Tuesday, November 1, 2011

books i read oct 2011

books i read in oct 2011

picture perfect by deena remiel
a woman injures her foot while the sun rises on her birthday. she collapses and a man
comes to her rescue. takes her to the ER and then home. then manages to put together a
two person happy birthday party at her house=-which is just 3 doors away from his. he
thought of everything to make a good party. she's a cover artist and he's a model for covers.
he's been there for her and now it's her turn when an envelope is delivered for him at her house.
life becomes complicated til the mystery is solved but it made them break up. will the figure out
the problme and get back together?

hunted sequel to the last soul by carolyn rosewood
demons and dragons loose at mardi gras in new orleans. bounty hunteres and guardian angels combat
one another to gain the trust of the woman.

The Seduction of Damian (The Gossip of Mysterious Lane #1) by Morgan Kearns
damian was deemed the most desirable bachelor of the month
being a vampire all kinds of creatures are throwing themselves at him.
the local witch comes over to see if he wants company and he lies telling her he's gay.
the troll next door is his best friend and she comes over with beer and pizza.
something strange happens when they kiss and the secret is revealed.


home at rose cottage by sherryl woods,
whats cooking - another of the sisters goes to rose cottage and finds love, hearts do heal and love blooms
the other relatives help get them together.

a mothers touch, 3 stories from 3 different authors as to what happens when one becomes pregnant, does it change the relationship?
the way home by linda howard
their agreement was for her to be his mistress. now that she was carrying his child
would he change his mind about keeping her? there's a twist in the past that is brought
to the forefront and dealt with by both of them.


paternity test by sherryl woods - a woman knows her clock is running out to have a baby and all her friends
are having babies. she meets her once boyfriend in a new city where he works and she gets pregnant. he comes to her
many months past and they try to find out if they can be a couple for the baby.

a strangers son by emilie richards, man helps a woman whos crashed on snowy icy roads. she is having a baby.
she was a reporter after a story and got it from him, a musican 9 months earlier. why was she here now, why didnt
she tell him when it first happened? can they make a go of it together?

a continual feast by jan karon
a lot of different inspirational things collected
form father tim over the years.


nell by nancy thayer, woman lives on nantucket island, after college she marries a leading man
and raises her children. he leaves her for another and she continues with dinner parties on the island
and contemplates with her panic attacks selling the house, taking the old trees down, and just being able to live there still.
life on the island, the nursery day care she starts up to survive and all her love interests over the years.


the search by nora roberts
a missing 3yr old boy and how the special trained woman and her lab dog track
missing people on a northwestern island. Fiona has other rescue dogs at home and this story tells of her rescues and love affairs.

simon, a wood artist has her train his dog. he's chewed everything at his house.
the man who had killed her to be husband is back at it, killing woman by using his stun gun and then burying them in a deep grave in a national park.

she is highly concerned but tries not to show it. she knows he will come after
her again. she has to be careful.

Whispers- The Glenbrooke Series, Book 2 by Robin Jones Gunn
terry goes to hawaii to visit with her sister and runs into a guy she dated the previous year. hes got a grant
to study infant whales, she also discovers an old high school football player who will be working with her brother in law.
and another man has an interest in her. see how she juggles all 3 of them for the week she is on the island.
the woman all rally together in HI when the sister gives birth.

Passion and Illusion by Barbara Delinsky
female talk show hostess via radio is hit and she gets scraped up coming out of the bookstore where she's purchased a bunch of
romantic novels. the cop that aids her drives her home while his partner gets subs for their lunch. the mugger has not put anything
into her bags. the stalker is at it and tries to get to her again.


blackberry summer by raeanne thayne
small community of caring people. 4 breakin's in town and on a snowy icy night the
local cop is in a chase to catch who he thinks is the burglar. many car accidents happen
and afterwards the town helps one another heal. some have died, some have broeken bones, etc
and the angel of hope pays a visit. they do not know who it is but they leave things for the
ones hurt to help them over the crisis. good heartwarming story of not only friendship but
caring loveing people helping one another. hope there are more in this series.


The Other Woman by Joy Fielding
married woman feels she is not up to what she used to be in her marriage as she
finds her husband paying attention to the new lawyer in his office. she is back in
the exercise class to get up to speed. a murder mystery.


