action romantic suspense at its best. The dual timeline will take you on an epic journey through the twilight years of the Cold War that reshaped one man’s destiny while creating deadly tentacles, reaching into the present, threatening an innocent young woman.

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Voice in the Wilderness (Against All Enemies Book 1)

As catastrophes drive the US into martial law, all eyes are on America, waiting to see what emerges. KC Banning, network specialist, discovers President Hannan’s tyrannical plans and is branded a terrorist, sending her fleeing the Beltway to find her childhood soulmate and protector, Brock Daniels. Brock, a writer and man of faith, gives CPR to a dying nation through his blog, which is read by military members still loyal to the Constitution. But starting a grassroots insurgency while reconciling KC’s and Brock’s broken relationship proves difficult. When Hannan sends Special Forces to kill Brock and KC, starting a war in the Central Oregon desert, reconciliation, like staying alive, might be impossible.


Set in Washington DC and near Crooked River Ranch in the Central Oregon desert, Voice in the Wilderness, Book 1 of the Against All Enemies Series, is a political thriller, with romance, about two people who must decide if they’re willing to sacrifice their lives to prevent the USA from becoming the Dystopian States of America.

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This adds a little more variety to our reading selections. It’s a good day.

New book suggestions June 29, 2023

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We have new suggestions today, they could lead to something good, maybe. This first one is from an author we’ve read and enjoyed twice.

Revealing the Truth (Agents of Espionage Book 1)

His suspect holds a secret, but can he uncover the truth before she steals his heart?

When Katherine Jenkins is rescued from the side of the road, half-frozen and left for dead, her only option is to stay silent about her identity or risk being shipped back to her ruthless guardian, who will kill to get his hands on her inheritance and the famous Jenkins Lipizzaner horses. But even under the pretense of amnesia, she cannot shake the memory of her sister and Katherine’s need to reach her before their guardian, or his marauding bandits, finish her off. Will she be safe in the earl’s manor, or will the assailant climbing through her window be the death of her?

British spy, Stephen Hartington’s assignment to uncover an underground horse-thieving ring brings him home to his family’s manor, and the last thing he expected was to be struck with a candlestick upon climbing through the guest chamber window. The manor’s feisty and intriguing new house guest throws Stephen’s best-laid plans into turmoil and raises questions about the timing of her appearance, the convenience of her memory loss, and her impeccable riding skills. Could he be housing the horse thief he’d been ordered to capture—or worse, falling in love with her?

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Well, that didn’t work out too well, in regard to more books. Nothing else surfacing while browsing piqued my interest. One is still good, though.