The View from Rainshadow Bay (Lavender Tides #1) - Colleen Coble

This is the first in a new series.

Shauna lost her husband a year ago and is trying to put her life back together.  She wants nothing to do with Zach, the man she blames for her husband’s death.  Her young son needs a father figure for an upcoming nature hike, and as much as she hates the idea, she breaks down and asks Zach for help.

Zach lives with the guilt of what he’s done, but he’s also had to grieve alone.  When Shauna asks him for help, he readily agrees, hoping it will lead to a renewal of their friendship.  After a mutual friend is murdered, Zach fears for Shauna’s safety and asks her to move in with him for safety.  As the danger increases, Zach fears he won’t be able to keep Shauna and her son safe.

This was a good book, with plenty of little twists and turns in there.  I liked the characters, and the story line was interesting.  I didn’t enjoy it as much as some of Coble’s other works that I’ve read recently, but I can’t quite pinpoint why.  I was able to put this one down and I wasn’t anxious to get back to it.  Don’t get me wrong, I liked it a lot, it just wasn’t 5 stars to me.

I have a feeling the rest of the series may have something to do with Shauna’s long-lost siblings.  If it doesn’t, it will be somewhat disappointing, since I’m curious to know what happened to them.  I look forward to the next one.  Good Book!

*I received a copy of this book from Thomas Nelson through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Keep the Home Fires Burning: The Complete Novel - S. Block

If you've watched the show Home Fires, the cliffhanger of season 2 coupled with the cancellation of the series probably frustrated you.  I know it did that to me.  When I heard the creator of the series planned to keep going, I was intrigued.  The thought was, if books can turn into shows, why can't it go the other way around?  I promised myself I would read this, if only to find out what happened after the Spitfire hit the village.

This book has all four short stories in it (around 100 pages each) that make up the first installment of the continuing story of the women of Great Paxford.  The stories can each be bought separately and are called: Spitfire Down!, A Woman's Work, Strangers Among Us, and A Soldier Returns.

The writing style is what I expected of someone used to dealing with actors and scripts.  The point of view will switch from one person to another and back again without warning or transition.  In the beginning, I think I was just so glad to find out what happened, I didn't care.  After that, I seemed to get used to it.

I think a lot of my enjoyment of this book hinged on the fact that I already loved the characters.  Later in the book, I was getting a little disappointed that I didn't get more Steph, Sarah and Claire.  There was way more of Pat and Teresa than I was expecting (and they were repetitive) , and after a while I skimmed/skipped their chapters.  The other two that seemed to get the most exposure were Erica and Frances.  Overall, I liked Erica's story line the best.

Something to be aware of - there's a bit of language and a few sexual descriptions.  Nothing graphic, but more detail than I wanted.  Personal preference.

Unfortunately, there's also a bit of the cliffhanger at the end of the book, but there's another book planned for October 2018.  For myself, I enjoyed finding out what happened and wish more cancelled shows were able to pull this off (I'm talking to you, Mercy Street!).  Thinking over the book as a whole, I would've been satisfied had I read Spitfire Down! and stopped after that.

*The cover here is different from the one I have.  Not sure why...