Always the Baker, Never the Bride (Emma Rae Creations #1) - Sandra D. Bricker

This one was another freebie.  I have to say, after the past two disappointments, I was a little wary of finding a good book to read.  Luckily Emma Rae and Jackson saved me!

Emma Rae is a successful baker that has just taken over as pastry chef at the Tanglewood Inn, which is under the management of Jackson.  He is fulfilling the dream of his deceased wife.  He's pretty much lost with the whole turning the hotel into a wedding destination thing but has the help of his sisters and now Emma Rae.  She becomes indispensable to him and his heart.

There are no real mysteries here.  The book keeps flowing because it is centered around Emma Rae and Jackson.  He's fighting God and the memory of his wife.  She's trying to be understanding and patient.  There are little additions with the restaurant's chef, Emma Rae's parents, her assistant/best friend, her aunt and her old employer.  There's not enough of them to be a distraction, just to keep the plot going.  There were also a couple times I smiled.  Didn't laugh out loud, but it was a cute part.

I really think that this was a great book to get my out of my slump.  It was a pleasant read and I was through it in no time.  This seems to be part of a series.  At the moment there is another one, Always the Wedding Planner, Never the Bride.  It came out in October so there might be more after that, but I can't say for sure.  I'll throw it on my watch list, though.  Finally, I can say Good Book!!

To Love Anew (Sydney Cove Series #1) - Bonnie Leon

This book was offered up for free and looked decent enough.  Turned out to be a real downer.

We start off the book with Hannah mourning her mother.  Hmm, well things can get better, right?  Shortly after that, her business goes under and she has nowhere to go and nowhere to live.  A friend tells her about a house position, which she gets.  Better, right?  Um, no.  She lives in a dungeon basically and the man of the house rapes her.   Ugh.  She leaves and gets to the point of starvation that she steals a piece of bread and ends up in prison.  Lucky her gets her former employer as a judge who promptly trumps up the charges by adding stealing from his family to her crimes.  She gets sent to Australia...

John has the life most people would be glad to have.  He has a profitable business and a wife.  He craves adventure, though.  A decision to go with his cousin to have a drink changes his life.  His cousin picks a fight, the guys draws a knife, John tries to break it up and ends up killing the man.  While awaiting his sentence, his cousin and wife run off together with his money.

Hannah and John's eyes meet while on board the ship of nightmares.  Semistarvation, lack of exercise, proper space or basically anything made this one depressing book.  Oh, and as if the circumstances weren't enough, Hannah is pregnant.  I stopped reading after she had the baby early and they put it in the slop bucket to get rid of it.

I was at 41% and was basically disgusted.  The only interaction that John and Hannah had up to that point was that he saved her from going overboard.  I'm sure it might have gotten better.  By the time I quit, I had hoped to see a ray of sunshine but all I saw was misery and pain.  Not my kind of book at all!

Ransome's Crossing (Ransome Trilogy #2) - Kaye Dacus

I read the first book in this trilogy, Ransome's Honor, and thought it was a pleasant read.  When this one popped up for $2.99, I snatched it up, hoping for more of the same.  I got about 40% into it and just had to admit defeat.  I couldn't figure out what my problem was, people on amazon loved it!

I like trilogies that follow a set of people and then let them go, maybe having them return for brief appearances.  I saw that this one was supposed to follow Charlotte, the hero from the first novel's sister, and was hoping that the mention of William and Julia (from the first book) would be kept to a minimum.  At 40%, there was more talk of the awkwardness William felt in the marriage than we talked about Charlotte.  William was getting on my nerves a LOT.  He was trying to be caring to his wife and yet gets frustrated by his feelings for her.  Weird.

What little I picked up about Charlotte was confusing.  She is planning on joining the Royal Navy to get to her "beloved" down in Jamaica, even though she thinks more about Ned, her brother's first lieutenant, than her fiance.  She gets a plot in her head and sneaks away.  Well, the problem I had was that when I stopped, Ned and Charlotte were on separate ships.  Earlier in the book, there was a possibility that they would be on the same ship, but instead Charlotte cuts her hair and poses as a boy?  I didn't have the interest level to keep going.

I just found it disturbing that at that point in the novel, I was feeling pity for Julia, annoyance at William, disinterest for Charlotte and learned so little about Ned that I was bummed that the novel wasn't more about Ned and Charlotte.  I'm sure they get together eventually but at that point, I just felt like I didn't care.  I got to it in time to get a refund for my money and took the third book out of my watch list.  Not sure what other people saw in the book, but it just wasn't there for me.

Kindle Fire Review

I was so excited that this year I got a Kindle Fire for Christmas!!  I had seen them and thought they were so neat, but decided that it was best I didn't want one and downplayed how cool it was.  It's very cool!

There are some pros and cons to it, things I had to get used to.  I'll start with the pros.  The Fire adjusts to which way you turn it.  I end up turning it upside down when I read since the power button is on the bottom and I'm afraid I'll accidentally turn it off while reading.  The screen is easy to navigate and once I figured out how to get them to pop up, I liked the way the menus disappear so you just have the book.  I'm also getting used to how much it takes to turn a page.  You can touch the screen or swipe your finger across to turn pages.  I end up doing both while reading.  I also like the fact that I can see the covers of the books that I have.  It's neat to be able to swipe through my library and see what I've got.  My husband downloaded Angry Birds and was playing with that.  Looked like something that could keep my kids busy if they run out of things to do BUT I might be stingy and not let them touch it!  Probably my favorite part is the backlight.  I like to read in bed and the light is not too great.  The backlight will be a useful addition for this and for traveling.  I was using a book light on vacations at hotels when the kids went to bed.  Now I don't have to!

There aren't too many cons, but my least favorite thing is that there are no more collections!  What I ended up doing was putting the books that I haven't read in my Favorites and I'll go from there.  It actually was a real pain in the rear because I was pretty click-happy when I first got my Kindle and I almost hadn't deleted any from my library.  Thus, I had almost 400 books that were popping up available on my Fire.  I went through and deleted oh so many for two days.  It taught me a valuable lesson - don't neglect the library!!  It was good since I sifted through my TBR piles again and ended up with about 20 total.  Not too bad I think.  The only other thing that kinda bothers me is user error.  Sometimes when I pick it up, my thumb hits the sides and turns my pages for me.  I'm sure that I'll get used to that, but right now it bothers me.

All in all, the Fire is great and I think I'm actually going to invest in a cover for it - a real one.  I'm thankful that I have such a thoughtful family.  They are a real blessing.  It was even great that my kids didn't blow the surprise - that's pretty good!  A+!!

Faith (Brides of the West #1) - Lori Copeland

I got this one for free.  I have read Lori Copeland a few times and figured I might be safe with this one.  I wasn't disappointed!

Faith and her sisters, Hope and June, answer ads in a newspaper to become mail order brides.  Faith is on her way to Texas, where Nicholas awaits her.  When she arrives on a donkey, it's an omen of how things are going to go.  She's a tomboy who hates housework and would rather be out working the ranch with her husband.  He doesn't like that idea and encourages her to be something else.

