Feb 5 books read

Finally Home by Lois Grieman
Series continues with Casie still on the ranch where her father had left her everything when he died. Emily is there cooking and raising the goats along with Bliss her daughter.
Sophie is there when her father has other things to do on the island with young woman. Ty is from a neighboring farm and helps them out daily. Colt is a bronc rider but likes to help them fix things around the ranch.
Casie has taken in strays-not only people but animals so the ranch is fast growing. Emily also bakes for neighbors and makes a good profit. They take boarders in for a week that also helps pay for the ranch.
Each of the guests and people who work at the ranch  have  their own problems and it's interesting to see how they want to help the others out, sometimes it's not the right choice but it's up to them to decide...
I received this book from The Kennsington Books in exchange for my honest review

No Place Like Home
This anthology has 4 Christmas books included from 4 different authors:
Hot steamy romances.
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The Christmas Carousel by Mary Carter
Georgia grew up with her sister and parents and every Christmas her dad would take her to the carousel. He ran the Trash and Treasures Barn and made a living at it.
She  had met a sad girl one day and she was afraid to get on the ponies by herself so she held Georgia's hand. Later she learns the little sad girl died of leukemia.  They left a box and a picture which has gone unopened.
They live in a RI town where the tourist dollar is large during the summer months. Years later her father has died and it's only her and her son, next door to the bakery running the treasures shop.
Her sister's husband has lost his job in CA and they want to cash in on selling the business that they own 1/2 of to the developers. Georgia with help from the other local businesses hopes to keep the developers away.
Others have made up their minds and Georgia has to sell and learns Adam is one she has to deal with. He soon explains how he knows her and he helps her open the big box from decades ago. Love learning of the RI facts as I am a native myself.
Love the connection and the charity to others of the carousel horse in this book.
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A rose in Winter by Laura Diorand
Allegra Caldrone is a researcher and she meets Raoul.   When she meets him again the next day and learns his last name she realizes exactly the trade his family is in.
Love the mystery of the perfume box and how the rose is connected. Family holiday traditions were interesting to learn about.
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The 24 Days of Christmas by Linda Lael Miller
Frank  Raynor along with his 7 year old daughter Lizzie rent to Addie Hutton who is now in charge of Henry. Lizzie meets them all and opens an advent box-one gift a day til Christmas morning.
The house used to belong to Addie's parents, now she's in the servants quarters.
His wife had died and left Lizzie pretending to be an angel, especially now for the school play. Henry is Addie's ex husbands step son so while he's on his new honeymoon the child was sent to him. She does find a job in town and they all draw closer with each of the gifts that are opened together every morning.
Miracles, that's what they all need..
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Christmas Angel by Kat Martin
1860's and the train has derailed spilling all the goods in the woods. Angela Summers heads that way trailing Josh Coltrian, now a doctor who had kissed her one winter years ago.
Josh tried not to think of Angel but a woman he met in PA but it wasn't working... Angela can't get past the fact that he fought for the enemy.
Loved hearing about her charity work and how she involves everybody to help...
I received this book from The Kennsington Books in exchange for my honest review

Slow Heat in Heaven
Skylar Crandall has returned home to the family estate Valtair. Cash as usual is there to protect her. When she shoots Flynns' dogs he rescues her...
He is able to update her on where everybody is and what's happened over the years: some in jail, some died, some turned prostitute.
He blames it all on her sister and her husband.   The dogs have been killed and they belonged to her old time friend Gail and she's owned by Chigger now.
She learns her father Cotton had borrowed money and the banker now wants to know if she will be paying the note back. The house and land were put up for collateral.
After Cotton's heart attack Ken and Tricia had stopped the logging company from operating and there was no income to the estate.
Story also follows Johnnie who's in jail and his life there.
I received this book from National Library Service for my BARD (Braille Audio Reading Device).

A Foodie's Guide to Yummy Appetizer and Snack Recipes
No pictures and no nutritional information. Very rich and sinfully rich snacks.
I did find one-fruit salsa that sounds somewhat healthy and worth a try. Wrapping bacon is out of our league.
Fruit and vegetables salas/dips sound appealing and easy to make. Some of the mini club sandwiches or meatballs would take a lot of time to prepare.
Some really good ideas here. Some are dessert types and some are appetizers, dips and some you can use as an entree.

35 Italian Recipes For Your Slow Cooker - Fabulous Italian Meals and Italian Cuisine (The Slow Cooker Meals And Crock Pot Recipes Collection)
No pictures and no nutritional information.  Some of the recipes to cook in your slow cooker are very intense and would take some time to prepare, a few are easy.
I think I could substitute some ingredients to make the meal more healthy but Italians don't concern themselves with that. This might be the once a month meal for us.

Paleo Dessert Recipes: 91 Easy and Delicious Paleo Dessert Recipes
Pictures for each recipe but no nutritional information. Paleo diet to me is very similar to the Mediterranean diet where vegetables and fruits and beans and grains for the high protein, low carb diet.
Interesting dessert choices. Very nutritious because of the ingredients used that you might find at a health food store.  I would love to make the cinnamon rolls and/or blueberry muffins with a few substitutions for our diet.

Children's books: Jonathan the red head (A Beautifully Illustrated Children's book)
Jonathan and his friend Ron play after school, then have dinner and then Jonathan after his bath had a hard time getting to sleep but he was very tired.
His mother tries to help him by counting animals. This is a very colorful illustrated children's book about going to bed. They finally figure out what to do...

The Valentine Monster by Cassidy Castle
Illustrated colorful children's story about Razzie who lives in a cave and loves to celebrate Valentines' Day. This year they decide to go to town.
She finally meets Zoey who's having a party that night but she's afraid others will see that Razzie is a monster and leave. They decide how to disguise her.
As the party is going on others do figure out there is a monster in the house...

Children's books: The Carrot Eating Monster: Children's Picture Book (Children's Picture Book - Bedtime stories for children)  by Beata Noemi Balint  
Illustrated colorful children's book about a girl who plants a garden but one day she finds out the carrots are gone. She waits and does see the monster who is taking them.
Next night her and her dad camp out to see who the monster is and they do discover a big foot print....
Other works by the author are highlighted at the end.

The Dancing Owl: A Humorous Picture Book for Kids 4-8 Years Old (The Tree Series
Illustrated colorful children's book about owls. These live in a tree. Rhyming sentences that are silly as the story goes on.
The squirrels think the owl Charlie will eat them but he wants to be their friends.
After he shows them that he eats a bug they have a surprise for him. The authors other works are highlighted at the end.
B00B3PNMA6

Dogs, dogs, Dogs
Illustrated colorful children's book about dogs. The dogs are shown sometimes with opposite words: fast/slow.
Other times there are an emotion with a dog, 25 pictures in total.  They are cute and I really don't have a favorite, I like them all.
B00B836Y6W