books read in june 2012

56 books

 Roots of The Olive Tree by Courtney Miller Santo
I was first attracted to this book because of the name, olive tree in the title. Coming from a family of nurserymen this would be right up my alley.
Love the proverbs and how they are useful to the olive pickers.
This is a story about 5 generations of women and there is a geneticist coming to find out why they live so long. He hopes to find out all their secrets.
Love hearing about the olive trees, nursery/grafting and why their products are so useful.
Picking olives sounds to me like what knitting does for me, very calming.
Such great treasures in the attic. One of the best books out of hundreds I've read this year. So fascinating to learn all about the DNA, the mutations and
what they can attribute it to. Love hearing about the location of where the book takes place as it's new to me.
Like how each of the 5 sisters got a large devoted part in this book. At the end it just all the mysteries come together and there are no longer any secrets to uncover.
For a book to be worthwhile to me it has to do two things: 1. take me away to a new place, describe it so well that i can feel myself there. This book has done that to the
point where I can reach up and feel the olives as they ripen, walking the rows of trees.
and 2. learn something new. This book has done that as well. Techniques of grafting the tree branches and the treasures they find in the attic.
One of the top 2 books out of hundreds I've read since Jan.



 Tuesday's Child by Fern Michaels
Things always go from bad to worse on Tuesdays.  The whole book comes down to the day of the week, in the most important of things that happen.
Mikala was just about to retire but the one case she lost the defender walked in and declared he had killed his wife. He wants her client to have all of his estate after he's dead within a weeks time. Sophia has been in jail for 10 years now.
When Sophia is released it's up to Kala's law firm to get her the money that is deserved her and to prosecute the lawyer who brought this to trial.
Love the travel, and mostly the familiness of the 4 orphans. Love to hear how their lives have progressed over the years.
Loved hearing how she spent her first days free from prison.
Both sides are going through and over all the testimony, transcripts, evidence, etc. to try to figure out who's to blame for the death.
Kala is now planning on marrying her retired judge Ben and living in Hawaii. They have hidden Sophia til things settle down.
All of Sophie's friends from the orphanage are together, contemplating the reunion with their friend.
Just when you think the end is near something else happens to make you think, wow this could really happen and just when things are figured out, they are not really.
Out of the hundreds of books I've read since Jan. 2012 this is the best by far on so many counts.
The travel, the sincere emotion while reading this, the familiness of the orphans and because of the way the characters are introduced they are not confusing and overwhelming because there are quite a few of them.
One of the two best books I've read since Jan. out of hundreds.


 pub:August 28, 2012   Where Azaleas Bloom A Sweet Magnolia Novel by Sherryl Woods
ISBN:         9780778313694
Lynn and Ed are going through a divorce and he's off on golf courses rather than making child support payments. Raylene is her next door neighbor and enjoys having them over for dinner
and the company of the kids.
Mitch is doing some construction work at Carter and Raylenes now that her shop has a thriving bsiness and he's trying to meet the deadlines by staying later when the weather permits so he's often at her house for meals as well.
Nice to hear from the others in the area and what is new in their lives.
Lynn wants another parttime job and thinks working at the diner with Grace will give her the money she needs to buy food for the kids.
It's been a year since his wife Amy passed away and his boys at away at college. He's done many buildings in the area so the whole town know him and how he works with deadlines.
Mitch thinks he has the solution to her problem so he offers her a job she can do from home.
Mitch also has his own family problems that Lynn listens to so she can be a sounding board for him.
This book also follows other love interests. Love keeping up to date on everybody...
Mitch attempts to help Lynn get over her fears. Lots of mystery surrounding Ed and his lawyer...
Erik and Helen are dealing with older adult issues as both of their parents are together.
Love that the women have their margarita night and all the guys do a basketball night with pizza and beer.
Mitch and Lynn have come to the conclusion that they must end being friends and the women want to back her in her own business. They only did it cuz the divorce is bringing out the worst in people.



Destiny Awaits by Jaida Shaw
Mystery, action, shapshifting, mystical and romantic, this book has that and more.
Alayna Scott has just moved into her house in Juniper Grove. She had enough money to pay cash for the house as her parents had died in the car crash.
Jayden MacKnight has been tending to the yard work and shows up every day to help out. He has a major interest in her.
There is a rose garden with a fountain that brings her peace.
She can see visions of past and future things, her destiny as her mother had once told her. She gets attacked and others come to her rescue and because of the blood the family is not sure what will become of her, what creature and attributes she will get from both creatures. So they keep an eye on her.
Some of her powers have started and the family try to explain it all to her and what to expect in the future.
Love how the explanations are so true to what is going on in their lives.
Some of the clan show up to help but it be not be enough...
So many good memories of her parents are brought out by others who also care for her. They are all going to have to learn
The kitchen scenes bring a smile to my face as I do bake and love doing it.
Lot of strange things happen and things get worse for Alayna.

Who's Your Daddy, Baby by Lisa Pell 
ISBN:         9781608300778 
Lori Pomay is 45 and has tried to have a child to no avail and the doctors are now trying in vitro and have to do all the blood work and other expensive tests. That's when she finds out her father is not really her father as the blood types are wrong.
Her mother is dead and she only has letters to try to figure out who her real father is. She uses facebook and other social online sites to try to track her potential father down.
She is able to trace back to the 1620's and the relatives that had come to the US and from where. I found this information interesting as I do some knitting for a 1620 settlement in my area.
There are quite a few that could potentially be her father so she further investigates their origins.
Love the descriptions of how she was raised in the Appalachian Mountains and without the modern accommodations others in town had. Raising and canning their own food, cleaning and cooking while her mother was a teacher at $60 a month.
Although the 1950's it feels like the 1930's still.
Love the new things I've learned: LSD testing on soldiers, who would've thought.
To think Lori and her sister had stored all her mother's things away in a box.
The trouble she went through to chronically put all the names into a spreadsheet to maybe be able to then pick out which one was her mother, just astounds me that she went to all that trouble.
I didn't care for all the narrative part of this book, 99.9%, would've liked to have had more conversation along the way.
There was so much to learn about DNA testings and why things came out as they did. I rate this book a 4 out of 5, interesting subject.

 
Comeback Love by Peter Golden 
blog tour aug 10th     
This book is about Gordon Meyers who is a writer and going to college, to keep out of the war.
Glenna Rising is studying to be a doctor and they get wrapped up in the rallies/marches/protests that deal with abortions. She is able to perform abortions where you suction out the cells. She doesn't feel it's a fetus till after 12 weeks.
They start dating and go to the rallies and protest marches in the city.
This love story goes in a different direction and they each move on in their lives. They do meet up later in life and I love how the book just goes to a certain point then goes back in time so you are then able to understand what transpired.
It follows both of their living arrangements and travel and work til they meet again. Their families, husband, children and work.
Love the travels and the work they've each done over the years.
I can recall sitting in front of a TV listening to the lottery for the war with my brother. It's one of the only times I ever saw him cry.
Love the memories of Woodstock and other mentions of musical groups of the times.
Not only did I like the travel but the learning of new things in this book. I had just read a war type book where it mentioned the listening posts so that was familiar to me.
Although this is mostly about the two of them, others pop into their lives but it's not overpowering, keeping the focus on the two main characters. Love touching scene at his sisters'.
Loved the ending also, brought it all together...
To me this is the Love Story of the 70's.



Fair Tomorrow by Emilie Baker Loring
Pamela has traveled back home from her newspaper reporting job to take care of her ailing father on Cape Cod.
She wants to get a job in the restaurant but others come to the door asking for the money the father owes them.
Lots of mysteries with jewelery, stamps and other very highly collectible monetary items.








