Just Jennifer

A Reader’s Book of Days by Tom Nissley (Norton, November 2013)

With the working subtitle Auspicious Births and Untimely Deaths, Bad Reviews and Bestsellers, Hoaxes and Scandals and Other True Tales from the Lives and Works of Writers for Every Day of the Year, Tom Nissley, an eight time Jeopardy! champion has combed through literary miscellany to find not only birth and death dates of writers for each day of the year, but unusual facts and tidbits as well.  Compiled by month and then by day, each month begins with a short essay quoting authors and characters (“I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers,” ---Anne Shirley in Anne of Green Gables) and then lists half a dozen or so titles that typify the month.  Each day that follows is full of surprises.  Who knew that on October 1, 1888 L.  Frank Baum (The Wonderful Wizard of Oz) opened Baum’s Bazaar in Aberdeen, South Dakota offering housewares and toys (the store failed within a year) or that on May 15, 1853 Charlotte Bronte’s refusal to marry the Reverend Arthur Nicholls caused him to break down during a public service (she said yes a year later).  Pick up the book and see what happened on your birthday, read pages at random, in chronological order or limit yourself to one page, the current day, per day.  Any way you pursue this treasure trove you are sure to find fun facts with which to dazzle your friends or at least be inspired to pick up an old friend or try something new.

Just Jennifer

Through the Evil Days by Julia Spencer-Fleming (Minotaur, November 2013)

Episcopalian priest Clare Fergusson and her new husband, the somewhat older police chief of Millers-Kill, New York are ready to go on their honeymoon, to a cabin they are considering buying about an hour north of their hometown before facing the birth of their child (Russ is unsure about becoming a first time father at his age) and the career crises each faces: Clare has been threatened with losing her parish and being disciplined for becoming pregnant before she married Russ and Russ is facing the possible dissolution of his police force in favor of paying the State Police to patrol Millers-Kill.  Before the two can pack the truck, they are called to a house that has exploded into flames in the night killing the elderly couple who was sleeping inside.  Russ learns the couple was fostering a young girl in need of a transplant who was not found in or around the house but must be found quickly as she is still on rejection drug therapy.  Russ leaves the case in the capable hands of his department, but finds the case has followed him and his new bride on their honeymoon and rather than nesting, Clare, almost back to normal after her recent tour in Afghanistan is restless, putting herself and the baby in harm’s way.  As the case unfolds from Millers-Kill and from a remote cabin, the plot takes a decidedly evil twist and reveals some much unexpected things about people Russ thought he knew.

The tightly and intricately plotted mystery that unravels is very good reading to begin with, but Spencer-Fleming excels at her characterization, not only of long-running characters such as Clare and Russ, but of secondary characters, such as Kevin and Hadley who are beginning to play more prominent roles in the storyline.  The plot shifts easily from Millers-Kill to Russ and Clare’s honeymoon retreat and the brutally cold January temperature, with the addition of the job crises awaiting back home, keep the atmosphere thick, the tension taught and the suspense high.

2013 Summer Blockbusters - The Best of the Best!

My Dangerous Duke

Author: Gaelyn Foley
Stars: 4
Review by: BookLover
Another exciting Inferno Club novel!  This intricate story has so many twists and turns - it's a must read!  Katy is kidnapped and believes she has been given into white salvery to the Duke of Warrington.  She is drugged and presented to him by the elder smuggler as a gift.  But when the Duke sees her practically unconscious in his room, he leaves her alone.   The next day she runs away, so the Duke gives chase.  She almost loses her life when a cliff gives way, but the Duke saves her.  They have a talk and Katy can see she can trust him.  He calls for the elder smuggler to find out what is going on.  He finds out about events in her past and about how she came to be given to him.  They go to find a cave (one of those caves like in Indiana Jones that can kill you) where the scrolls of the Order of St. Michael can be found.  This book contains a very detailed plot and characters.