There's also some major issues with their wedding.  It gets delayed one too many times and may not happen at all!  Nicholas and his overbearing, nasty mother have problems with feelings and this ends up affecting Faith when she finally thinks that she has discovered a way to be useful to the town.

I enjoyed this book.  I'll probably end up watching some of the others.  In addition to Hope and June, there is also Glory, Ruth and Patience.  Not sure who they are, but maybe I'll find out if the price drops!  Good Book!

Kiss of the Christmas Wind - Janelle Taylor

This was a pretty short book, if it wasn't I probably wouldn't have finished it.

Carrie Sue is newly married.  Her past as part of a group of bandits has placed her and her husband, Thad, on a ranch where they can't get it started until he has fulfilled his promise to be the local marshall for an undetermined amount of time.  He has put his reputation on the line for her and her brother, so while they were bandits, they were mild ones.  Christmas is approaching and the couple faces the fact that Thad is going to have to leave and go after dangerous bank robbers.

The story is totally from Carrie Sue's point of view and thus was pretty boring.  She is hiding the fact that she is pregnant because she does not want to distract Thad while he is pursuing these men.  Thad hides the level of danger that he will be in because he doesn't want to worry her.

Seeing as we're basically stuck in the cabin most of the time with Carrie Sue while she knits or sews, sometimes she goes out to the barn and milks the cow, the only other real action is when she visits a neighbor and finds out who exactly her husband is chasing.  She decorates the house for Christmas by herself, so that wasn't really very exciting either...

All in all, I'm not sure if this was supposed to be a short sequel on some other characters that Janelle Taylor wrote in the past, and the best part was that there was a happy ending.  I wasn't real impressed with the book and wouldn't recommend it to others.

Letter Perfect (California Historical Series #1) - Cathy Marie Hake

This book looked to be right up my alley.  I purchased this one for $2.99 and was not disappointed.  This was my second time reading this author, Forevermore was the first, and I was happy with the story.  There were some areas of formatting errors and typos (not misspelled words, more like homophones and just the wrong word).

Ruth has been kicked out of almost every boarding school that exists.  We find her getting kicked out of her final attempt of learning gentility at the beginning of this book.  Ruth's mother is ill and has been keeping Ruth away from her to spare her the pain, but Ruth feels like she's letting her mother down.  Her mother is proud and just wants the best for her.  As she nears the end of her life, Ruth's mother makes it her final wish that Ruth travel to California and find her father.

Arriving disheveled and not at all the proper young lady, Ruth encounters Josh, who has been running the ranch since Ruth's father passed away.  They were partners and now Ruth's presence may jeopardize everything that Josh has been working for.

Accidents that can be attributed to Ruth's clumsiness start happening but after a while there are just too many to be just Ruth and Josh's father begins to act odd as well.  Josh finds out that his father may not be as honest and he thought and danger comes to the Broken P ranch.  Josh realizes that this woman that drives him so insane might be just the thing his life needs.

I really liked this one even with the distracting typos and format issues.  As far as I can tell, there was only one more book written in this series, Bittersweet, which follows the story of Laney and Galen.  Laney is Josh's sister and has been in love with Galen for quite some time.  The foundation for this book has been established pretty well in Letter Perfect, I wasn't surprised to find that the second book was about these two.  It's $9.99, too rich for my taste, but I'll watch it and see what happens. Good Book!

Hostage in Havana (Cuban Trilogy) - Noel Hynd

This one has been in my TBR pile for quite some time.  This will be a short review as I didn't get very far into it.

Alex is an agent with the U.S. Treasury who appears to be a target for an assassin.  There was a lot of political background in the first 15% and that kind of information is not something that interests me.  Maybe I didn't give it enough of a chance, but when I thought about reading it during the day, I would often find something else to do.  It just didn't grab my attention.

I think that if you like to read the political type thrillers, this might be more interesting, but for me it was a no go.

Twas the Night - Sandra Hill, Kate Holmes & Trish Jensen

Another Christmas book and I really wanted to like this one.  It had the potential to be a great book.  In the early parts of the book, I could tell that there was more than one author involved.  Later on it was a little less obvious.  I quit about 45% in.  And that was due to my prudish sensibilities.  I'm sure that there are many people out there that wouldn't have had an issue at that point, but I just couldn't get past the sex talk.  The characters weren't having sex, but they sure were thinking about it a lot...

Sam, Kevin (JD) and Stan are in their way to a wedding.  Labeled as throw aways as kids, the man getting married is someone who was instrumental in them turning their lives around.  Sam is a Blue Angels pilot (cool!) and finds out that the girl he was so in love with as a young man is available again.  She's not quite as fast to forgive and forget, so he's all about trying to win her heart by any means possible.

JD (which stands for juvenile delinquent) is a bounty hunter (cool again!) and is on the trail of a witness who failed to appear for court.  He finds her posing as an Amish person and wants to get to the bottom of why she's so important to the case that a bounty hunter - one of the best - is sent to capture her and bring her back.

Stan is a football quarterback (another cool!) who was involved in an accident and now has some major healing to do.  His football career is over and it wasn't even a football injury.  He's stubborn and bitter.  He ends up picking up a forest ranger to ride together to the wedding.

A blizzard brings all these people together on the Santa Brigade bus, the only thing getting through the blizzard.  They bring toys to children, perform shows and feed hungry people.

As I said before, I really wanted to like this book.  I read enough about their thoughts of sex to guess where it was probably going.  I thought the story line was unique, but it was ruined for me with all the sex nonsense that wasn't necessarily important to the story.  I won't recommend this if you're at all prudish.

A Victorian Christmas - Catherine Palmer

I have read enough of Catherine Palmer to assume that she is a pretty safe author to go to when I want a satisfying read.  She didn't let me down with this recent Christmas freebie.

There are four stories in this book: Angel in the Attic, Lone Star, Under His Wings and Behold the Lamb.  One is set in the west and the other three are in England.  There is a transition in the second story where the lady is heading to England from America for an arranged marriage.

There are also four recipes, one at the end of each story.  I thought they sounded yummy, so when I finished the entire book, I wanted to go back and find them.  I ended up using the search word "flour" because I couldn't recall the names of the recipes.  You gotta work with what ya got!

I'm not going to summarize the stories themselves.  They are short enough, I don't need to make them any shorter!  I was wanting more at the end of them and that tells me that I really enjoyed the read.  This one was a no brainer for a Good Book! review.

Child of the Mist - Kathleen Morgan

This Highland adventure was a long, stressful ride.  I kept looking at my % not because I didn't like the story, I just kept wondering how much these people were going to have to endure for the happy ending...

Anne is a healer among her clan.  Some call her a witch.  Her clan is in an ongoing feud with a neighboring clan, the Campbells.  After Anne sneaks out to help with a birth, she runs into the tanist of the Campbells, but doesn't know it at the time.  One of his clansmen accuses Anne of being a witch and she is saved by the stranger.

Niall is making sure that things are running smoothly since his father has been ill for a long time.  Someone wants to get him out of the way, presumably to take over leadership of the clan for himself.  Niall is betrayed and becomes a prisoner of Anne's people.  They are not allowed to kill him, however, since Anne stands up for him and owes him her life.