The Next Always by Nora Roberts
First in the trilogy. This one is about Claire, runs the local bookstore, widow hubby was killed in the war, who has 3 boys and is interested in Beckettt. He and his 2 other brothers are revamping to make the building an B&B in Boonsboro, MD
Love the bantering of the men as they work. This book is about Beckett.
The inn is haunted by a female ghost smelling on honeysuckle. They will try to figure out what that is all about with little subtle clues.
I read the second one and hope to find out the answers I had by reading the first one first, mostly the room names.
Great we get to catch up with other locals that have become more like family. Such an easy going crowd of get it done people.
The women involved have the decorating all set for each of the rooms. very extravagant.
The stalker is after Claire and she doesn't want to involve the cops but others talk her into it. The Montgomery boys outfit her house with monitoring lights and other measures to make her feel safe.
Holidays with the boys are so delightful to read about, so much to do.
Ghost, Lizzie helped with getting the stalker caught.



LAST SUMMER Holly Chamberlin
This is a story about bullying and it's everywhere these days. The grandmother bus monitor in NY was bullied and when others found out, via YouTube, people around the world donated money for her and her cause to stop bullying.
Rosie and her family, mom and dad live next door to Meg and her younger brother and parents.
Rosie and Meg are lifetime friends but Meg to fit in socially at school told another female Rosie's secret and then everybody in school knew and everybody shunned her.
Things get really bad til her parents find out then the parents are no longer friends with each other-the female heads of the families are also lifetime friends.
Medical issues arise and many secrets. Love the part about diaries and journals and the 'talking doctor' Rosie goes to.
The girls try to work their way around things to get back to what they once had.
When the community suffers again from another bullying attack they arise to meet and start a club that they hope will help others.
I liked the book and what it stands for.
Some kids today I find so mean to others their age and that they have no respect of older people. Hope things can change for them, make it a more peaceful world we can live in.
At time I found it very difficult to continue reading this book as the hurt was put there by just others words. Glad I did get to the end, i Looked forward to it ending in what I hoped would not be death.
Super loved reading about the different locations in Portland Maine. we do travel there at least once a year.



The Unfinished Garden by Barbara Claypole White
ISBN:         9780778314127
Tilly heads back to England with her young son to help with her mom who's had a fall and will be recuperating. It will be the summer and she just loves the combinations of flowers once she sees her hometown again. Her husband, a college professor has been dead for years. Her gardening has always sustained her.
Her house in NC is similar and others want to hire her to make their gardens like hers. James Nealy has OCD and won't take no for an answer and even calls her in England. He gets along with her son, Issac and she's also done some research on OCD as he intrigued her.
Her ex boyfriend is also back at her hometown with his daughter for the summer.
Like the old saying: Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish; and you have fed him for a lifetime, TIlly uses this and replaces fish with gardening. It can bring meaning to your life.
A health scare, James shows up and Sebastian's ex wife is pregnant, just what Tilly doesn't need.
Love hearing about not only all the flowers, but birds. I can just imagine that is all you can hear and sweet the sounds, smells and touch is.
TIlly proposes a solution to his problem and he gives her some solutions for her problems.
Love hearing about the trails and other places to just walk and relax.
When the hurricane hits, it's a bit too much for Tilly after she's made up her mind which man she really loves.
An interview about why the book was written and other major aspects are explained.



 Summer Rental by Mary Kay Andrews
About 3 women who rent a house in Nags Head, NC for the month of August.
Julia is a model but is getting old and not liking her career much.
Dorrie is pregnant from her gay husband.
Ellis is the one who set everything up.
Because others don't arrive they have an extra room and agree after they meet a woman who they've had a meeting with.
Madison has many secrets and has run away from home, taking her husband pc by accident.
The other women have found some of her secrets and try to help her.
Ah summer with nothing to do, sexual flings, beach, sand and relaxing.
The women have an idea to save the beachhouse that they are not sure will work.
Other mysteries and the hot sex make this a really exc read for the summer, or anytime.



The Bride Wore Chocolate by Shirley Jump
ISBN:         9781937776268
Love that this book comes with recipes, chocolate ones. A recipe at the start of each chapter and there are 26 of them! That is what first attracted me to wanting to read this book. weddings and chocolate.
Love that 3 women in business is doing so well, what an idea!
All kinds of things are going wrong with the wedding preparations: the wedding cake, the DJ and Candace Woodrow is getting spooked about it all.is to marry Barry but her dress at the shop burnt down. One night she and her 2 girlfriends search all over Boston for the new wedding dress, stop for dinner and a drink and she wakes up in a man's apartment that she doesn't even know.
With her hangover her mother drops by and will stay till the wedding to help her as her latest marriage of 7 days has gone sour.
Her grandmother acts like she's in her 20's and shocks Candace at times.
Her other friends Rebecca and Maria share what's going on in their lives as well.
Michael Volger is the client that is interested in their gift baskets from somebody at work having received one. He also happens to be the man Candance had the one night stand with.
With his plan of a business deal along with their business it's sure to be a win for all.
Love hearing about all the rewarding charity work, priceless!
The sexual innuendo's are so funny, especially coming from the older female adults.
Everything, and then some has gone wrong with the wedding preparations and now the huge order for mothers of newborns was a total disaster as the wrong order was sent.
I can't even see this is going to end on a good note. no way!
Candy and Michael do spend more charity time together and she really gets to know him better. Barry is off with his mother but Candance is still getting married to Barry. Hot steamy sex is always a teaser.
All the decisions are hers now to make after seeing things from Michaels's side...






The Sweet Magnolias Cookbook 150 Favorite Southern Recipes by Sherryl Woods with Chef Teddi Wohlford
ISBN:         9780373892600
Love that this cookbook is not only about the food at the margarita club meetings but other locations in the series: Sullivan's Restaurant, Farmer's Market,
Corner Spa, and the other special places the people gather to celebrate.
Starts out with the introduction about Southern Food and other experiences in the series of holidays, memories and disasters and successes.
Each section is highlighted with what they are best known for. People in the series sometime highlight their favorites, also easy to follow recipes and tips even to make things easier.
Photography of the food is top notch. I can't decide which recipe I want to make first. I know this cookbook is gonna be used a lot in my house.
Desserts will be my favorite to try.
So many varieties of scones. Love the holiday section, oh yum!
Conversion charts and other helpful information and index is also included, at the back of the book.


The Next Best Thing by Jennifer Weiner
 SBN:         9781451617757
Ruth Saunders survived the crash that killed both of her parents. After many surgeries to recnstruct her face while having her grandmother come back from FL to MA to take care of her. She's got so much money she does not have to work a day in her life but after
school she sells her grandmother, Rachel on moving to CA with hopes of selling her script. They both love CA and fit right into what they want to do.
She's hooked up with other writers and agencies that keep her busy while not only working on her project but theirs.
She falls in and out of love and fantasizing about others.
Love how we get to see what really happens when a script is accepted, taking auditions and then meetings and finally the tapes and that's only for 3 shows. If those pass then onto maybe 13 more for the series.
The thing of who's got the most power comes into it.
Love reading how the houses and apartments are lavishly decorated, overlooking the ocean scenes.
Can believe what happens to the script over the months and due to the actors they get to play the parts, some of the script has to be rewritten. By the end it's almost not even the same script that the network agreed upon. hmmmm
Love the ending and I won't spoil it for others but this never happens to a script, glad it did here.
Love the love scenes, hot steamy sex.


One Day To Find A Husband by Shirley Jump
Finn McKeena is one of the best architects in the city for any design needed.
His younger brother is the casanova of the family, a girl every night of the week without even trying
Ellie Winston has just moved from the south to Boston to take over and run her father's architect firm as he's had a heart attack. Problem is people are leaving for other positions with other companies. she has just won a bid for the new hospital and nobody there is qualified to design it for the company.
Finn needs an alliance with Ellie so his company can stay afloat.
He approaches her and will think on it. She needs him to marry her to save her friends child from the China orphanage and counteroffers marriage.
After the marriage they both work on avoiding one another and staying out of each others way. When she learns from her father what went wrong in Finn's previous marriage to cause the divorce he's concerned it may be happening again...
His brothers love giving him a hard time and she's always wanted that type of family life...
 I couldn't help but smile when reading about Boston, the rowing and when they guys talk to one another...