Seduce Me at Sunrise

Author: Lisa Kleypas
Stars: 5
Review by: BookLover
This is one of the most romantic of stories!  This book again features the Hathaway family (the one from Mine Till Midnight), although this book may have come first.  Mr. Hathaway takes in 12-year-old gypsy Kev Merripan when he is left for dead after a gypsy raid.  He was a true gypsy, and finds it difficult to live in an actual dwelling.  He growls at everyone who comes near him.  One day Win enters his room and offers to read to him, and he instantly latches onto her.  He stays with the Hathaway family because he loves Win and wants to protect her.  When the village is ravaged by scarlet fever, Win contracts it.  She survives, but it has made her an invalid.  After two years, she goes to a clinic and is cured, but the doctor returns home with her, because he has fallen in love with her. Win's heart has always belonged to Kev, but he has kept rejecting her because he feels he will hurt her, since he is a gypsy.  But after the doctor gives Win a ring, Kev takes action to make Win his.

Mine Till Midnight

Author: Lisa Kleypas
Stars: 3.5
Review by: BookLover
Amelia is in desperate search of her brother, Leo, after his financee died of scarlet fever, which had ravaged their village.  He has become a lost soul, drinking, fighting, and whoring.  Amelia must shoulder so much of the family burden now, especially since her father died of a heart attack and her mother died shortly thereafter of grief.  Amelia finds Leo but he is bent on self-destruction.  In the midst of everything, Amelia, who had seen herself as a spinster, is wooed by Cam Rohan.  Meanwhile, Leo's fiancee has reappeared as a ghost, their house catches fire, and Amelia's ex-fiance (who broke her heart years ago) tries to steal riches out of the walls of their house.

My Wicked Marquess

Author: Gaelen Foley
Stars: 3
Review by: BookLover
This is part of the Inferno Club Series.  They are excellent reads.  I want more.

Max, Marquess of Rothustone, falls for Daphane, a woman he saved from thugs outside the orphanage she started in a bad part of town with brothels, gaming halls, and thug gangs.  He asks her father for her hand in marriage.  He accepts, but Daphane is angry because she had no say in the matter.  She is very attracted to Max, but she feels he has walls up, and she cannot share a life with him until he takes down these protective walls. She runs away from him.  Max finds her and tells her how worried her family is and that he will give up chasing her now.  He admits he has never been loved.  Daphane confesses that she loves him, and they get married.  Max sets up the orphanage in a new area, names it after her mother, cleans it up, and arranges for new clothes and shoes for the children. But then she discovers he is keeping secrets from her, and trouble brews, until he explains all.  Daphane sees Max in a new light as a great hero.

No Other Love

Author: Candace Camp
Stars: 3
Review by: BookLover
Nicola could love no one else ever since her true love, Gil, was killed, supposedly by accident, by her sister's husband, the Evil Earl of Exmoor.  Ten years go by, and the sister, a healer, finds herself captured and blindfolded by a highwayman, who steals her possessions, then steals a kiss.  He has captured her to heal one of his men.  When her blindfold is removed, she sees that the highwayman is really Gil, who it turns out was not killed all those years ago, but merely captured and sent to a gang who collected young men for the Royal Navy.  Gil and his friend had escaped from the gang and had come back to Exmoor to become highwaymen for vengeance.  More twists and turns follow.

Splendid

Author: Julia Quinn
Stars: 3.5
Review by: BookLover
American heiress, Emma, is sent to England against her wishes with her aunt and cousins for her "season" and her "coming out" ball.  To escape the ball, Emma and her cousin disguise themselves as maids.  The cooks send Emma out for eggs, where she saves a boy from running out in the street, but she falls and hits her head on the sidewalk in the process.  She awakens to find herself on a duke's couch.  He is attracted to her, but he has decided that since she is of low breeding, her should not think of her.  Nevertheless, he can't stay away, and attends ball after ball at her aunt's house, looking for her among the maids.  He eventually discovers the truth.  His mother invites Emma to their country home and he decides to marry her.

My Notorious Gentleman

Author: Gaelen Foley
Stars: 3.5
Review by: BookWorm
Grace is a parson's daughter.  At a ball, someone points out Trevor to her.  He is a member of the Inferno Club, a gang of spies, warriors, and assassins.  Somehow, Grace and Trevor find themselves together in a quiet room at the ball, and he mistakes her intentions.  He corrects his mistake and apologizes, then ends up buying a piece of property from her father.  Through a bad winter and marauders that threaten the town, Grace is there to help Trevor out.