Eventually these two are handfasted, a kind of trial marriage, although Anne insists that it is a chaste handfasting.  She meets a lot of hostility at Niall's home, basically from almost all of the family.  The one friend that she has in the family, Iain, is one of the men suspected of betrayal and he also doesn't hide the fact that he is smitten with Anne, so that causes a rift between Anne and Niall.

As I mentioned before, these people go through a lot.  There were witch burnings, attempted drownings, assaults, poisonings, kidnappings, traitors...I was bummed that they had to endure so much, but I can't fault the author for writing a good book.  I had a hard time putting it down at the end.  I'm not big into the clan books, the whole "och" and "lassie" thing grates on me after a time.  There are two more in this series, Wings of Morning and A Fire Within.  If they came up free, I would pick the up, but I don't plan on tracking them.  Regardless, this one will get my stamp of "Good Book!"

Remembering Christmas - Dan Walsh

I decided to pick this book to read since it's about Christmas and wanted to get into the spirit.  I only got into it about 22% before I gave up.

Rick is a self absorbed man who wants to go skiing the weekend after Thanksgiving.  Unfortunately for him, Rick's stepdad has an aneurysm and his mother needs him.  He comes and she asks the unthinkable of him.  She wants him to run their store until things settle down.  He has the time, but is reluctant to help.  He blames his mother for his father's abandonment.  He is very adamant to correct people if they label the man as his father.

I gave up on this one.  I wanted some happy story, it is Christmas after all, and I'm sure that eventually Rick comes to his senses, but his journey was not one that I was willing to go through.  I didn't like him at all, and I found that I was just going to have to pass.

Christmas at Harrington's - Melody Carlson

Let me start off by saying that this is not a romance.  I had read a few reviews and thought there might be some elements of a romance in there, but in all the small mention of it is at the very end.

Lena has just gotten out of jail for something she didn't do.  Wanting to make a fresh start, she heads to a small town in Minnesota to take a job at a store.  Along the way she meets a few new friends.  She tries to hide her past, but her past won't hide from her.  After getting a red "Santa" coat, she gets a job as Mrs. Santa.  While enjoying her job, she runs into someone from her past who brings her past to light.  Lena finds out who her friends are and someone steps up to champion her cause.  She finds out more about her ex-husband than she ever wanted to know.

I probably would not have finished this book if it hadn't been so short.  The story gets developed and then the tale abruptly ends.  I mean the ending was not near as detailed as the rest of the book.  It was just 'POW' and then The End.  I got involved enough to find out what happened but I wouldn't read it again.  It's ultimately a Pass for me.

Don't Look Back (Women of Justice #2) - Lynette Eason

I had jury duty last week and figured this would be an appropriate book for the occasion.  I had plenty of time to read it and was almost done by the time my duty had ended.  I really didn't like jury duty...  This book is #2 in the Women of Justice series.  I have read the first one, Too Close to Home, and it was okay.  The characters in that one are in this one as well.  I like when I can check in on the same characters throughout a series.

The book was a little dark.  Jamie is an anthropologist that is being stalked by a man who abducted her years before, raped her and tortured her.  She was the only victim that escaped and that bothers him still.  She's also working on the case of his other victims.  He is The Hero, rescuing women from their pain.  A pain that he inflicts.

Dakota is an FBI agent who works with Jamie on the case and is in love with her.  Jamie doesn't feel ready for any kind of relationship because of her past and tries to warn Dakota off.  He is gentle with her and gives her the space she needs while trying to keep her safe.

The Hero is sick, a product of his childhood.  I'm not sure, in retrospect, whether this was the best choice for taking my mind off jury duty, it was a lot of crime to deal with in 3 days!  I wasn't as pleased at the end as I might have been if I had read it another time.  I believe that the story line was well thought out and had unexpected twists and turns, especially at the end.  I had the villain figured out long before they did, but that's not unusual.  There's another book in the series, A Killer Among Us.  From the little teaser at the end of this one, this guy appears to be The Judge.  I'm not going to watch it for a price drop, but if it pops up free, I'll pick it up.  Okay book, may have gotten a Good Book rating under other circumstances.  :)

Before the Season Ends - Linore Rose Burkard

This was a freebie and looked to be right up my alley. 

Ariana has decided that she needs to wed the local pastor so that she can follow God's call for her life.  The man is her father's age, and her family isn't happy with the idea, so they send her to London to spend the season with her aunt. She is an outspoken girl who is unwilling to waver on her principles for anything.  A godly man is what she wants and that is what she intends to get, no matter what her aunt has in mind.

Phillip is a popular man who is constantly turning away any woman that he thinks has set her cap for him.  When he finds Ariana stuck up in a tree, it starts off a relationship that grows with time.  Phillip tries to deny his feelings as long as he can, but it's a lost cause.

When we finally get to the "engagement," Ariana declares that she will not have Phillip unless he has given himself to God.  It becomes a sore spot for the both of them and Ariana isn't sure what to do.  Add in the pious Mr. O'Brien who is sure that he can convince Ariana that she will be unequally yoked with Phillip so that he can try for her himself.

I am on the fence about how I feel about this one.  I liked that I got my happy ending (a must for me!) but there were little annoying things that bothered me as well.  I'm not sure why, but for some reason the aunt saying "my gel" all the time got on my nerves.  And Ariana got a little tiresome as well.  She was so willing to think the best of Phillip until a slight acquaintance accuses him of heinous acts.  Suddenly she is willing to break off the engagement without any explanations by Phillip.  And this is after he has been VERY obliging and compliant to all of Ariana's wishes.  It just bothered me.  I'm going to refrain from giving this one my high Good Book rating, but it really wasn't that bad overall.

Prairie Fire (A Town Called Hope #2) - Catherine Palmer

I went ahead and bought this one after finishing Prairie Rose.  It was only $3.99.  My limit (except in extreme circumstances) is $5.00.

Jack is basically the villian from the first book.  He is injured at the end of the first book and we find him seeking refuge in one of the nearby barns.  Here he meets Caitrin, who cannot ignore his pain and still call herself a Christian.  She helps him to heal and makes him realize he's missing something important in his life.  She tells him of the Father's love for him and also how, through Him, she can love him as well.

As their feelings grow, so does the disgust of the town.  Although they are no longer in England/Ireland, the old hurts from the old country force Caitrin to choose between her family and her heart.  Jack's father dies and he ends up bringing back to Hope his mother and sister.  His mother acts superior and his sister is a mentally troubled person.  The people of the town are just watching for a slip up to send Jack's family out of town.

I really enjoyed the plot of redeeming the villian from the first novel.  I can't remember reading a sequel like that and it really was not too far from being realistic.  As with the first book, it was a good read and I was glad to have picked it up.  I'm holding off buying the last of the series, Prairie Storm, as I made a few selfish purchases this weekend with the Black Friday deals (online of course).  The final installment seems to be about new people that were not in the first two books, a preacher and travelling healer.  I plan on getting it eventually though.  Good Book!

Prairie Rose (A Town Called Hope #1) - Catherine Palmer

This is my 4th book of Catherine Palmer's that I have read now (The Affectionate Adversary, The Courteous Cad and A Kiss of Adventure).  She is becoming one of my new favorite authors.  I hadn't read a Christian Historical Western Romance for a while and was glad to get back to my preferred genre.