The Last Boyfriend by Nora Roberts
Owen Montgomery owned the inn along with his brothers and their spouses, among other buildings in town. The brothers know carpentry and architecture. They had plans to open by Jan 15th and it was closing in on Dec.
Avery MacTavish owned and ran the pizza place across the street from the Inn. She often would let Owen sit and do his calculations and other quiet business things before he had to head back to physically work at the Inn.
They meet to help others fix up the Inn and Owen has a family/friend party on New Year's Eve and she stays the night. Other plans are made about other buildings he owns and more plans for the Inn.
Love not only the Irish legends but the whole family and how they help one another out, of any circumstance they have gotten themselves into.
Didn't realize this was the 2nd of the trilogy and that's probably why it took me a bit of time to get into the characters. Now they are like friends and I know who is who. Still not sure about why the bedrooms at the Inn are names but I'm sure I'll discover that in the first book.
The Inn is about to open for guests and many of the clan have seen/interacted with Elizabeth the resident ghost. When they have more time they will try to figure out who Billy is, the one she's waiting for all the time.
Weddings and other venues for the Inn fit right into their plans. Symbols to represent other things in their lives hold a special meaning.
Gonna be fun to read the book prior to this and the one following.





 Teddy's Day On a Bearish Adventure through Everyday Life by Peter Liptak
ISBN:         9780980197419
Illustrated, very colorful children's book.
Life of a bear as he goes through his daily routine. He finds some reeds and we imagine what they could mean, while he is on his red bike. Many other adventures.
Shows how a bear can go fishing without a pole.
End with his bath and what he washes to get clean.


Beyond the Storm Quilts of Love #1 BY Carolyn Zane
ISBN:         9781426745973
This book covers all before the storm, during the storm and after the storm.
Justin Girard was elected from his family to leave the east coast and head to the midwest to care for the familys aging grandparents. He had no wife or any committments to keep him there so he wandered west.
Abigail Durham worked in the hair/nail salon and met Justin while at the bar with the bachelorette ladies and got a chance to dance with him.
The town is to have a fair and a quilt showing where people gather early Sat. morning and quilt til the fair closes on Sun and they auction the quilt for charity.
This book follows many of the townsfolk in their everyday lives and religion brings them all together as one force.
The first thing that attracted me to want to read this book was because it had the word quilt in the title. To find out it's taking place in the midwest and they have fairs just makes this more of a read than I expected.
One of the events at the fair will be speed quilting from Sat. morning til Sun night and then the quilts get auctioned off, proceeds to go to charities. This sounds like such fun to just watch.
Now back to the storyline: Besides the beginning of a romance there are radio announcements about storms approaching but as months have gone by nothing ever comes of them.
Being that Rawston is a small community there is a lot of gossiping going on and everybody talks at the hair salon.
Things are building up and it's also the high school prom night.
Ah learned what a prayer pocket is. This book brings the whole community together with talk of church and charity events.
Book follows many in town but they all tend to run into one another on a weekly basis. A young woman with her baby living in a mobile home and her husband own/sworks at The Pump, a body builder.
Another owns/works at the lumber yard and other offices in there house others businesses. Everybody helps one another out.
Many passages of scriptures are recited here especially for the ones who need them, quite a devotional inspiration.
With the natural disaster we find everybody praying for others lifes. The descriptive details of the storm hitting made it seem to real, as if I'm there. So terrifying to go through it.
Now that the storm has passed the people really pull together.
The devastation reminds me too much of Katrina, talk of the markings spray painted on buildings and cars.
Some sadness but also joy in what they discover in the aftermath.
Dream seeds and hearing of the mining accident, happy and sad. Love the theme for the quilt:  storm signal square and will do more research on how to make a square for my quilt.
The older women of the bunch explain why it seems like God did this to them all and how to look at it like it was meant to be.
Love how the men adapted to tying the quilt.


    The Christmas Star by Ace Collins
ISBN:         9781426714689
Calvin is the bus driver and likes to share things he makes with others who are less fortunate.
Jimmy Reed hates the holidays and is now hanging out with boys that get in trouble with the law. He's mad because his father died in the war and the family has a star they put on the Christmas tree. They never have money or things and life is such a struggle.
He goes with Calvin to many places to deliver things he's made over the year and he explains how he feels so rich in life although he has nothing of substance in his home. He recites many passages of scripture in hopes Jimmy will catch on so he will lead a worthwhile life.
His mother works at the local store and this holiday with the troops home the shelves have sold out of most everything. She works many hours and hopes to share memories with Jimmy this year to make him happy.
The Medal of Honor is the star they hang on the tree every year but Jimmy hasn't even gone to get a tree from the woods.
This year Calvin created candleholders with a star and the word HOPE on them.
Loved hearing the true meaning and story about mistletoe.
Now that Johnny got in trouble Jimmy felt that the robbery of the store wouldn't take place so he was off the hook... he thought...
A mystery of counterfeit money comes to town that the sheriff is brought up to speed on.
At the church service Jimmy met a man that knew his father, and he's got a surprise for him. They all go to Audrey's house for a meal and he tells them all about it.
The men who were going to break into the store have started to reconsider.
Mystery of the letter was very imaginative and cool to watch them solve it all.


Kiss the Bride by Lori Wilde
ISBN:         9781455512676
Two books in this novel. both about brides and weddings. These two books are linked together by the 300 hundred year old wedding veil.
There Goes the Bride by Lori Wilde
Delaney Cartwright had postponed her marriage twice now. Now it was August, so hot and she was getting the fear it was all wrong. She couldn't marry him. She had paid a man to kidnap her from the wedding but when he turned to look at her from the front seat of the car, it was not the man she had hired.
Wedding was all set, orchestra, 500 guests, brides maids, groomsmen and Dr. Evan Van Zandt, the groom.
A few months prior she had found a special veil with a legend and she agreed to not wish upon it and paid for it.
She went to go kidnap her husband to be dressed in lingerie and a dildo but he wasn't him she put the tarp over, it was the man she had a vision of when she first saw the veil. Her dead sister, Skylar she talks to often to sort things out. She dares her to be the ever so right daughter, who can't do a thing wrong.
She's got a lead on a condo for sale, she's a house stager,  that she hopes to sell for the seller after she fixes it up. Works perfect cuz Evan will be in Guatemala with other doctors for 6 weeks. The grandson who's to help the woman fix up the house is Nick, the one she ran into when she wanted to kidnap Evan. Nick had hurt his leg and would be off work for quite some time. He still kept in shape at the gym and was always available for his nana.
Book follows many romances but they are easy to keep separate. Some parts are hilarious and some are sad.
Lot of action and everybody has something going on: kidnapping, blackmail,
Lots of mysteries and secrets of things that happened in the past are slowly coming to light....
The whammy just like the owners house she is renovating has come out, time stops and electric forces can't keep you away from one another.
kidnapping takes place but because of it other secrets come out so everybody hears of what's occurred in the past...
Loved new places this book took me to along with the whole book, very enjoyable.
.
Once Smitten, Twice Shy by Lori Wilde
Secret Services Agent Shane Tremont was on the lookout for anybody that wanted to harm the President's daughter: Elysse
He gets between her and a backhoe and saves her life, destroying his chances of recovering fully after a 13 week in a coma hospital stay. He
recuperates at her father's ranch.
Tish, Shanes ex wife is on the job hunt and is much overdrawn her accounts at the bank.
Tish saw Shane pleading for her to help him after she wished for a lot of things.
Tish is a videographer and does weddings.
When Elysee agrees to marry Shane, they've spent a year together every day talking to one another about everything,
she decides to hire Tish to video tape their wedding. She wants them all to get along knowing Tish is Shanes ex.
Her girlfriends stand behind her, get on with her life, settle her finances after she's been paid to videotape the wedding but she's still in love with her ex.
Lots of scenes with hot steamy sex are included. More problems when Elysee has her own secrets that she doesn't want others to know about.
Other excerpts from other books of Lori's and the next in the series: Addicted to Love and The Dish.