A Lady Never Tells

Author: Candace Camp
Stars: 4
Review by: BookLover
I like this writer, Candace Camp.  I have recently discovered her and am reading the first book in this series.  Four American sisters are told by their mother on her deathbed to run from their stepfather to her father, an earl, in England.  The sisters have many adventures on the ship to England, as well as on shore after they arrive - thieves, self-protection, and romance.

Scandalous Again

Author: Christina Dodd
Stars: 4
Review by: BookLover
Maddy is lost by her father in a card game to an American, Mr. Knight.  She and her cousin travel to London to meet Mr. Knight, but get caught up in a crazy house party guarded by thugs from the worst part of London.  All the men at the party are taken prisoners.  Maddy and her cousin save the day when they find a priesthole and put it to good use.

His Mistress by Morning

Author: Elizabeth Boyle
Stars: 3
Review by: BookLover
This is a "be careful what you wish for" story.  Before Charlotte goes to sleep, she wishes that Sebastian would love her.  Lo and behold, she wakes up as his wife!  But this version of Sebastian is different from the one she loves.  She eventually realizes that she is not happy, and wishes to go back to the way everything was before.  This works, and Charlotte then takes matters into her own hands, winning over Sebastian the right way.

The Silver Rose

Author: Jane Feather
Stars: 3.5
Review by: BookLover
Feuding families, arranged marriages, murder plots, fires, and fights abound in this tale of an Arabian horse breeder and a mysterious bracelet that has traveled full-circle.

Once a Knight

Author: Christina Dodd
Stars: 4
Review by: BookLover
This book restored my respect for Christina Dodd.  A wealthy heiress maintains her keep and her emotions neatly and orderly.  She either refuses all men the King tries to marry her off to, or they refuse her because she seems so rigid and cold.  When her life is threatened, she seeks Sir David, legend and champion of the King, to be her champion.

A Well Favored Gentleman

Author: Christina Dodd
Stars: 2
Review by: BookLover
First Dodd book to disappoint me.  It takes place in Scotland, but has very little Scottish brogue that I so love.  Mystical Selkies who watch over the clan by giving them rare opals from the sea are at the heart of this book.  Their mysteries and rules become even more complicated when humans and Selkies intermarry and have offspring.  Abandonment, witches, and murder kept the plot moving to what I felt was a disappointing conclusion.

Nobody's Darling

Author: Teresa Medeiros
Stars: 3
Review by: BookLover
The Duke of Wyndham has received annual letters from his grandchildren in America ever since their parents died of cholera when they were children.  But when they grow up and the Duke hears that they've gone out west, the grandson, supposedly, to write (but really to rob banks) and the granddaughter to find her brother, he and Lady Anne travel to America to save them.  Shootings, bank robberies, wild west shows, and romances ensue.  All in all, many characters, but enjoyable story.

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How to Tempt a Duke

Author: Kasey Michaels
Stars: 3
Review by: BookLover
I liked these characters a lot.  Rafe and his friend, Fitz, are fighting in the war against Bonaparte.  Rafe is sick with a fever when he gets word that his uncle (the Duke) and two cousins have been killed, making him the new Duke.  In his fever, he does not take it in until the next day, when Fitz calls him, "your grace."  Rafe and Fitz stay to finish their commission, then return home.  Rafe does not feel like the Duke.  He has his friend, Charlie (Charlotte), help him with his duties as Duke.  He eventually realizes her loves her.  Later, his sister is kidnapped, Fitz is killed in battle, and someone is trying to kill Rafe.  Charlie comes to the rescue and becomes Rafe's Duchess.

The Notorious Rake

Author: Mary Balogh
Stars: 4
Review by: BookLover
I love this writer; she can write emotional scenes that can make me cry.  I give this book 4 stars for character value.