Rosie is a foundling living in an orphanage.  When she witnesses an encounter between Seth Hunter and a man trying to take Seth's child, Rosie intervenes and earns her place on his farm helping out, but just until the fall.

Since the war between the states, Seth has been confronted with the loss of his wife and the knowledge that he has a son.  His wife's family never approved and has poisoned the boy's mind against that "Yankee."  Seth had a rocky childhood and isn't sure how to act around Chipper to make him feel more comfortable.  In comes Rosie, with her outspoken opinions, unceasing talking and seemingly endless joy.

Seth tries to push her away, but Rosie is not easily pushed back.  She has something he and his son need desperately and he learns that giving a little isn't the worst thing in the world.  Rosie has to learn to deal with her birth in a cruel way and learn that love is not about being comfortable.

This is set in the Kansas prairie and I got to learn a little about the grasses and animals that can live out there.  It wasn't a textbook and was integrated well.  There is also a scene in there about the grasshopper infestations and I was struck by how quickly lives could change out there.

Overall, I enjoyed this book.  It is part of a trilogy, Prairie Fire and Prairie Storm being the other 2.  I went ahead and bought Prairie Fire for $3.99, which focuses on the "kidnapper" and a friend of Rosie's.  There was also a loose tie in called Prairie Christmas which is 3 novellas but only 1 is written by Catherine Palmer.  As far as I can tell, it is also not available for the Kindle.  I'm in the process of reading Prairie Fire and am enjoying that one so far!  Prairie Rose - Good Book!

A Home for Christmas - Deborah Grace Staley

I have seen this author pop up once or twice on the freebies and was interested to see how I would like her.  I have to admit that I dug into a Christmas book before Thanksgiving, which I normally try not to do, but it's done now!

Janice is a big city doctor that has come to her grandparent's hometown to connect with her great uncle.  When she drives by her grandparent's old home, she meets Blake who promptly falls off his ladder and gets some free medical attention.  Upon visiting her uncle, she gets an offer to take over his small town practice.  As she helps out around the town, Blake has some issues with her having to leave at odd times and, for what he feels, are not necessary departures.  Janice is on to his disapproval and tries to warn him off.

Blake has a nasty temper he has to deal with.  After Janice leaves one night, he gets angry and punches a hole in some sheetrock, causing his knuckles to bleed.  After a misunderstanding, he follows his brother to his house and proceeds to beat the snot out of him, breaking his jaw and a few ribs.  He thought that his brother was trying to steal Janice away.

There were no sex scenes in this book, but I was expecting one.  They had "chemistry" from the beginning and kept sticking their tongues down each other's throats.  I almost quit reading the book because of the ever so frequent mentioning of the tongues.  They kissed - okay.  I don't need details on what their tongues are doing...

I made it to the end of this one but I have to say that I was disturbed at the end.  I normally don't like to add too many details about a book, but with this one, the reason I disliked the book was mainly the end.  Janice is made aware of Blake's temper, she witnesses his brother's beating, but at the end of the book, she is more upset that he didn't trust her than she is that he has the capability to beat the crap out of his own brother.  Broken jaw/ribs?  Not mentioned.  "I can't believe you didn't trust me!"  Really!? 

I wouldn't want to share this book due to the fact that abuse is a very touchy subject.  I thought about my daughters and how I would feel if I knew they were dating someone that was capable of this type of violence and was ultimately disappointed with the book.  I understand that it is fiction but abuse is real and something I don't want to contemplate when I read.  Wish I had passed.

When the Devil Whistles - Rick Acker

This book has been on my Kindle for some time and I decided to give it a shot.  My TBR fiction section was larger than my Romance so I wanted to try and get a fiction book out of the way.  I got to about 25% and realized I was totally uninterested. 

Allie takes temp jobs at companies and then hacks into their computers to find evidence of fraud to the government.  She then passes her findings on to Connor, a lawyer who then goes after the companies.  I got through the part where they finish a case and then Allie is looking for another company to infiltrate.  She uses her friend to place her in these jobs and is deceiving her.  Her boyfriend is also a cheeseball.

The new job puts her in more danger but I'm not sure why.  I didn't make it that far.  Something about underwater exploration.  The company is on to her as a whistleblower and basically sics her on their rival under threat of exposure.

Just not my kind of book.  Allie and Connor like each other but pretend that they don't because it would ruin their business relationship.  I also didn't like that she was lying to her "best" friend.  I'm sure that this was a well written book, there was nothing in it that was boring, the subject matter was just not up my alley.

Beguiled - Deeanne Gist & J. Mark Bertrand

I really like Deeanne Gist, which is what prompted me to spend the $2.99 this month and give this one a shot.  Most all of her novels that I have read have been historical, which is what I really enjoy reading.  This, however, was more of a contemporary novel.

This one was a little reminiscent of Love Finds You in Victory Heights, Washington due to the fact that the hero in this one was a reporter again.  Rylee is a dog walker in a posh part of Charleston.  She walks in on the "Robin Hood" burglar, a man who takes specific items from the rich and donates them to places around town.  Logan is a reporter working on a book about various criminals in the history of the city.  They come together when Rylee, well mostly the dog, corners Logan on a monument when she's walking a dog at night.

Rylee becomes involved whether she likes it or not.  The police start to suspect that she is either behind the robberies or working with the thief himself.  It becomes increasingly more difficult to profess her innocence when it seems like all her clients are the targets of the robberies.  She has the schedules of the occupants of the houses and even has keys!

Logan doesn't believe in her guilt, even though most of the people around him are trying to caution him otherwise.  I like that he sticks to his gut on this one, defending her to the end.  As the story moves along, we find out that Rylee is more involved than she thought, though not in the way you would think.  We also find out that not everyone is what they seem.

Once I got used to the idea that this was a modern novel, I was okay with it.  Deeanne delivered again and I was not at all disappointed that I had spent a few bucks on it.  Good book!

Love Finds You in Victory Heights, Washington - Tricia Goyer & Ocieanna Fleiss

After reading some of Love Finds You in Homestead, Iowa, I was a little wary to devote time to another one.  I read the blurb on it and it has a totally different story and totally different authors.  Also, being a resident of Washington made me want to read it.  I seem to appreciate stories more when I can relate to things like location.

The setting is World War 2 near Seattle.  This is the story of Rosalie who is a riveter in the Boeing plant helping make B-17s for the war.  A chance meeting on the anniversary of her fiance's death brings her Kenny, a reporter.  After beating the national record for most rivets in a shift, Kenny wants to make her a spotlight of patriotism.  Her father was a reporter, and she is very bitter about reporters, so she tries pushing him away.  Kenny has his own guilt by honoring his promise to his father that he would stay home from the war and write instead.

I was actually pleasantly surprised by this book.  I learned a lot about the area during the war and some things about the war itself that I didn't know.  I appreciate the facts that were in the story but didn't read like a history lesson.  Rosalie and Kenny are great characters and I'm glad that I picked this one up.  Good book!

Belonging (Where the Heart Lives #1) - Robin Lee Hatcher

This book was listed in the back as part of the "Where the Heart Lives" series.  However, upon further research it appears that the other books listed as part of that series have nothing to do with Belonging and some of the titles are even part of another series.