  I'm Here To Help by SF Chapman
 Renita is preparing college applications and one asks for a birth certificate and she can't figure a few things out. Why was she not born in a hospital.
The mother, Sharon takes her to the living room and with the pictures on the walls proceeds to explain the events that lead up to the day she was born.
Found this light reading although intense at different moments while reading as extreme things occurred.
Love how a picture is worth a thousand words and that all the events were chronologically categorized on the walls of their loving house.
I've had similar childhood memories about our car, this caused me a chuckle.
Love hearing of the travels and what was there, what they did and people along the way.
Like how the title becomes part of the whole book and how the roles reverse to the other being the one to help.
Glad this book had a handful of characters because I feel that many more and there would be such confusion with situations.
Love the close relationship the mother and daughter have and that they can and do talk about everything.
Rate this a 5 out of 5 because it took me to places I'll never get to in my lifetime and it taught me new things-the problems after a birth.



 The Things I Do For You by Mary Carter
Bailey Jordan has worked while her husbamd, Brad stayed home, til the day his aunt came and they went for a drive. The accidnet killed the aunt and left him in a coma for weeks. UPon recuperating he learned he was to inherit half a million and got her jaguar. He spent his time online and bought a lighthouse and now wants to turn it into a bed and breakfast. He thinks his wife can commute, it's only 2 hours one way. She just wants to get pregnant and stay in the city and sell real estate.
Fascinating to learn about when the lighthouse was first lit in the 1800's using whale oil and what they used over the years. A lot of strange happenings are about the lighthouse and the house they live in.
They somehow survive on the island doing some DIY projects to get the house up to par so they can start having guests by the spring. Money is running out even when they sell things and Brad has a lot of deep dark secrets that he knows he has to share with Bailey, but maybe just not all of them.
The guests start to arrive, the committee does not pay and then some paying guests arrive and we get to read not only Brad's journal but the guest book at the entry to the B&B. When the relatives come in the fall most of the mysteries are out of the hat but they are there to pick up the pieces.

Where The Heart Lies by Michelle Garren Flye
ISBN:         9781426894077
Alicia Galloway is just approaching her new home, without her husband. He died in the war.
The neighbors have made her feel welcome by bringing in dinner and Liam had brought groceries for breakfast and even made the coffee while she settled the kids.
Liam was a favorite of Ty's and being around the same age had caught fish in the pond out back.
She hopes to take over her father in laws bookstore in North Carolina where she just moved to, the family house. Her in laws were in assisted living now and the house stood empty.
Penny stops in with lunch at the store while Alicia is straightening up to warn her of Liam and his past in the town and why he was respoinsible for her husband's death. She's not completely buying the story.
There are other secrets about Liam that others in town haven't told her about yet...
I learned about the 13 folds of the flag when presented to someone and that's how this book got it's name.  I never knew the symbolism but have folded it myself! Love how Liam used physics to do his magic tricks.
Love reading about the small town, book bindings, stores and the store Alicia runs, legends on campus.
3 really bad things happen over time and she feels she's near the end of her rope, how can she go on?


What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen
She lives with her father and when he gets a new job it means moving to a new location and she picks a new name, part of her real name to register at school.
McLain struggles with calls from her mother who has a new family when she invites her to spend time at the beach with them all.
She meets the neighbors and one rescues her from the cops-Dave. Her friend Debby saves her when she has to go attend to her father's medical need at the hospital. She
invites Debbie into her school circle of friends and realizes she is a total misfit but she treats her just like one of her treasured friends.
Her father struggles to make over the restaurant to make it more profitable.
Ultimate decisions must be made when he has to move to another location for his job...




You Again  by Debbie Macomber
2 stories by Debbie Macomber.
Baby Blessed by Debbie Macomber
Molly works at the remote village in South Africa and is surprised when her husband shows up from the helicopter. He is there to bring her back to the US but the army is fighting and they hide out in a safe place and confront one another.
Jordan is fired on and struck on their way out of the remote village and fly to London then to Chicago so he can recuperate. She stays with her father til she has a chat with Jordan to find out he does want a divorce. It is only because they
have lost their 6 month son old to SIDS. They have both agreed to the divorce til she finds out another medical problem has arisen that they both have to deal with. She's back at work with a local hospital and is happy with her new apartment as well.
Their paths continue to cross as they attend a friends wedding where Molly meets the love interest of Jordan, Leslie.
Molly talks to other couples who've also lost their infants to SIDS to help her overcome her fears. They both struggle to overcome their pain.
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Yesterday Once More by Debbie Macomber
Julie was being controlled by his mother. Everything from telling her what to wear before work and how to furnish her apartment.
Daniel is a spoiled guy who lives by what his mother says.
Just days before the wedding she has had enough and leaves it all behind to go live with an aunt on the west coast. Her career continues til she's learned she really does love him and goes back to town.
She confronts him but he wants nothing to do with her. She then goes to his mother and tells her she still loves him. She is the one to call 911 as they rush the mother, Clara to the hospital.
They are so hopeful with Clara's recovery that they agree to her proposal, get married and give her grandchildren.
They do get married, live together and strain through everyday life with one another.
Clara gets stronger and can now go through with heart surgery.
Julie meets his other girlfriends and he reminds her she's the one that left 3 years ago.



A Gift To Last by Debbie Macomber
2 stories about Christmas time.
Can this be Christmas? A handful of people have been rerouted from a plane to a train to get from Maine to Boston. They made it as far as New Hampshire and the train no longer can go further.
Rather than telling you about all the people involved I think this book is more about how the all come together and make the celebration a good one. How they can take
just the bare essentials and make them glorious. Not only do they each step up but the community come to the rescue as well as all of them are not going to make it home
for the holiday. The time also gives them each the hours they need to think things through to make changes in their lives, once they are back home.
Love how this story really happened, in a different location to Debbie's parent. I know Snoqualmie area and I can see this happening. Glad she can write such a touching story.
Love the knitting connections.
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Shirley, Goodness and Mercy by Debbie Macomber
Greg Bennett had to get a loan or he'd have to lay off his employees at the vineyard.
Sherry Adams meets him at the bar and he buys her a drink but she doesn't want to spend more time with him.
He ends up at church so he can think about his empty life.  He had others who needed him but he had walked away. He may need to go see his brother and talk things over, apologize even, to get money he needed. He's treated his 3 wives terribly and the angels think they need to show him what christmas is all about.
He sees one of his ex wives and finds out he has a son but her husband has adopted Eddie. He now plans to meet him.
The angels also have to deal with a child that has leukemia. Others come to his aid trying to get others to
donate blood to see if they are a donor match. Other relatives of Greg need help and some of them can give help to Greg.
It's up to the angels to make it all happen.


 You Only Love Twice  by Lori Wilde
ISBN: 9780446555333
Marlie Montague is a comic strip writer and she hurries to freshen up before opening the door to her new next door male neighbor. Her alter ego was carrying on a conversation with her as to whether or not to answer the door.
Problem is she trips over the bowling ball and by the time she answer it's the UPS man but he's got a semi automatic gun in his hands.
NCIS Special agent Joel Hunter was attempting to borrow some shampoo but she never answered her door.
Admiral Augustus Hunter had to warn Penelope Montague.
When Marlie has to leave her house at night she selects her mom's house but things are not what they should be there also.
Her alternate persona takes over at times and she recognizes the man who wanted to kill her. She's hot on his trail now with Joel along for the ride.
When Marlie tries to get medical service for Joel she finds her face on the TV where the police want her for arson suspect at her mothers house.
Now they have to go into hiding and she has to not only take care of Joel medically but keep them safe. Angelina, her other persona and from the comic strip she writes will aid her in this endeavor.
Joel's ex wife also has a say in what happens along with Marlie's mother. The war in the gulf holds them all hostage for many years after it was fought.
Like all the action, adventure, kidnapping, assassins, military and police investigations and romance and storyline. This book has it all.