Extremely handsome Lord Edmond is what very plain Mary finds repulsive.  He is lewd, lascivious, and mocking.  Mary, a lonely widow, is betrothed to Viscount Goodrich.  One day she finds herself walking up a path with Edmond, when a severe thunderstorm hits.  Mary is in such a state of panic that Edmund takes her into a shelter, holds her, makes love to her, and falls in love with her.  She tells him of her fear of storms, since an incident when some soldiers in the tent next to hers got killed by lightning.  Even though she is betrothed, Edmond pursues her, because he is so much better than the Viscount.  Mary has realized Edmond's true character, because he saved her during the thunderstorm, while the Viscount laughed at her.  Edmond and Mary claim each other's love.

Taming the Highland Bride

Author: Lynsay Sands
Stars: 3.5
Review by: BookLover
Two things I love - the strength of the character of Merry, and the Scottish accent.  "Are ye daft (crazy)?"  "Take wee bairn (baby)."  "Come home ere (before) dinner."

Merry is home, taking care of the keep, including training the soldiers, because her father and two brothers are drunks.  She tries to control them the best she can, thus getting the name "Stewart Shrew."  She waits for her husband-to-be to come back from the Crusades.  When he does, Merry's father and brothers take her to his keep, where she finds him drunk from whiskey, because he was getting a tooth pulled.  The mystery starts when they discover that someone has been drugging him and attempting to kill him.  There is a surprise ending.

The Secret Pearl

Author: Mary Balogh
Stars: 4
Review by: BookLover
Great storyline.  Great characters, both the good and the bad.  Mary Balogh tugs at my emotions.  I love this writer and the characters she creates.

The Duke of Ridgeway has made Sybil his Duchess, but she is in love with his brother, Thomas, who has gone away when he found out she was with child.  She thinks the Duke sent him away.  She hates the Duke for this, because she does not know that Thomas left her.  The Duke marries her, so she is not ruined.  She never agrees to consummate the marriage.  The Duke repulses her because his face and body are so scarred from the Battle Waterloo, and because she is faithful to Thomas.  The Duke remains faithful to his marriage vows.  But one night he sees in the shadow in Drury Lane a lone figure of a prostitute, Flur.  He feels so alone that nature takes its course. He feels so bad, he makes Flur governess to his daughter.  He falls in love with Flur, finds she is accused of murder, and frees her of blame.  Sybil has consumption, Thomas dies in a fight, Sybil commits suicide when she hears of Thomas's death, and the Duke marries Flur.

The Gilded Web

Author: Mary Balogh
Stars: 4
Review by: BookLover
Very dragged out.  Alex is beaten by her father until she is 16, in order to make her virtuous.  Now she accepts punishments of days in her room, reading her Bible and dieting on bread and water as her punishment.  She is at a ball and goes out for air.  Two friends of Lord Eden kidnap her, thinking she is his sister, Madaline, who he believes is about to elope, and he wishes to stop it.  The next day, the other brother, Edmund, an earl, finds her tied and gagged in Madaline's bed, of course.  The honorable thing is to go to ask for her hand in marriage.  She must say yes.  But she wants to find herself and freedom before she marries.  At the end, she finds that the Earl needs her, and she consents to marriage. 

In My Wildest Dreams

Author: Christina Dodd
Stars: 4
Review by: BookLover
Christina Dodd has not disappointed me yet.  The beginning of the book is like an old Audrey Hepburn movie.  The gardener's daughter comes home fro Paris.  She is beautiful, well-educated, and still in love with Ellery, the second son, but later falls in love with the master of the house, Garrick.  That's where the similarity to the movie stops.  There are spies, espionage, and kidnapping of the master's daughter.  Lady Hyacinth gets Ellery, as was meant to be, and Standhope got shot by Celeste.  Garrick claims his love for Celeste and they plan to marry to join their love.

Taken by the Prince

Author: Christina Dodd
Stars: 4
Review by: BookLover
This is the third in a series, My Fair Temptress and In Bed With the Duke being the first two books.  All three books are excellent.

Prince Saber, after years of brutal abuse by his father, goes to school and gets an English education.  He then returns and leads a revolution.  Before he gets back to his country, though, he meets a beautiful girl, Victoria, who is a friend of his sister.  She knows the story about him supposedly being the prince of a country.  The rebellion happens - a vicious fight between Saber and his father.  Victoria aides Saber.  Victoria goes on to eventually marry and become a well-loved Queen of Moricadian.