This Time Forever by Kathleen Eagle
cleve finds a dead body in the mens' room and the hitchhiker is gone. he is a rodeo cowboy and
got a flat tire, bashed his front end of the truck and walked to the town. he got a ride and they
stopped at a bar. he had a few beers and tried to get somebody to tow his truck in to fix. the other
guy had a bunch of money and made sure everybody saw it. they pick up a hitchhiker and after a few more beers stop by a rest area and use men's room. cleve waited in the truck for them, 3 hours later he wakes up and find dead body of the driver. his cell won't work so he drives the truck to nearest town to notify the police.

susan is on the jury. she hears his story and tries to figure out what happened with only his testimony. she is an emergency nurse who spends a lot of time in neonatal unit, she's in love with 2 lb infant there and follows him to his next Indian home. later he is released and she is attempting to adopt a child.

Love to read about Indian traditions.


All about Eva by Deidre Berry
evan is a fashionasta, donovon is a wall street trader. he finds her and falls in love with her. talks her into moving in with him, and
he talks her into getting rid of her apartment. she loves shopping and he doesn't mind paying her bills.
eva enjoys her birthday surprise party and afterwards donovon takes her to france, then switzerland. some things don't add up: the
fight at her party for one. after he goes missing for 24 hours things become very clear when she uses the phone to call US and finds out
he was wanted for embellizament for 1.2 million plus. she did call on a few friends but some just hung up on her. now that shes back in town
she goes to get her belongings and finds out she has no apartment now. she also has lost all her clohting on the plane ride back to the states.
Didn't see the ending when they do meet up again, wow!







the christmas train by david Baldacci
journalist heads to his girlfriends house for christmas. has to use the train from DC to LA and he
meets up with a variety of different people and hears their stories.

a mystery arises when everyone is missing something special to themselves. they try to solve it together.

everything is in an upheaval when the train stops due to the weather. wow this whole book changed and
it continued on to a good ending.



on strike for christmas by sheila roberts, wow this was me a few years ago when i was no longer able to see.

I did go on strike and got a LOT OF help from my husband to help with all the Christmas chores. This is a very good book about how one woman can't take it anymore, doing it all for the holidays and her husband sits back and does nothing. she brings it to her knitting friends and they also want to go on strike for the holidays, make their spouses do it all this year.

this is hilarious but sometimes serious when you understand the full impact of it all. the ending i could not believe it really happened for a minute. the woman all came together with one another


Title: The Wedding Quilt
SubTitle: An Elm Creek Quilts Novel
Pub Date: 11/01/2011
ISBN: 9780525952428
Author: Jennifer Chiaverini
the wedding quilt by Jennifer Chiaverini

love how this one starts out, i have read a few books in this series and the history of how it all started was given it's due here and i remember the earlier books. it's great to see that this series is still ongoing and progressing in helping others with their passion of quilting. I love the history of it all and how the people involved help one another to achieve their goals.

from beginner to master quilter this book is also about the lives of the people involved in this series through time adding others and some have moved on, what a tale. the folklore is super to learn about. it talks indepth detail on how
and what the wedding quilt is.

When Sarah and Matt have the babies. with snow and his job in a far away town the ladies keep her busy and help with everything. the book picks up where the girl is now grown and ready for her marriage at the Elm Creek center where she grew up. reminisciences of past lives are brought to the present.

this book follows many of the people involved from the original book of the series, lovely descriptions, very detailed making you wish you could vacation there.the treasures they find are super, almost like a mystery and following the clues til you discover the answer. what a treat to find that in this book. the education one can get about quilting in days gone by according to the color and patterns is phenominal.
i rate this book a 5 out of 5

I can post my review at amazon, barnes and noble, smashwords, goodreads,
netgalley, my blog

hot ice by nora roberts
oh the places nora takes you to, escape and she does it so very well.
whitney just returns from a jaunt overseas and Doug hops into her car as others are chaing him and shooting with real bullets. they avoid then in the
car but they follow her to her upscale apartment which leads them to steal a car and hightail it to the airport. she wants to accompany him on his hunt for
treasure to madagascar as he owes her money for damages done. he did his homework as she arranged for everything, traveling in first class no less. he had done
extensive traveling, learning how to make food the right way. he was after the treasure.
among their travels they meet up with a tribe that honors their presence as they share what they know of the tribe with one another, legends, customs, etc. the whole
time they are being followed. what an adventure! exotic, intrigue. quite the surprise ending, perfect!







someday soon by cathleen eagles
Boston reporter travels west to do a report on horses and meets up
with a rodeo rider who also knows the horses she wants to do a story on.
they do spend some time together: bar and dancing at rodeo, her watching him
ride and calf rope, and he's also a singer. she decides to go into his camper vehicle
to learn more about the horses and he can show her around for her report. they travel back
to his home state of South Dakota and follow the rodeo circuit so he can participate in other events while she also does her horse research. he gets hurt and then there is a death they must deal with as they learn about one another. a kidnapping occurs and brings them together and makes them realize how they feel about one another but other family things keep them away from one another.
i rate this a 5 out of 5

sunsets glenbrooke series book 4 by robin jones gunn
elissa is a travel agent and is just moving into a new neighborhood. she doens't like longterm things so moves
often. she recalls her past as things that happen brush into her life and she must deal with them.
she starts to believe in God again and things smoothen out and are easier to deal with. 3 of them start out to
help move one of their sisters to oregon. things just get worse as they go on but her faith comes to the rescue
again. the doctor doens't have a good report but he will stand by her and she has faith in God also.