That being said, this was a nice little book about Felicia who ends up in Frenchman's Bluff, Idaho as a schoolteacher.  When her mother died, Felicia and her brother and sister boarded an orphan train from Chicago headed west.  The children were split up and Felicia misses her siblings and ends up with a family that doesn't abuse her but doesn't show her love either.

When her "parents" die, Felicia takes up position as a teacher.  Her landlord, Colin, who is a widower, was against her taking the position since she is a single female and they had lost 2 teachers to husbands in the past.  Colin's daughter, Charity, quickly becomes attached to the teacher and Colin starts to admit that he is starting to have feelings for her.

Unfortunately, the hoity toity matron of the town has Colin picked out for her daughter in law, who is also a widower with 2 children.  She starts to do everything she can to make sure that Colin and Felicia are not together regardless of the feelings of her daughter in law.

I did like this book.  I was a little disappointed at the end when Felicia had a letter regarding a lead to her sister and was never told what happened with that.  And then in the epilogue, she has a letter regarding her brother who apparently ended up back with their drunken absent father.  The reason I looked into the "series" was to see if I recognized any of the names as connected to this book, but I couldn't see any.  The letters from her former home reminding her that she should return and marry one of the family out of obligation was also a little weird.  One letter would have been ok, but two just made it weird.  Wasn't a deal-breaker.  Overall I'll give it my "Good Book!" ending.

Candle in the Darkness (Refiner's Fire #1) - Lynn Austin

This one was a freebie quite a while ago.  I've tried to read it twice and I just can't get into it.  I have come to the point where I can admit defeat.  I've read 1 or 2 other books by this author so I wanted to like this one.

The story is about a privileged young lady who comes to see the injustices of slavery around the time of the Civil War.  I didn't get very far into it.  When I quit, she was getting ready to go to school.  I don't think her books move fast enough for me.

Of the books that I have read by Lynn Austin, it seems to be a sort of gamble.  I haven't really loved any of her books, but I have thought them interesting enough.  I think I'll avoid her in the future.  She's just not my style.

The Courteous Cad (Miss Pickworth #3) - Catherine Palmer

I had picked up the first book in this series, The Affectionate Adversary, quite a while back for free and put the other 2 on my watch list, this one and The Bachelor's Bargain.  The price dropped on this one to $3.99 and I picked it up.  Usually I wait for the books I'm watching to go below $5.00 before I'll consider purchasing it.

This book reminded me a little of one of my favorite movies, North & South.  Not the Civil War version with Patrick Swayze, but the BBC one based on the Elizabeth Gaskell novel about the cotton mills in northern England.  Great movie by the way. 

Prudence is pick pocketed by a poor boy who works in a nearby worsted mill making wool.  After seeing the miseries that the poor go through and discovering that her former fiance is working there, Prudence decides that God is sending her to better the lives of these people.

William is a former naval officer whose past haunts him.  Convinced that he must never involve his heart or let anyone else's heart be involved with him, he lives with his brother in a secluded country manor and plans on paying his debts by way of his mill.  Prudence is more than he bargained for and ends up being the undoing of all his plans.

I thought this was a nice story of redemption and love.  I got a smidge annoyed at Prudence for keeping her secret for so long, but then again, I am not a big fan of the whole secrets thing.  William has his own secrets, but he tries to bring them to light and is open about his being a cad even though he is ever reforming himself.  We even discover the identity of the mysterious Miss Pickworth, even though I wondered about the naming of this series as the Miss Pickworth areas of the book are small and not entirely important to the plot.  Nevertheless, I enjoyed reading this book and hope that the second one drops in price sometime soon.  Good book!

Deeply Devoted (Blue Willow Brides #1) - Maggie Brendan

I bought Deeply Devoted when it popped up on the daily deal for $1.99.  I have read a few of Maggie Brendan's books in the past (No Place for a Lady, Jewel of His Heart, & A Love of Her Own).  I enjoyed those and looked forward to seeing what was in store for this novel.

The Blue Willow Brides is a new series, this book being the first.  I like Blue Willow and wondered how the china would tie into the book. 

Catharine is fleeing Holland from a dark secret and is going to Wyoming to marry Peter as a mail-order bride.  The problems arise when she arrives and has her two sisters in tow.  Unaware they were coming, Peter takes it in stride and decides that the marriage will go on.  His mother, however, is the epitome of a meddling mother and decides to hire a detective to look into Catharine's past to see if she is really the gold digger that she thinks she is.

Catharine is harboring a secret about her past.  She keeps it from Peter and in the end, she discovers that honesty would have been her best plan.  I found her secrets disturbing and was a little annoyed at her myself not only that she withheld the secret from her past, but that Peter ends up being the last to know he'll be a father.  I did get past that though.

I felt bad for Peter's mother at the end.  She had good intentions and got used badly by the detective.  Catharine finally comes to her senses at the end, and her sisters grew on me, especially Anna.  I liked the book even though when the author keeps secrets from the reader, I get annoyed.  Overall, it was a pretty good read and I enjoyed the book.  Good book!

Dead Reckoning - Ronie Kendig

This book was basically a James Bond film Christian style.  Action packed, romantic encounters, Green Berets, Navy SEALS, CIA, bombs,...wow.

Shiloh has been trying to avoid her father and anything related to covert operations since she blames her father's involvement for the death of her mother.  She has taken up underwater archaeology thinking it will be a safe way to blend into a normal life.  Not quite...

Death during her dive leads her into danger in India.  Enter Reece Jaxon, who is determined to keep her safe.  He's lost one person he cared about in the past and he's not planning on repeating his mistakes no matter what he has to give up, even his heart.

I had problems putting this book down.  I was drawn to the characters and the twists and turns.  I researched the author and she has a series called "Discarded Heroes."  After reading the blurbs, it seems that the three books are based on former military men who come home and attempt to adjust or just can't stay out of trouble.  I think I'm going to put them on my watch list, this author seems knowledgable and I really enjoyed Dead Reckoning.  Good Book!

Never a Bride - Amelia Grey

Ok, this book was beyond absurd but I made it about 1/2 way through before I finally gave up totally.  Between the "plot" and the language, I just had to let it go...

Mirabella is upset over the death of her best friend and the fact that she's had to wait 6 years for her intended to come claim her.  Her best friend, who was a plain girl, took her own life after being taken advantage of by a man of the ton.  All Mirabella has to go on is the fact that her friend's "Prince Charming" has a scar just below his collar bone.  Mirabella makes a list of all the people her friend danced with and starts flirting with them so she can check their collars.  Ok weirdness #1.

Camden has been in America for 6 years.  He fled after the scandal of his fiance who was caught kissing another man.  When Camden comes back, he has a chance encounter with Mirabella and is intrigued by her.  At a ball the next night, he catches her in the act of "collaring" a young man.  He fears a repeat of his past.  BUT his family is in dire straights financially and needs him to keep up appearances.  He is STILL intrigued by her and even kisses her a few times.  Why is he doing this after he knows she's been kissing all these other men?!  Weirdness #2.