And the Miss Ran Away With the Rake

Author: Elizabeth Boyle
Stars: 4
Review by: BookLover
I love this writer.  There is always something that makes me laugh.

It starts when the duke plays a joke on his uncle - he places an ad in the paper saying, "Gentleman looking for wife."  He reads one letter out of about 200 responses to the ad.  It's from a "Miss Spooner."  They meet at a ball and enjoy each other's company, but they don't realize they are from feuding families.  The best part is when, after Miss Spooner's family has locked her away in her room until they can get her married to someone else, Lord Henry climbs up a rope sent down from the roof by a stable boy.  They marry, have 5 children, and, 15 years later, are still so passionately in love with each other.

The Countess

Author: Lynsey Sands
Stars: 0
Review by: BookLover
Poor.  She writes better than this.

Christianna is in a one-year-old marriage with an earl who is below despicable.  He is a younger twin, who he thinks he has killed his older brother, and he has assumed his identity.  Her sisters visit with news of their father, and when they go to find the earl, he is dead in the library.  They wrap him up in a carpet, put him in his bed, and put him on ice with the window open.  Meanwhile, the older twin comes to confront the bad twin, and Christianna is shocked.

Until Forever

Author: Johanna Lindsey
Stars: 2
Review by: BookLover
Thor comes from the past when history professor Roseleen White purchases a sword and somehow summons the barbarian.  He takes her back to William the Conqueror, and she helps correct history at the Battle of Hastings by getting them to use arrows.  She gets to meet William the Conqueror.  (That is exciting for someone so in love with history.)  

Thor and Roseleen go back and forth from the future to the past a couple of times.  She loves Thor, but must release him from the curse of the sword and go back to her life.  A knock on the door introduces her new neighbor, Thorton, a book writer who has written a book about a barbarian, a cursed sword, and the Battle of Hastings.  Roseleen invites him to dinner to rekindle past love in this future.

This book was mediocre for Johanna Lindsey.  The back and forth was annoying.

A Husband's Wicked Ways

Author: Jane Feather
Stars: 4
Review by: BookLover
A good book (part of a series).

I love history - this is England's battle against Napoleon.  Lots of spies, people believed dead who were actually not, kidnapping, murder, and rescue. 

Trouble at the Wedding

Author: Laura Lee Guhrke
Stars: 3
Review by: BookLover
The 2-culture combo was so interesting.  An American girl (dirt poor) inherits money from her father, who left her mother to look for silver mines.  The girl is not accepted in America's "old-money society."  So she hooks Earl, who needs her money.  Her uncle thinks it will be a big mistake, so her hires Duke for half a million dollars to convince her that her life will be miserable with that Earl.  Duke drinks moonshine with her the night before her wedding and kisses her in the Turkish Bath on the ship.  The next day, he objects at the wedding and she punches him in the face, and the Earl won't marry her because she hit his peer.

They go through some turmoil, but he will never change her American ways.  They love each other.  Happy ending, enjoyable.

My Fair Temptress

Author: Christina Dodd
Stars: 3
Review by: BookLover
Caroline Ritter gets a job to make the Duke's son popular with women so that he can get a wife.  The son wears outrageous clothes and acts obnoxious.  He really does this because he is following two men who killed his brother Michael in a small country corrupt and filled with crime.  He falls in love and marries Caroline, and he foils the evil men's plan to kill Queen Victoria.  When he and Caroline return from their honeymoon, they find out that brother Michael is still alive, in prison.  

Fortunately, I have the book about Michael.

A Well Pleasured Lady

Author: Christina Dodd
Stars:
Review by: BookLover
Viscount Whitfield goes to the assistance of his godmother, whose diary has been stolen.  He must pretend to be the betrothed of his godmother's housekeeper, who, he can tell by her looks, is a Fairchild.  The Fairchilds are his hated enemies.  He believes the Fairchilds have the diary.

A secret he knows, but does not tell his make-believe betrothed, is that she is a murderess.  But out of love for the old woman (godmother), she goes to help find and retrieve the diary, even though she could be hung.

Good story - great courage.

Never Kiss a Stranger

Author: Heather Grothaus
Stars: 4
Review by: BookLover
The clothes and some other things were off for the time period.  But the characters and story were excellent.