woodlands glenbrook series book 7 by robin jones gunn
leah is a nurse and takes care of all the residents of glenbrook when they need help. she helps young and old and was delivering
to a neighbor when her car stopped working. the UPS man comes by to make his delivery and he needs help in getting to the new complex
in town so she goes with him to show him, they get dinner, a new puppy and back to her house. so much going on with real life, surgeries,
deaths and helping everyone she can. shen she breaks down at the funeral reception others in the town help take care of her for a change.
her faith again helps her handle it and move on with her life.


waterfalls glenbrook series book 6 by robin jones gunn
meredith is a child book editor and meets up at a family gathering where a photographer is also stopped by to see the waterfall where he plans on filming a movie.

seminars and conventions bring them together and she even gets to audition
for his movie. really like how the local people in town help and their stories
are brought up to date from previous books.

I rate this story a 5 as I really like the series and the places it takes me to.


wild flowers glenbrook series book 8 by robin jones gunn
steve and geneviere have a trusting marriage, he's an airplane pilot and is often jetting off to attend conventions,
she runs a local cafe their 2 girls keep them busy. things start to wear on her as she's saddled with the girls
all the time and the cafe, the inheritance money he invested badly that her store could've really used. so she starts
making some changes in the cafe after spending a dinner at a resort 40 miles away. it has a tree growing in the middle near
the fireplace that make Genevieree hoping that if she used that n her cafe to attract more to come daily and things go
wrong to the point there is a major disaster. things happen that bring them back to the church and answers to many
questions that have piled up over the months. the bible and verses she discussed with her lady friends at their meetings
and that helped not only her marriage but her daily life. really like how the local people in town help and their stories
are brought up to date from previous books.

lark and termite by jayne anne phillips
acts of love by judith michael

the sheriff of nottingham by richard kluger
1208 England has sheriffs in the towns to keep peace. love era, the costumes, legends,
things people stood up for, castles, taming of the big birds

Never realized how much religion and how much politics played a huge part of all this.
I rate this a 4, because it was very long and took me forever to finish it. Really liked the era and all that entails, quite a tale.





Title: Silver Girl
ISBN: 9780316099660
Author: Elin Hilderbrand
Silver Girl by Elin Hilderbrand
I have read a few of Elin's books and really enjoyed them so
I didn't feel I really needed to even know what this book was about at all to want to read it. I was not disappointed.
I love the book covers with beaches on them or knitting or cooking things.
This book is about Meredith and she's fled New York as her husband is in prison for taking others money via stock market. She calls on a friend that she's not talked to in years and she picks her up and summers on the island.
Strange things start happening: photos of her and not leaked to the press, house smeared with words that rattle her and Connie. They need to change things up so nobody knows she's there so they can just live freely on a daily basis and not fret having to look over their shoulder all the time. Connie has a lot of obstacles to tackle and overcome since she lost her husband and she is doing them with help from Meredith. They transform Meredith so they can start leaving the house.
Book also reverts back to when they were growing up as teens. Meredith dated her brother. It's been 5 years since Connie had a husband and now she's just starting to date, but brings Meredith along with her cuz she's so insecure.
The story of how she met and other things that happened in her life are told and it makes sense, another piece of the puzzle.
There is also a detailed explanation as to why the name of the book is silver girl. I didn't see that coming but it is beautiful.
The lawyers want her to tell them of names he used, for animals, nicknames, places they travelled to, slang words etc so they might be able to find the missing 10 million dollars that he's not telling anyone where he hid it.
Detailed descriptions on the island, view from inside the top of the lighthouse, the water, the boat make me wish summer was still here. traditional things to do are described. Their previous years where they travelled extensively through Europe and overseas. She even looked through the box of photos she took with her to maybe find a clue as to where the money was?

I like this book for a lot of reasons, I like how there are just a handful of characters to keep track of but they lead such a very bountiful life.
Like the two different simultaneous stories going on that intertwine themselves to one another. I rate this a 5 out of 5.

MAKING SPIRITS BRIGHT Fern Michaels; Elizabeth Bass; Rosalind Noonan; Nan Rossiter

4 stories for the price of one, you can't go wrong!