Carina Press Presents: Editor's Choice Volume I
ISBN:         9781426893834
 3 short novels in this collection: I was only familiar with one and loved all the stories in this selection.
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Kilts and Kraken by Cindy Spencer Pape,
Magnus has attempted to slay the beast but has been overpowered.
Dr. Geneva MacKay was to go north to heal Magnus.
Love time frame of King Arthur days and love learning about methods used in heal and wound care.
Ginny is one of the best bone setters and she needs to realign his pelvic bones if he is to ever walk again. Luckily he's still unconscious.
Love how descriptive the location is, the castle and what the laird was doing with steam power, makes me feel like I am there.
Magnus has a magick aura about him that the women healers are there to find out about.
THe women were to bring him back to his island when the others came for him, it was his only wish when he was awake for a minute.
After he is semi recovered others come to their aid on the island as the kraken is still attacking them because of all the modernization going on.
Ginny's sister and other relatives arrive in the airship and help in killing one of the squids. The explanation of how it explodes is truly a work of genius.
They all try to help to figure out who wants him dead and his magick powers gone.
When Ginny is missing Magnus sets out to search the whole island and to get down to why she was summoned away from the castle.
They find other clues to solve the mysteries.
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Negoitating Point by Adrienne Giordano
Gavin is a kidnapping negoitator and hopes to find out where his bosses wife is being held. The bad guys had sent her husband Mike an email with the link stating one of their own was unjustly accused and in jail and they need to not only release him but put it on the front page of the paper she works for.
Mike and Gavin wanted the tech geek Janet Fink along in solving this and Roxanne, Mike's wife was pregnant.
Using Facebook updates they are able to understand about the kidnappers and Gavin and Janet move into a house across the street from where Roxanne is being held hostage.
They have a lot of surveillance on the house and are able to stay on top of things 24/7. They also have a lot of time to get one another better.
They track down some leverage to use so maybe the kidnapper will give up and walk out without harming anybody....
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Slow Summer Kisses by Shannon Stacey
Cameron Mayfield lived at the camp in New Hampshire year round. He enjoyed his cable TV, drinking beer at the end of his dock and sleeping and eating. He had promised Jim Frasier, the neighbor with the cmap next door that he'd look after his granddaughter Anna while she was there.
Anna Frasier had worked in NY, finance district but she was downsized out of a job and now at her grandparents cabin in the woods. Man next door had helped to bring in her luggage but she had no idea what to do with herself.
She's already gotten on his nerves cuz she had no food and didn't drive so he'd have to do it, and on a Sunday.
He's got time on his hands so teaches her how to drive his truck. She is to start knitting classes at the library once her grandmothers bike is fixed. She starts to spruce up the place by planting flowers, painting trim, etc
Lots of laughs when he finds out she's a Yankees fan and he's a Red Sox fan!
They become very familiar with one another and then she gets a call about a job offer, in the city...






 The Hidden Staircase Nancy Drew Book by Carolyn Keene
Starts out with Nancy helping her dad Carson with railroad business. He has to find a man that signed off on the original railroad property. He has to leave town to do that as he can't locate the man locally.
She gets a visit from the owners of the mansion and it's twin house asking her to help them solve the mystery of the ghost in their house. Strange things have been happening and they want to know what to do about them. This book takes many turns, a kidnapping and secret passage ways among the two houses.
Loved the exploring and how she accumulated the clues to actually solve both mysteries.



Sunset Bridge by Emilie Richards
Tracy owns the 25 acres of Happiness Key where there are 5 cottages that are rented out.
She's in her 40's with not much hope of having a child but that one night with her boyfriend, Marsh was just enough to make her prgenant.
Also we are brought up to date on what's happening with the residents of the cottages.
Love to hear of the sleep overs on the shores of the ocean.
Wanda baked pies and had waitressed at Gaylords til they went topless. so she's started her own place, cuz she knows what others really want for a meal.
Blend of women and their talents come together to make the area work for them all. They all rally and help another get over their problems.
Some knit/crochet, some organize, some bake and some use their religion for a happy medium.
Maggie is on the trail of Blake who she feels used inferior things on the bridge and was responsible for a murder.
Love the uptodate technology of an emergency SOS beacon via cell phone.
Tragedy of the hurricane could wipe them all out...


Knitting Diaries by Debbie Macomber, Susan Mallery, and Chritina Skye
Knitting is a comfort to all and you can always strike up a conversation with one who knits.
Love that this book is actually 3 different stories from 3 different authors, who also happen to knit.
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The Twenty First Wish by Debbie Macomber
After the book 'Twenty Wishes' this follows along the same lines, like a bucket list of sorts.
Helen has her own 20 wishes book and shares it with her mother: Ann Marie knows Tim is still recovering from his addiction.
Tim is the real father of Helen who Ann Marie has adopted.
Helen has started to knit and wants to make her mother Ann Marie a purse to hold when she marries her father. She has a knitting diary.
Ann Marie also added her 21st wish to her list...
Comes with a knitting pattern of wedding purse.
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Coming Unravelled by Susan Mallery
Knitting Hand Puppet included
Robin was back and brought gifts to the others who ran the shop. Adeline and Marion and Eleanor were the recipients.
The knitters were in the corner working on their projects. TJ was the new man sitting there knitting his project.
Her dream was to be on Broadway as a dancer. Her mother had died before the same dream had come through.
TJ thinks she is there to get money out of the woman and finance her dancing career. He's gonna stick around to make
sure she doesn't get any of the older womans money.
Robin is there to help her grandmother recuperate after her surgery.
TJ leads a class with men who need help in concentration.
She has a confesstion to tell them that she knows won't be easy.
She has found her diary where she wrote of her dreams of dancing and knitting.
They spend a lot of time together with her grandmother after her surgery and she finds out who he was in his previous life.
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Return to Summer Island by Christina Skye
Caro's wristlet pattern.
Her knitting diary reads that she's leaving Summer Island forever.
Her parents had died and her grandmother raised her on the island where the whole community was her family.
She is now old enough and had to move on. Has a new apartment, new job and there is a yarn store nearby.
She is a senior advocate. The accident left her in the hospital for a week. She was most concerned about her knitting bag.
She overheard that she might never knit again.
She goes back to the island to recuperate Morgan her grandmother has set up Peter the vet to come visit with an animal in hopes Caro will get her spark back.
Gage is there to pick up a painting from her grandmother and she's just broken the family heirloom teapot. He's a marine and on his way back to the war, just there to see his sister through some cancer treatments.
They lose contact with one another on his travels back to Afghanistan.


Night and Day  Jesse Stone Mystery by Robert B. Parker
Lewd conduct by the junior high school principal. Others have stated she's looking at the girls underwear. Her husband is the town's lawyer and she knows she's protected.
And the peeping tom now goes into houses and at gun point takes pictures of nude women.
One of the girls wants the police chief to stop her parents from being swingers.
Love how the investigations go with all the things going on at one time.
What a town, Paradise, MA.





A Catskill Eagle by Robert B. Parker
What first interested me into reading mysteries was the Jesse Stone movies on TV with Tom Selleck. This is the same author that wrote the series and I really like the movies.
The stories are very similar. This one is about the PI Spenser who gets a text on his cell from Susan that she wants to get out of there but can't leave. He tracks her down to the west coast and ends up in jail with a cast on his leg where he's hidden his gun.
He escapes along with Hawk and they travel to track down where Susan could be. After Washington state where the lodge is burned down-she had been there to CT where they join a vigilante group of men who are like mercenaries. Although there are killings it's not
glorified nor very detailed as to the gory surroundings.
Places they go, some are familiar to me and some not, love the descriptions as I can picture exactly where they are on the map.