It's about Alys, a girl defying her sister's wish to match her to a man she does not want.  She goes on the full moon to the Foxe Ring.  (Legend says that if a man kisses you at midnight in the full moon, you are married.)  Alys believes this legend.  A man comes at midnight as he journeys to claim his rightful claim on his father's property.  He has been close to death by a stepmother and her son, who are in pursuit to stop him.  What a great adventure.  Alys follows him and shows great maturity.  She saves his life from infection by finding tree people and his grandfather.  She could be imprisoned if she goes to the king, but she shows courage and love, and goes anyway.

I love this book, but gave it 4 stars because of errors in the time period.

Love's Charade

Author: Jane Feather
Stars: 5
Review by: BookLover
Loved it!  This is the best Jane Feather book.

A 17 year old girl on her French estate (1769-70) watched the badly treated serfs come to kill her family.  Her mother's pleas started to have effect, but the father, uncles, and grandfather shot at the serfs and killed the girl's mother, then a serf killed the whole family.  The girl must make her way to Paris in boys clothes.  An English noble finds this street urchin (thinking she's a boy) in an alley, being beaten by a baker for taking old bread from the garbage.  He saves her.

A love story of a 35 year old nobleman and a 17 year old girl, very beautifully done.  Through the eyes of a 17 year old to a 22 year old mother of two, you feel what hell the terror was.

A Counterfeit Betrothal

Author: Mary Balogh
Stars: 4
Review by: BookLover
Lady Sophia wants to get her parents back together, so she talks Lord Sutton, a known rake, into pretending to be her betrothed.  Fourteen years after the separation, the father writes to the mother to tell her to come help him talk some sense into their daughter.  The mother comes, but it is very frustrating because you know they love each other; they just have to stop being so stubborn and prideful, which they do, and fall even deeper in love.  

In the meantime, Lord Sutton realizes he is in love with Lady Sophia and must make her aware she loves him too.  All ends well.  They get married before the mother and father get together.

Some parts of bringing the older couple together became so emotional, it brought tears to my eyes.  The mother gets pregnant after 14 years and hides it from her husband.  He finds out, goes to her, and is there for her labor and the birth of their son.  

Love renewed - beautiful.

The Taming of Ryder Cavanaugh

Author: Stephanie Laurens
Stars: 2
Review by: BookLover
Sorry to say this about Stephanie Laurens, but this is the 20th Cynster book I have read, and she was very repetitive, lengthening her book with little substance.  Character Mary was seen in 2 other books as bossy and organized.  Her family enjoys her this way.  Ryder comes along and wants marriage, but Mary does not want him because she does not think she can boss him.  He persists, and eventually she gives in.  After the wedding, they go to their country estate, and someone tries, unsuccessfully, four times to kill them, so they kidnap Mary instead.  Ryder rescues her and they foil another plan that was aimed to kill them. 

In Bed With the Duke

Author: Christina Dodd
Stars: 4
Review by: BookLover
This is the sequel to My Fair Temptress.  Imprisonment, torture, and revenge start off this book.  Michael rides the roads as "The Reaper" during house arrest.  He makes Prince Sandre and his cousin, Jean-Pierre, crazy trying to rid themselves of this "Reaper" that is supposed to be a ghost.  The Reaper comes across Emma, injured and lost after her mistress threw her out.  He saves her and delivers her to the safety of Lady Fanchese.  She gets into a situation where she protects the Reaper by hiding him in her bed. 

The Key

Author: Christina Dodd
Stars: 3
Review by: BookLover
Italian chastity belts, arranged marriages to Scottish lairds, and filthy clothes all play a part in this tale.  (It is interesting why they didn't wash their clothes.)  Someone tries to kill the laird's son twice, but it was not the evil lord - it was his uncle.  (The Other Boleyn Girl, The Barefoot Princess, and The Key all had evil uncles.)

The Barefoot Princess

Author: Christina Dodd
Stars: 3
Review by: BookLover
Princess Amy kidnaps a nobleman and chains him to a cot to get ransom, but his uncle won't pay the ransom because he wants him dead.  He and his butler have tried for years to find ways to kill him - dangerous dares, coach accident, etc.  