Making Spirits Bright by Ferm Micahels
This is just one story out of 4 in this Christmas book. This tale is of a woman that shuts down her PC during the holidays so you can devote
her whole time to the holidays and friends and fmaily. She cares for the little girls down the street and attends parties that arise suddenly.
She also meets up with her friends brother and they spend several days together, doing everything: skiing, chopping down a real Christmas tree
and traveling for a short holiday. She get antsy about having children and starts the adoption process and wonders if her being single is going
to be a problem. Tragic things happen that lead to a wonderful finish. They would make a prefect fit with one another but there are others to consider.


I rate this book a 5 out of 5, it's easy to follow with a handful of characters. Love the holiday season, the decorations, food, festivities, friends
and family. Like that this is so up todate with events that have made the paper - the octomom was one mention. This is only one out of 4 so I know the
rest will be just as good as this first story.

Runaway Christmas by elizabeth hass
In this story we find Heidi, she runs a bake shop in NY. Her idea for Christmas this year is to not decorate her apartment and watch Avatar. Her niece in Texas feels
left out with a new baby on the way in the family. Heidi gets a free tree, drags it home and there are problems. Up top of everything else she forgets about the cash
box in a plastic bag from the shop. Now the landlady and the nanny upstairs need her. What else can go wrong, oh plenty more. It's called an ice storm and effects everything.
Maybe there won't be a Christmas at all? I rate this story a 5 out of 5, light reading with some intrigue. Easy to follow and in the spirit of the holidays.

Home for Christmas by Rosalind Noonan
Just started this story and am in love with it. set in Woodstock, NH as Jo is heading up the mountain with others there is a talk about
the area, the Old Man in the Mountain is a spot I've recently wanted to see with my spouse. The trip is in the works as we speak as he's never
been there. Jo runs a Christmas shop and has finally made a lot of money selling trees fully decorated. so much money she no longer has to work
at nights at the ski lodge cleaning for them. her spouse was killed on the slopes and she's heading up there to ward off others from going down
the icy terrain. Her daughter is well looked after by a live in cousin as she goes to college for her nursing degree. ah-yeah and wicked=love the
New England slang! this story reminds me of my family-they even have a swear jar. he's just back from the war and is disfigured and doesn't allow
her to even see him til they've met many times. as they begin to care for one another she wants to keep him in the dark about their relationship
and other things that are finally brought out the day before Christmas. Will they be able to get through it or does he leave?

Christmas on Cape Cod by Nan Rossiter
Maddie helps her teacher friend and child for the holidays. They travel to the Cape Cod house where the boy remembers his previous parents and
certain things. Traditions are a must: carrots for the reindeer, cookies and eggnog for Santa, Mass the night before where Noah is given a special
thing to do, makes him feel real special. The surprise Noah gets when he wakes up in the morning has a two fold meaning. What a precious story this
is and the characters are also in another of Nan's books: the gin and chowder club. I rate this book a 5 out of 5, easy to pay attention to what's
going on with the characters, their surroundings and the Christmas traditions.

A Lone Star Christmas by William W and J.A. Johnstone
This book first appealed to me because of the cover. It has snow and horses, blizzard looking. After reading the back of the cover I was convinced I just had to read this book. I've read other series of books about cattle runs and thoroughly enjoyed them.

The lifestyle, the hardships and having to
survive by what you did mattered.

Book starts out with a female who is traveling back home after visiting relatives and there's a mystery as to her birth mother. She meets up with a man who sticks up for her when she arrives and he handles the problem men in his own way.

He's left his past in Boston but proves himself to her father who gives him a job on the ranch. They part ways, her to find her bio mom and him to learn about cowboying.

Things are going just too smoothly for the ranch and the cattle drive but it will be in December and a different type of cattle than what they are used to.

The cattle even appealed to me as my dad was in charge of an experimental cattle here in our hometown when he was young.

A lot of different things happen in a specific order that play havoc on everything to follow. Revenge for things done in the past: sometimes to friends, sometimes to family that trigger events.

The weather plays a major part in all that happens, it's just so unpredictable in the winter to begin with. The book talks of many different types of storms.

The generosity of people overwhelmed me and made this a true Christmas book to read. Love the scenery, people, story line, time frame and had a hard time putting it down at the end of my day.

I do rate this a 5 and wish the rating system was higher as my rating would then be higher as well. As this is
the first time reading the authors I will search out more of their works and read them as I know I will not be disappointed in the books.

2 comments:

bermudaonion said...

Wow, you had a great month of reading!!

JBarr5 said...

thanks, due to traveling i didn't get as many as other months (45) but i like doing the reviews.