 Catching Fireflies A Sweet Magnolia Novel by Sherryl Woods
ISBN:         9780778313595
Laura Reed is a high school English teacher and she's noticed one bright girl has not been attending her classes.
Misty confided in her friend Katie, who had gotten in trouble for skipping school because of her and Misty was now being pressured to tell an adult about why she no longer wanted to go to school.
She had even gone to the doctor and made a deal with him that she'd talk to an adult about the problem.
And now the coach was onto her skipping classes and she is also Katie's stepdad.
Misty has to get a handle on the problem.
Laura meets with the doctor, JC to compare notes as to why Misty wants out of her classes.
The women in town have been trying to fix the doctor up with females for dates to no avail.
Love catching up with everyone in town and that they all come together to help one when the need arises.
Small town living, festivals, football games, and gossip.
Had shivers as the authorities dealt with the situation...
Easy to follow although there are a lot of players they are not confusing.
Love how this book is so up to date with happenings in todays' society.



Stranger In My Arms by Lisa Kleypas
The earl, Hunter, her husband drowned a year ago and Laura continued on.
The servants told her the earl had returned causing her to faint.
He's a bit familiar with her but some things are so different from what she remembered.
He tells her of things only she would know so it must be him, for real.
Hunter tells her all he remembers from the voyage that left him with not remembering his name.
The current Lord and Lady were to leave now but their children are in line to get the title.
He's got some of the same scars as the real Hunter. Laura is still not absolutely certain it is her husband.
She is barren and sold her ring to have money to give to the orphanage where she helped the poor and blind and the children.
She has moments where she doubts it is her husband as he talks as if he's her husbands best friend, not himself.
Tragedy strikes when her friend and her attempt to trick Hunter when they try to find out if it's really her husband.



Wyoming Tough by Diana Palmer
Moory is working at a ranch because her father won't allow her to work at her own family ranch. She's been to college and has a degree in archaeology and finds out the boss of the ranch she's on also has degrees and is a veteran of military services.
They use a lot of their own products to sustain the operations, even the methane from the cattle.
Her mother knows where she is and approves. She has come from the kitchen side of the ranch and helps the housekeeper with canapes for a party and how to make them.
There is an escaped prisoner and as she's listening to music on her Ipod the boss approaches and tells her to keep an eye out because he's killed a man before and would think nothing of killing her.
Mallery is one of the 3 brothers who own the ranch and he's in charge of the employees. He fears the housekeeper has ulterior motives towards him. He knows the new woman ranch hand is not what she seems and he's falling in love with her.
Gilly is the housekeeper than wants the ranch for herself and is willing to do anything to get what she wants.
Because of a theft she was sent packing and now she's back home and her dad sets her up with boys he approves of for her to marry.
The sale of special cattle drove him and Gilly to her father's ranch. Besides being surprised they were ousted out with threats of investigations.
She was Mallery's only hope as he was kidnapped and she's helped the escaped prisoner in the past. She can do this...
Love to learn about new things: fracking is interesting.
Hot steamy sex just adds to this book.


Game Over by Fern Michaels
Fighting for what's right although they are on the wrong side, it's a worthwhile fight.
Myra and Charles are getting married and now they fight for the pardon they were promised.
The woman practice on the stripper pole to win one of their grandmother's set of pearls.
Lot of investigations take place from both the women and the men and they all come together
at the end.
Lots of surprises all around...



Lovin Blue by Zuri Day
Janson McKnight was divorced and a police officer and he held a gun to her. She fainted and when awake realized it was her brother's best friend.
Eden, divorced also couldn't believe he was here in her brother's apartment.
Her place won't be ready for a week so just one night at her brothers is the plan but she and Janson come to an agreement that the winner will do what the other wants.'
She cooks vegetarian and he's a meat and potatoes man so they are at opposite sides of the stove.
She's anti war/guns and that's his job.
Sunday's dare is for them to run 2 miles, and then do her yoga stretches afterwards.
Eden finds out the truth about a killing and she leaves him.



All Summer Long A Fool’s Gold Romance by Susan Mallery
ISBN:         9780373776948
Clay Stryker, model movie butt double was just trying to help the firewoman get the cat out of the tree.
Charlie is the towns firewoman and has a handle on things.
The Stryker family wants to go into business where families come to stay at their houses and work on the farm to see/feel how things are done in that environment with no deadlines, called haycations with some modern conveniences.
Clay was still considering joining the family to do just that.
Love the fact that you can read this as a standalone book and it summarizes on what's happened in the past so you're not totally lost.
Charlie has her horse stabled at Rafe's ranch, where Clay is staying so they run into one another often and go riding together. That gives them a lot of time to talk and get to know one another better.
Charlie has had a bad shake when it comes to men and that was explained in another Fool's Gold book. She's attempting to get over the fear by showing interest in Clay.
She opens up to Clay hoping he can help with her problems.  She wonders if he will ever answer her after a few days have gone by.
There are a lot of things I've left unsaid as I think it's best you read about them yourselves first hand with a smile on your face as it was on mine.
Her famous mother coming back into he life just complicates things.
Like Clay's approach, nice and slow to fix her problems.
Steamy hot sex and you won't be disappointed in the storyline.
Learning about fires and how to fight them, the training they go through is very thorough.
Love the travel adventure, just right!


Midnight Promises by Sherryl Woods
SubTitle:         A Sweet Magnolia Novel
 ISBN:         9780778313489
Once again we find ourselves back in Serenity. This book concentrates on Karen and her marriage to Elliot. She still works in the kitchen of Sullivan's restaurant and he works at the corner spa helping where needed.
He's neglected to tell Karen, his wife about the funding he's going to get to start a man's gym in town with backing from the woman's spa.
Her ex mother in law, Frances is going through forgetfullness/Alzheimers and her friends are concerned.
There are other problems with the finances with others in the group also.
His sister is also going through marital problems. Others come to her aid in hopes they can fix them.
What a concept. the trip of a lifetime!
The Letting go of the past, forgiveness and moving on with your life and that of your family...
Love how the title of the book says it all.

Summer Nights by Susan Mallery
ISBN:         9780373776870
Annabelle Weiss was the dancer on the bar, in real life, she's the librarian, showing her friends the happy dance of the virgin. She had to raise money for her bookmobile at the festival and knows the dance of the horses might be the thing to learn and do it herself. She had divorced her author husband and had moved on.
He witnessed the dance but Shane Stryker was only on the bar for a beer and a burger, then he left. He is the horse whisperer and that is what attracted me to this book. Have seen many shows on documentary tv about them and what they accomplish.
It's just so fascinating. He was now divorced, having married the woman he thought he loved. He moved his horses from TN to Fool's Gold, stabling them at his mothers barns til his house and barns were ready.
His mother was gonna set him up with the librarian. he just wanted a regular woman to love him til he found out she was the red head dancer from the night before, the one who haunted him and his dreams at night.
Montana who was due any day with Simon's baby led the dog into the library. He was a tutor and helped relax himself when the children read to him.
All the females of Fool's Gold are helping Heidi with her wedding plans.
Jo's Bar should have the other room finished for such things as bridal showers and even weddings.
Annabelle was taking horse riding lessons using Charlie's horse and she did grasp onto the killer stallion and they went around the corral a bit til it was time to end the lesson. She couldn't believe the horse was a killer horse. He was so gentle with her on his back.
She was getting tingles when Shane caught her upon unmounting from the horse.
The deal: Her choice of household accessories for him and he was to teach little girls how to ride ponies.
He needs to reword most of what he says to her, he learns in time...
Subplot about Charlie and her past and her wishes arise and she talks to many about it.
Steamy hot sex scenes like riding a horse top off this novel that make it complete.
Love learning about the horses, races and other facts.


pub 8/14 The Inn at Rose Harbor by Debbie Macomber
Love this book just for the knitting mentioned and how I can totally relate to having more than 3 projects going at one time.
Jo Marie had relocated to run the existing B&B after her husband Paul passes away in the war.
The book follows her life and interactions with other local people and protectors.
Josh Weaver is a guest at the inn and is in town for just a few short days to reclaim things his stepdad has kept at the family house. He is on his deathbed and a nearby neighbor has watched out for him for months.
He just wants his letterman jacket and his mom's bible.
Abby Kincaid is back in town after leaving when her girlfriend dies in a car crash that she was the driver. Her brother is getting married and her parents and aunts and uncles will also be at the wedding. She has a few chores, left undone to complete.
Seems as if Jo Marie will return for more guests. It's a house that leaves one in peace, all that cross its door.
Look visiting again with just a few locals-a little at a time so as not to be become confused. It's at a nice easy pace but moves along.
Comes with extra things at the end of the book.