I got annoyed with the language.  Yes, I noticed that they were into each other and yes, they mention it A LOT.  Their feelings of passion are mentioned often and once I read about her "womanly spot" (exact wording) I had a good laugh and quit soon after that.  The weirdness just kept piling up and circumstances went against common sense.  What else can I say?  I won't miss this one.

House of Dark Shadows (Dreamhouse Kings #1) - Robert Liparulo

This is one of those young adult books that I decide to give a shot because I have read other things by the author and like him/her.  I've read 3 of Mr. Liparulo's novels, and they were pretty good.  Comes a Horseman was really long and took me forever, but it was interesting.  I also read Germ and Deadfall, which were scary in a realistic way.  He has another book out, a sequel to Deadfall, but I was freaked out enough by the first one.  A laser weapon that can just pop out of the sky and fry you is scary enough to think about without continuing with the same people crazy enough to use that kind of destruction.  Anyway!

House of Dark Shadows is a book about a house that is hidden out in the woods.  The prologue has a woman being taken through the house by a huge man.  Her family is trying to catch up, stop the man, but he just swats them away and continues to take the mother away through the house to a door.  Once through, the door slams shut.

Thirty years later...

Xander and his family move to the boonies and decide they want to live in this house despite Xander's gut feelings and premonitions about the house.  He confides in his brother, David, and together they try to see if they can figure out the mystery of the house.  They discover that the previous owners of the house disappeared and the town thinks that it was a murder/suicide.  They also find a portal in a closet that takes them to the town school.  They suspect that there is a man in the house one night and follow him to find a secret door in one of the walls.  They find a hallway that has about 20 doors.  I don't want to reveal more, you'd have to read it.

This book was one that I couldn't put down.  Being of a sensitive nature, I tried to read it during the day.  This author reminds me a little of Ted Dekker.  He writes some really interesting suspense that makes you think and now he has this series for the young adults (Dekker has The Lost Books for his YA series).  I looked and there are 6 Dreamhouse Kings books.  I've put them on my watch list, I'd like to know what happens, but I think I can wait to see.  Good book!

Lydia Bennet's Story - Jane Odiwe

I figured this book would be one I would either love or hate right off the bat.  I normally don't touch the sequels to Pride and Prejudice, they just don't measure up to the original Jane Austen.

I didn't get that far into this one before I realized that Lydia is one of my least favorite characters.  She's immature, vain and a real pain in the rear to those around her.  This book is set up as her diary, and it just got on my nerves.  She irritated me in the movie, she irritated me in the book, and to round out the trend, she irritated me in this sequel.

Deleted!  Poor, stupid Lydia! (so saith her sister in the movie, I tend to agree)

Embers of Love (Striking a Match #1) - Tracie Peterson

This was a freebie that I had been watching for my Kindle.  I like Tracie Peterson most of the time, but I was still a little wary since my experience with A Daughter's Inheritance.  Since this particular book was a solo effort and the other was written with another author, I was cautiously optimistic.

Deborah and Lizzie are the heroines of this book with Christopher and G.W. the heroes.  We begin the book with Deborah talking to Lizzie at her wedding.  Lizzie is unhappy and only getting married to irritate her mother.  Deborah and Lizzie's father convince her to go back to the logging operation that Deborah's family runs.  G.W. meets them at the train station, thinking that he is simply picking up his sister from school in Philadelphia and meets a girl in a wedding dress.

Arriving in Perkinville, Texas, Deborah feels that now she is educated, she can only be happy with an educated man and starts doubting herself and feeling like a snob.  She meets Christopher, a doctor that has been hired to heal the sick in the town, and feels a kinship with him.  He has obligations to his huge family and so does Deborah, so they fight their feelings for each other.

I liked this book.  The relationships end up in a tolerable way with enough drama to make you wonder what is going to happen next.  For instance, will Lizzie's angry mother and jilted fiance make another appearance or will his new wife take away his need for revenge on Lizzie?  Will Deborah fulfill her dreams of becoming to truly educated person that she wants to be, or will something happen to put her dreams in jeopardy?

Book 2 in the series is called Hearts Aglow and book 3 is Hope Rekindled.  It seems that Deborah is the recurring main focus with others mixed in.  The other books seems to add emphasis to her brother, Rob, and her mother.  These have been on my watch list and will remain there.  Good book!

Lady in the Mist - Laurie Alice Eakes

This one was a freebie that I really wanted to like.  Alas, I did not.  I got about 50% in before I gave up the fight and I was still wondering what was going on at that point.

Tabitha is a single midwife fighting to keep her position after one of her patients dies.  On a trip to the beach, she runs literally into a British man, Dominick.  After all the abductions of men in the area by British Navy vessels, Tabitha decides to keep an eye on Dominick in case he is involved with the kidnappings.

Tabitha's fiance from two years before pops back up in town.  He abandoned her to try his life at sea and gets abducted by the British but also happens to escape them somehow.  He comes back to see if he has any chance with Tabitha.  After an encounter between his fishing boat and the British, Dominick begins to suspect that his return may not be as innocent as it appears.

Dominick himself is apparently of noble birth but some circumstance has brought him to America to be a servant for four years.  I never really found out what he did, they kept hinting at something he said about the church, but I have no clue.

I think I got tired of all the secrets.  Dominick is working for his uncle in America trying to find out "something" after he did "something" and Tabitha's fiance is up to "something."  It is so blatantly being hidden from even the reader that it got me too frustrated to move on.  I wasn't looking forward to coming back to the book after I would put it down.  I was almost happy after I had finished a chapter, like I had just paid penance.

Various books!

I figured that I would go through some of the fiction that I have stashed away in my Kindle and see what I could easily weed out.  I did try to find something that sounded like it would interest me, but in the end I deleted 5 books.

AND THEREBY HANGS A TALE -  JEFFREY ARCHER - Oh my gosh - this short story made me want my 30 minutes back.  This rich woman finds a banker at a horse race and convinces him that she loves him.  As a result, she also decides that she needs a hugely expensive ring.  When he tells her he can't afford one for her, she talks him into stealing one.  After he's done, she disappears and already has her next target lined up.  This time she wants earrings...ugh, please!

THE NIGHT HORSEMAN - MAX BRAND - Ok, I got about to the second page on this one before I gave up.  Knowing this guy was a Western guy, I felt like I needed to give it a chance, it reminded me of my Grandpa.  Well, I totally could NOT understand anything I read for two pages so I gave up.  Memories work much better!

MISS ANNA'S FRIGATE - JENA KUHN - I didn't get too far into this one either.  It started out on a ship that is headed toward Sweden.  Flash forward to a naked lady in Sweden doing who knows what.  When I get about 5% in and am already reading about breasts and sex, it's time for me to move on...

BAKE SALE MURDER - LESLIE MEIER - I got about 50% into this one.  There was a murder in there, but it didn't happen until about 40% in.  The other things I got to read about were bake sales, urban drama, football hazing rumors and cheerleader teenagers.  I gave up because by the time I got 1/2 way through I could have cared less about anyone in that book.  Even the murder victim!