Pop-Up Cards Over 50 Designs for Cards That Fold, Flap, Spin, and Slide by Mari Kumada
ISBN:         9781611800043
You don't need to know a lot to make beautiful cards. This book not only shows you how to spruce up a card but make them in different styles.
Best part is you can make them 3d, pop-up to really put a bg smile on the recipient.
Just basic materials are needed to make greeting cards for all the important occasions.
The really good information about how to create them is at the back of the book where the templates are included for the shapes you will need to cut out.
Fun book for a child on a rainy day. It also includes all the shapes in the colors shown for the cards. The instructions do really look easy enough for a child to do, as shown.







At Last by Jill Shalvis
ISBN:         9781455503742
Amy works at the local diner but loves to hike and draw landscapes. She was on her way to find the diamond her mother wrote about when she must've taken a wrong turn and hours later deemed she was lost. With her cell she called a friend in town and shortly there was a ranger coming up the path. She didn't need rescuing she told him although when she saw the bear she stepped back into his body.
Due to a natural disaster they could not leave the area so had to camp out but Matt Bowers was prepared with supplies from his truck. He had to rescue her from not only that but a fall during the night that left her at the bottom of a hill, then he had to patch her up. He also kept her warm while they talked the night away.
Love the reason why she wanted to go to the meadow where the diamond wall is, it's quite to motivator.
A few of the local females who are now attached will be giving her good girl lessons so she can catch a man also, while eating chocolate.
Although this book is about Amy and Matt there are places we get to catch up with the regulars and what's going on in their lives.
Mystery of a hiker keeps them on alert for more trouble.
She can have a new career and he could lose his. Love how the town helps in any problem that arises.
Recipes at the end and a preview of the next book in this series!


Tidewater Inn by Colleen Coble
ISBN:         9781595547811
Love that this takes place on a barrier island in the Outer Banks of NC. Have only seen movies in the same location and it's beautiful.
Libby Halladay and her friend Nicole own and run the historic preservation company.
Nicole set out to look over an inn on Hope Island
Libby's father left her most of the island in his will. She has a step brother and a step sister who got money from their father upon his death.
The senator wants to buy the property and had a deal with the previous owner and wants to bulldoze it to build a resort.
Nicole was taken while Libby watched via the web camera on the island.
There are a few others that come into play in this book: a Coast Guard rescue worker, Alec Bourne and his teen nephew just a few weeks ago came to live with him.
The local sheriff Tom as he investigates the disappearance of Nicole.
God and faith have a huge part in this book, how things work out.
Love the necklace Libby got from her father and the inscription says it all: WWJD
All sounds pretty cut and dry and you know the ending and all the outcome but a hurricane touches down and things begin to get even more complicated as the days go by.
Mystery of the caves is very interesting to hear about.
Articles of clothing and other things that Belong to Nicole have washed up on shore and that makes those in charge put the investigation forefront.
There is a family with a search and rescue dog with them that agree to help out while on vacation to the island. They try a few islands off the coast to no avail.
Letters from Libby's father come to light which bring more heartache to her and others in the family.
Aunt Pearl helped them to understand what had happened and to show Libby what her father loved to do with his time.
When some have questions about death and hurt, others have the response of God and certain scriptures thus making it all add up.
Just when they think they are getting close to solving the mystery other things hamper them and more comes into play where you think it will never get solved.
Besides helping to find Nicole, Libby is also being pressured to sell the inn for 10 million dollars that would help with her step brother as he's disabled on the mainland and the rest could go to her company. There is just no way she'd be able to afford to fix the inn up.
Love the things I learned in this book and the places I was taken to.




Forever And A Day by Jill Shalvis
ISBN:         9781455503698
Love the little 'chocolate' quotes at the beginning of every chapter, giving you a bit of insight as to what the chapter is about.
Grace Brooks has been around Lucky Harbor a bit but still no full time job. She does a lot of little errands or part time work for others. Her latest is a dog sitter which is Dr. Josh Scott's dog, Tank but she lost him when he hightailed it into the ocean.
Josh is an ER doctor and works at his fathers practice as well. There's just not enough hours in the day to do that, and exercise and have a girlfriend he was thinking when he first saw Grace come out of the ocean dripping wet.
He has his college aged sister living with him and his son Toby and she wants to use her settlement from being paralyzed in the car crash to go with Devon to Europe.
They talk again while she's modeling cuz he needs her to watch the dog really bad, apologizes and kisses her with the promise of triple the pay. Problem is, other things arise that cause her more work and aggravation and just plain craziness.
Her chocolate loving girlfriends are there for courage hope and to persuade her to go get some.
Hot steamy sex along with catching up with the happenings of Lucky Harbor make this a fun, laugh til you have tears in your eyes from the mishaps that happen book.
Love to hear how they trade chocolate items for real things. Such an easy going book to read, love this series.
She started looking forward to walking the dog and the other chores he had for her... They start leaning on each other a lot more often as circumstances arise. Love how she gets close to Anna with some solid advice and how she can talk to the little boy.
Love how when the night turns bad the whole town shows up to help with the recovery at the hospital and police station.
Love the extras at the end...





Angel of the cove by Sandra Robbins
The description of what this book is about first struke me as one I had to read. Reminds me of
Mary Ellen of the Waltons and how she wanted to get on her horse and visit all the mountain people
as they had no means to get to town to see a doctor.
Anna is on her way to her a midwifes home, Uncle Charles the country doctor in his buggy are taking her
to the Cove where Granny Lawsom lives.
The descriptions of the flowers along the way sound beautiful.
She's only going to be on the mountain til the fall when nursing school starts. Or if God has another
path for her to follow.
Such a simple life, self sustaining and you trade food with others for the food they have.
Granny knows enough about the plants and how to use them to make medicine.
Ah love the explanation of a honeymoon cabin, barn raisings, like to learn new things with each book I read.
Lot of praying to God, inspiritational moments and bible scriptures.
Simon the preacher has also taking a liking to Anna and hopes she will stay at the cove and not go to NY.
Anna doubted she could do nursing after a wounded man comes to Granny's to get stitched up. She left the
area and sneeked back into her bedroom, she just couldn't face them.
The man's son the next day brought a loaf of bread in lieu of payment.
The lessons in herbs and what they could do to make a person feel better was a tremendous help to Anna.
God provided the plants to grown.
Bible stories are told to the children who are in Anna's care after their mother gave birth and the father
travel to get the mothers sister to help out.
After birth the baby is wrapped in the fathers shirt, what a legend/tradition, 4th of July pitching silver dollars.
Carefree lifestyle but when work needed to be done there was no whining, everybody pitched in.
When Simon kissed her she sent him away and they rarely now met at others houses.
She's got the healing hands as she breathes life back into a lifeless body, an angel they call her.


 Are You Sleeping Little One? by Author:  Hans-Christian Schmidt and Cynthia Vance
Illustrated, very colorful children's book that shows a mother with her young infant animal. There are the typical animals and the
not so typical making it a bit unique in that this is a book for children all around the world.  Words are easy for the young
ones who are just starting out to read. This is one of the better books i've read that shows the pairs.
SBN:         9780789211231

book to read, review and interview the author

read, review, interview and post author's responses, August 10th

contest book

 

book won from a contest

Im Here To Help - Review and Interview

 Synopsis
BOOK DETAILS
Paperback, $9.99
ISBN: 978-0-9855369-0-9
eBook, $7.99
ISBN: 978-0-615-60539-5
Fiction, 125 pages
Striped Cat Press, July 1, 2012
Seventeen-year-old Renita discovers some subtle inconsistencies in her birth certificate that put
her mother Sharon’s long held account that she was adopted into doubt. Sharon decides that it is
finally time to tell Renita about both the laudable good deeds and the lamentable oversights that
had led them to the current situation.
Using a series of old framed photos that have hung for years in the living room, Sharon slowly
reveals the complex set of events involving a star-crossed trip to Mexico, a very young stowaway
Hispanic baby sitter named Juliana, the untimely death of Sharon’s husband, the unexpected
pregnancy of Juliana, the eventual birth of Renita to Juliana and finally Juliana’s struggle with
clinical depression that leads to her suicide.
Through some sketchy paperwork filled at the county recorder’s office, Sharon was listed as
Renita’s mom.

 

1.    Is there any other job that you've not done yet that you've always wanted to do?

When the economy fell apart a few years ago and I had to give up on residential construction, I worked with a fabulous second grade teacher as a guest science lecturer once or twice a month.

It is so much fun to interacting with seven and eight year olds, they are naturally very curious about the world around them and especially open to discovery. Second graders have endless questions, so I would spend hours explaining obscure physics or biology to them.

If I could endure another trip through college, I’d probably get a degree in education and a teaching credential. Whether there would be any jobs available in that profession when I finished up is another matter.

2: Do you write about your past jobs in your novels?  I'd love to read one where it involved the art of glass blowing, being very descriptive of the processes. It leaves me with such a soothing/calm feeling.

Yikes!

I started out in an Old World-style glass shop with big fire breathing open furnaces; it is so hot. Later I did move on to scientific glasswork, which is not so physically torturous.

Perhaps I will slip some hot glasswork into a future novel, it is an intense experience that lends itself well to plenty of superb description and second degree burns.

I have a main character in an upcoming novel that is a carpenter and I introduce him as he is slogging away up on a rooftop in the Oakland hills with a great view of the San Francisco Bay in the background. It is an experience that I know well.

3: What authors do you read?

Right now, being at the other end of the literary game, I try to stay away from other author's fiction mainly because I don’t want to inadvertently steal someone else’s hard work. Which is not to say that I don’t read. I pick my way through two different newspapers everyday and five or six science magazines every month.

Years ago I read one or two novels per week, being the Space-Age baby that I am it was mostly science fiction by Arthur C. Clarke, Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle. I love the irony and rawness of Joe Haldeman’s The Forever War and the tough and resourceful female protagonist in Joanna Russ’s Picnic On Paradise.

Most of my non-science fiction literary influences right now trail back to many years spent in revival movie houses during the 1980s. I have a reference in I’m here to help about how odd experiences sometimes have the stark and disjointed feel of a foreign film; the works of Fellini, Truffaut, and Luis Buñuel come to mind.

4: What genre would you never want to write?

I’ll try almost anything.

I don’t think that I’d do a very good job with poetry. I suspect that the distinctive styles and rhythms of the genre would pull me inextricably away from the ethereal ideas floating around in my gray matter.

Being a lifelong tinkerer, I can’t say that I would never write poetry.

Maybe haikus or limericks?

5: What do you do to relax: read, hike, shop, eat??

Relax? What’s that?

I love listening to music. Currently I’m revisiting my old fondness for Jazz and R&B. There are several Ella Fitzgerald and Ray Charles songs that I’ve listened to over and over again recently: Good Morning Heartache, Cotton Tail and Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered by Ella and You Don’t Know Me, Georgia On My Mind and Feel So Bad by Ray Charles. These songs are thoroughly saturated with emotion.

Nearly everything by Nora Jones regularly wafts though my workroom. She has a great voice and I love her recent risk-taking with lyrics and styles.

My eighteen-year-old son is a fantastic guitarist so I often have the complex and melodious sounds that he produces while he practices filtering through while I write. This popped up in one of my upcoming science fiction novels.

6: Are the other books part of a series, and what are the plans for future books?

I’m in the middle of two different science fiction series right now: The MAC series that starts with Floyd 5.136 and the Free City series that begins with my next to publish novel, The Ripple In Space-Time. Both share some of the same characters but are otherwise unrelated.

I’m here to help was my first effort at literary fiction. Right now I am writing two books in tandem, the first is an intense and compact literary piece about homelessness called The Missive In The Margins and the second is a sequel to The Ripple In Space-Time entitled Torn From On High.

7: How do you do research? Do you travel or use the Internet for info?

In the past I’ve traveled to Mexico, London, the Southwest, East Africa and most of Hawaii. All of these places have been locales in various books.

Much of Torn From On High takes place in Tunis in North Africa and the Shannon Basin in Ireland. I haven’t been to either place yet so I spent a great deal of time poking around on the Internet reading about them. Pictures really help me to form a sense of the physical nature of a place.

8. What is the most difficult scene to write?

Kids dealing with death; it’s a wrenching end-of-innocence moment that I’ve tried once or twice to capture and convey to the reader. There’s a chapter in an upcoming novel about a young character who finally comes to terms with a past tragedy that causes me to tear up every time that I read it.

9. What was the most fun scene to write?

There have been a few chapters in several different books that have dealt with utterly unexpected disasters, I know that it sounds strange but they are a blast to write.

Forcing perfectly ordinary people to suddenly go through the physical, mentally and emotionally trauma of a catastrophe is the literary equivalent of the wild ride down the first big drop on a roller coaster.

Both leave me shaky afterwards.

Generally; if it is exciting to read, it was exciting to write.

 S F Chapman
Author Biography
S F Chapman has done it all. He spent 4 years as a truck driver, 8 years as a
scientific glass blower and 20 years as a building contractor. He’s a
computer geek, handyman, music lover and relentless tinkerer.
But it’s his newest venture he’s most passionate about. In the next five years
Chapman plans to release 12 books, his first being I’m here to help (July
1, 2012), a literary fiction tale about a teenage daughter looking for answers
to some inconsistencies on her birth certificate.
Family is something Chapman knows well, as he’s the third of 12 children
born to an endearing stay-at-home mother and traveling salesman father during
the 1960s Space Race.
His desire for writing sparked while working on his liberal arts degree at Diablo Valley College.
Chapman chose mostly classes in the English Department, focusing on science fiction literature,
composition and short story writing. He generated nearly a dozen short stories in two years.
Since 2009, he’s begun writing novel-length fiction tales and prepping for the launch of his own
independent book publishing company Striped Cat Press. The six works so far are the post-apocalyptic
soft science fiction MAC Series consisting of Floyd 5.136, Xea in the Library and Beyond the Habitable
Limit; the science fiction detective story entitled The Ripple in Space-Time; his debut literary novella
I’m here to help; and the general fiction tale of death and destruction called On the Back of the Beast.
Chapman is currently alternating between two entirely different writing projects: the first being a rough
and tumble literary novel about homelessness called The Missive In The Margins; and the second a
science fiction detective squeal to The Ripple in Space-Time dubbed Torn From On High.
Chapman is a Californian for life, having grown up in the northern part of the state and living the past 53
years in the San Francisco Bay Area. He and his wife are the proud parents of an 18-year-old son and 16-
year-old daughter. They currently live in Concord.
 

My review:

Renita is preparing college applications and one asks for a birth certificate and she can't figure a few things out. Why was she not born in a hospital.
The mother, Sharon takes her to the living room and with the pictures on the walls proceeds to explain the events that lead up to the day she was born.
Found this light reading although intense at different moments while reading as extreme things occurred.
Love how a picture is worth a thousand words and that all the events were chronologically categorized on the walls of their loving house.
I've had similar childhood memories about our car, this caused me a chuckle.
Love hearing of the travels and what was there, what they did and people along the way.
Like how the title becomes part of the whole book and how the roles reverse to the other being the one to help.
Glad this book had a handful of characters because I feel that many more and there would be such confusion with situations.
Love the close relationship the mother and daughter have and that they can and do talk about everything.
Rate this a 5 out of 5 because it took me to places I'll never get to in my lifetime and it taught me new things-the problems after a birth.