WAITER, THERE'S A CLUE IN MY SOUP! - CAMILLE LAGUIRE - This was a series of 5 short stories.  I got to the third one before I gave up.  The first one was very short.  It was about a detective that ended up at a diner discussing how someone was murdered.  The clue to the whole thing lies with a food connoisseur who ends up giving them the murderer.  The second one seemed to be based on some crime solving team, one of them being a 17-year old girl who sounds like Annie Oakley.  I got through that one, but stopped when I realized that the third story also revolved around the same team.

I got a few of my fiction books deleted that didn't need to be there.  I still have a ton in there but hopefully I'll be able to sift through them again soon!

The Silent Governess - Julie Klassen

This was one of the Kindle books that popped up for October in the $3.99 or less deals.  This one was $2.99.  I read The Girl in the Gatehouse quite some time ago and was pleased that this one popped up on the price drop.

This is not a small book.  It doesn't follow the normal length for the standard Christian romances, but I was not just watching the percentage all the way through the novel.

Olivia flees her home after she has an altercation with the man who was trying to strangle her mother.  She gets instructions from her mother to head to a particular area and wait for her there.  On the way, she gets accosted in the woods and then gets caught trespassing Edward's property.  She also hears some information that could be harmful to him.

While in jail, Olivia gets attacked by a man in the same cell and the strangling causes her to lose her voice.  Hoping to keep her close to prevent her telling his secret, Edward gives her a job at his house.

I really got my money's worth on this one.  It was a little long, but there was so much going on that it didn't seem that way.  Good book!

When All My Dreams Come True (Colorado Runaway Series #1) - Janelle Mowery

This was a freebie from Amazon.  New author for me.  This book is the first one in the Colorado Runaway Series.

Bobbie is headed to the Double K ranch to take up her new position as ranch hand.  She can wrangle and shoot better than most of the men but has to prove herself to owner Jace Kincaid to secure her position.

Add in a dose of cattle rustling and bank robberies and Jace's trust in Bobbie starts to come into question.  Someone at the ranch accuses Bobbie of seeing her with a lot of money and Jace must deal with his issues as well as his growing feelings for Bobbie.

I liked this book.  I didn't know who was behind the whole thing until the end, which I can appreciate.  There are two more books in this series that are fairly new, When Love Gets in the Way and When Two Hearts Meet.  I'll start tracking them and hope for the best.  Good book!

Rugged and Relentless (Husbands for Hire #1) - Kelly Eileen Hake

This was not a free book.  It was $1.99 and I decided to take a chance on it.

Evelyn and Cora are sisters that are close to Lacey, a rich girl that they grew up with.  Naomi is her cousin and a close friend.  Braden, Lacey's brother, is engaged to Cora.  These women are independent and not afraid to assert themselves.  When word comes that Braden, who was thought dead in a mine cave-in, is alive but doesn't want them to come, they sell it all and decide to forget about the mine and invest in a lumber mill in Hope Falls.  Needing the protection of having a man for the business part, paperwork mostly, they decide to advertise in a newspaper and request that the interested men send their attributes care of the local postmaster.  Instead, they get two dozen men showing up in Hope Falls hoping to get themselves a wife.

The main woman we follow in this one is Evelyn, one of the sisters.  She is a great cook and runs her own cafe.  She also sees herself as plump and unworthy of anyone's notice.  Our hero is Jacob Granger, who changes his last name to Creed for anonymity.  He is not looking for a wife, he is looking for a killer.  His brother was murdered and Jacob intends to clear his brother's name.  Jacob becomes the self proclaimed protector of the ladies, especially Evelyn.

I liked this book.  It was a different concept than most of the ones out west I read.  I don't regret the price I spent on it. There is another one that you can't get yet.  It's called Tall, Dark and Determined and follows Lacey, the rich girl.  Once it's available, I'll track it.  Seems like it's going to be a good series.

A Husband for Margaret - Ruth Ann Nordin

This little freebie is the sequel to A Bride for Tom.  I liked that novella, so I figured this would be along the same lines.  Short book, nice read...

Oh. My. Gosh.  When I read through the reviews I noticed that it listed this book as R when the previous one had been listed as G.  I figured it was a mistake.  Um, nope. 

Margaret feels that her internal clock is ticking away too fast and that she needs to be more proactive if she wants a husband.  She advertises and anxiously awaits the arrival of her fiance, Paul.  Instead, she is met by his brother, Joseph, and his four unruly children.  Apparently Paul had an accident with his horse and died.  After some soul searching, Margaret agrees to marry Joseph.  At the wedding, Debra, who is under the impression that she is the one for Joseph, tries to break up the wedding and afterwards the marriage.

About 1/2 through, there was about 4 pages of sex.  Really?  I could have totally done without that.  Besides the scenes that offend my prudish sensibilities, I felt like there wasn't much to this story.  Margaret adjusts to life with the boys and Joseph and then turns her focus into finding other pursuits for Debra who is driving her crazy.

The story felt like an afterthought and not really worthy of my time.  I should have stopped after A Bride for Tom.

A Bride for Tom - Ruth Ann Nordin

This little novella was put up for free and I decided to give it a shot.  I noticed that it was rated G and that is right up my alley!

Jessica is engaged to a momma's boy.  At a party, she takes pity on Tom, a clumsy, nervous man who needs some lessons on how to act around women.  When she decides to take Tom on as a student, Jessica faces getting to know him better and also finding out more about what her future life would be like with her fiance. Some misunderstandings and reflections on their feelings make this story what I would term "cute."

I liked this novella, or "diet" book as I like to call them.  It was a quick read and really enjoyable.  I usually am not a big fan of the short stories or novellas that pop up but I was pleasantly surprised with this one.

A Knight in Central Park - Theresa Ragan

First off, I want to note that it was a good weekend for my Kindle and I.  On October 1, a whole bunch of new free books popped up.  Three of those were the type of books that I really enjoy, so they were snatched up immediately!  I also got an email that one I had been watching dropped to $2.99.  I looked through the 100 books for $3.99 or less and found another one for $1.99.  Averaged out, I got 5 books for $5.00.  Very pleased!

Now, on to the review.  I only got about 1/2 way into this one.  Joe (Sir Joe) is a normal nerdy professor that has issues with germs and dirt.  Alexandra uses her grandfather's magic stones to come to our time and find the hero that is going to save her village from the evil neighborhood knight who pillages and plunders at will.  Alexandra convinces Joe to humor her and "meet the evil knight" in Central Park, thinking she is slightly insane.  Instead, he is whooshed back in time and has to use his wits and Three Stooges-like abilities to make things work out.  Bringing back things like a lighter and a can of mace come in handy in his first encounter.  It was not long after that I abandoned the book.

Maybe I have been spoiled with the River in Time Series.  I expect a lot from my time traveling books and something about this one bored me.  As far in as I was, I was hardly interested in whether Joe decided to return to his own time and become the all important scholar he aspired to be or whether he chose to stay and fulfill the prophecy that he would redeem the village and marry Alexandra.  It didn't matter to me at all.

It has been removed with no regrets.  It just didn't hold my interest the way I wanted it to.

Kissing Kelli (A Texas Legacy Romantic Comedy #1) - Kathy Carmichael

This one was a freebie for the Kindle.  I almost didn't get it due to the cover.  It's a cartoon for goodness sakes!  I read the description and decided not to judge the book by its cover.

Kelli is a vet who loves her sisters.  Lori is one of the sisters who used to be very close to Kelli, but now jealousy has changed all that.  When Lori brings Bobby Gray (don't call him just Bobby - very Walton's) to the annual family Fourth of July celebration, he finds himself attracted to Kelli, enraging Lori.  Lori storms off and Kelli decides she needs to distance herself as far as possible from Bobby Gray as she can even though she finds herself drawn to him.  Bobby Gray doesn't give up easily though.

I thought that this book was cute.  It wasn't a laugh-out-loud comedy or anything, but it was truly a good read and was very clean.  I didn't blush once!  The author has another book in the series, Stuck On You, but it appears to have a paranormal aspect to it, making it highly unlikely that I would read it.  Kissing Kelli was pretty good though and I recommend it.

A Love of Her Own (Heart of the West #3) - Maggie Brendan

This Kindle book was on my watch list and dropped to $5.59.  I decided to pick it up.  No Place for a Lady had turned up free quite a while ago and I bought the second one, The Jewel of His Heart, as a DTB since it was a bargain book from Amazon.  I liked both of those so I bought this one.

April is the sister of Josh (hero from book 2) and is racing to get to his wedding in Montana.  Being the daughter of a cattle baron in Colorado, she is spoiled and used to getting her own way.  She makes it in time to make the wedding and then has to make it on her own in town while her brother is on his honeymoon.

April sets everyone back with her snotty attitude and her holier than thou treatment of everyone.  She meets Wes, who starts to show her the error of her thinking.  She refuses to even think of giving her heart since he is a poor man who seems to have no concept of tidiness at his own home.  After a time, she comes to understand that she has been treating others badly, Wes in particular.

I liked this book and don't feel the least bad about buying it.  I am glad that it came up at a lowered price.  The interactions between the people were believable and the whole happy ending is all I require in a book that I love.  Good book!

Torrent (River of Time #3) - Lisa T. Bergren

I was totally hooked to this series so I paid for not one, but two of them, $7.99 each.  First time in a long time that I have done that, so I'm proud of myself for that.

Book 3 of the River of Time series (see Waterfall and Cascade for books 1 and 2), this can be a wrap-up to the story OR not.  I noticed in the author's notes at the end that people were asking her for more, and she has been considering exploring Lia and Luca's love story, but it is still undecided at this time.  I personally would be happy to see that happen.

In this installment, Gabi's father comes back with the others and gets to adjust to medieval life.  Marcello's brother is still being held captive by the Firenze and will only be exchanged for Gabi and Lia, the She-Wolves of Siena.  When the "neutral" exchange doesn't go quite as planned, Gabi has to search her heart and her strength to follow the right path.

I really liked the series.  There were a few times that the language in it pointed to the "young adult" classification for this book.  "Dude.  I. Am. There."  That kind of colorful language that you can tell a teenager would be using.  I thought the author did an awesome job with the interactions of the characters and the action.  I finished it in a little over a day, because I HAD to know what happened.  Great series!

Stars Collide - Janice Thompson

This review will be short because I didn't finish this book.  Realistically, I only got about 10% into it.  I kept looking to see how far I was and was disappointed to see how much I had left.  I think it's the first time I gave up this early in a while, but give up I did.

Kat is the granddaughter of a star from long ago.  Scott is her co-star on a show where they are hiding their love.  Apparently they are doing the same for real life.  When a power outage reveals their true feelings, the grandmother decides to get involved and let everyone know what's going on.

I'm not sure I can pinpoint exactly what turned me off this book so soon.  I think the overwhelming presence of the grandmother had something to do with it.  It seemed to be as much about her (if not more) than Kat.  It has been removed.

Love Finds You in Homestead, Iowa - Melanie Dobson

This one was free and it looked like the Christian Amish books that I don't read, but since it was Amana, I decided to give it a shot and try to learn something new.

You have Jacob, who has lost his job as a banker and basically everything else in the depression, including his wife and baby son.  All he has left is his daughter, Cassie.  Jacob sells everything he can to get train tickets to Washington.  Unfortunately, when they get to the train station, the workers are striking and attacking the trains.  Cassie is sick and Jacob has to get her away from the city.  Climbing into a fleeing freight car, Jacob gets a bad gash in his leg from the workers trying to prevent his escape.  As the journey continues, Cassie gets worse and they have to get off at the next stop, being Homestead, Iowa.  Here the excitement ends for me. 

Leisel is committed to her society in the Amana colonies.  She helps the outsiders and becomes attached to them even though she is engaged.  Battling the accusation of embezzlement, Jacob has a hard time earning the trust of the Elders and convincing them that he really wants to stay.  A flood makes the Elders reconsider their beliefs about Jacob and the end has a happy ending.

I think this book goes in my tolerable category.  I wouldn't read another of these, they are too reminiscent of the Amish books.  For some reason, those always seem the same to me.  Pretty good book if this is your kind of thing.

Code Blue - Richard Mabry

A freebie for my Kindle!  I had some high expectation for this one.  It's a medical thriller by a doctor!  I should learn lots of medical things and be impressed at my increased knowledge at the end.  Well, I was disappointed.  Instead of prioritizing parts of the plot, I felt like he was trying to spread out all his topics equally. 

Cathy returns to her hometown after a broken relationship to try and establish her own practice.  She encounters her old high school flame after a black SUV runs her off the road.  She also has to deal with money troubles that are complicated when the prescription for the banker gets messed up and almost kills him.  Her old flame becomes her lawyer, and a doctor at the hospital is trying to get her to go out with her.  She is also battling the idea that her mother may have had a serious mental issue that makes Cathy doubt her own mental issues.

I felt like I learned more about insurance companies and the money troubles that plague doctors than I was involved in the romance OR the murder plot.   I also didn't increase my medical knowledge at all.  I mean, this SUV tries to run her down at least 3 times, and she doesn't make the connection or report it to the police.  Really?  When we defeat the bad guy at the end, I just felt like, "Oh yeah, there was someone out to harm her."

I appreciated that he included God in the book, but I wasn't real impressed overall.  I have removed the other free one of his that popped up, Medical Error.  This just wasn't my cup of tea.

The Keeper - Ted Dekker - short story

I found this in the Kindle freebies and HAD to have it.  This is a prequel to Forbidden, which came out recently.  Ted Dekker is working with someone new on this book, Tosca Lee.  I'm hopeful that this will work out better than the Erin Healy ones.  Nothing against Erin Healy, I liked The Lost Books, just not the serial killer ones.

Two brothers have secluded themselves away from the world.  As they sit by the fire one night, a man approaches them and tells them that they are already dead.  Confused and scared, they listen as the man reveals he is a scientist that helped develop a virus that has spread without anyone's knowledge.  The virus makes the victims unable to feel anything but fear basically.  He also has a cure.  He has to prove to the brothers that what he says is the truth and convince them to help him with the secret.

I think that I will eventually give Forbidden a chance.  It only took me about 30-45 minutes to read through this short story, so I wasted nothing giving it a chance.  There is mention of Thomas Hunter and the Raison Strain (Circle series) and I really liked that series.  I'm keeping an eye on the price, $11.99 is a little too rich for my blood at the moment.