The Other Boleyn Girl

Author: Philippa Gregory
Stars: 5
Review by: BookLover
At 12, Mary's family marries her to John Carey.  At 13, the king wants her, so she goes to him, and her husband must step aside.  She loves the king; he is handsome.  They have 2 children - Catherine and Henry.  Anne, her sister, woos the king to her.  She is evil in her ambition, and mean, but Mary is ordered to stay in court.  Anne finally moves out.  Queen Katherine has the marriage annulled and marries the king.  They have Elizabeth.  The King is getting old and fat and unable to breed her.  She has 2 miscarriages with him, and then has sex with Brother George.  Mary has married William, a farmer.  They have a child, Anne.  William keeps them safe when George and Anne are beheaded.  King Henry VIII marries Jane Seymour, who has no children.  Off with her head!

Tempt Me at Twilight

Author: Lisa Kleypas
Stars: 4
Review by: BookLover
Poppy is in love with Michael, who says he is in love with her, but is dragging his feet when it comes to marriage.  Meanwhile, Harry has a chance meeting with Poppy's sister, Beatrix, and falls in love with her.  A secret love letter changes everything.

Castles in the Air

Author: Christina Dodd
Stars: 3
Review by: BookLover
The story is acceptable; some characters are weak; and the villain is one of the worst I have encountered.  This is a tale about trust, protection, deception, kidnapping, and love.

Lady Sophia's Lover

Author: Lisa Kleypas
Stars: 4
Review by: BookLover
I really liked this book, because I had read another book about Nick Gentry as a runner, and this book put into perspective why he became such a valiant runner.  One day, a beautiful woman comes into his office and convinces Nick to hire her.  What he doesn't know is that she is there to avenge the death of her brother.  She tries to seduce him, but ends up falling in love with him.  Lots of twists and turns follow.

Rules of Attraction

Author: Christina Dodd
Stars: 2.5
Review by: BookLover
Hannah sells her business as Distinguished Academy of Governess, but takes one more job for the Marquess of Roeburn to care for his elderly aunt.  When she gets to the castle, she finds she is working for the husband she left 9 years before, Dougal Pippard.  Now that he has found her again, he is furious with her, but on their initial meeting, to calm him down, she kisses him.  I don't get this part.  Four old ladies interrupt.  These ladies are the best part of the book. 

Rules of Engagement

Author: Christina Dodd
Stars: 2.5
Review by: BookLover
The Earl of Kerrich hires a governess to choose a child for him to adopt from the orphanage.  He will only hire an ugly governess - one who won't be so taken with his good looks that she will fall in love with him.  Pamela gets hired after she disguises herself to be ugly.  She goes to the orphanage and is impressed with 8 year old Beth, who is the best part of this book.  Follow this story of disguise, seduction, embezzlement, and revenge.

Rules of Surrender

Author: Christina Dodd
Stars: 3.5
Review by: BookLover
Not her best series, but this title is the best of the 3 I have.  The characters and plot are good in this love story, complete with seduction and embezzlement.  Follow the adventures of Lord Wynter - from his running away from home, his capture by pirates, and his life as a Bedouin camel tender, to his return to England.  Now married with children, his years as barbarian don't go well with his return to English manners.  As he adjusts, he falls in love with another woman. 

The Romantic

Author: Madeline Hunter
Stars: 3
Review by: BookLover
Julian Hampton is a bachelor for one reason - he is still in love with his childhood sweetheart, Pen.  But Pen grows up and marries the Earl of Glassbury.  When her marriage goes bad, she turns to Julian for help, although she thinks of Julian only as her protector.  Although Pen manages to keep the Earl away from her for a time, he eventually returns and causes more trouble.  Filled with plenty in intrigue, including a hanging, poisoning, and murder trial.

Just Jennifer

This Dark Road to Mercy by Wiley Cash (William Morrow, February 2014)

Following up his much lauded debut, A Land More Kind than Home, Wiley Cash’s sophomore novel tells the story of twelve-year-old Easter and her six-year-old sister Ruby whose mother has just died; the two now find themselves in the foster care system of Gastonia, North Carolina, under the guardianship of Brady Weller.  Their father, former minor leaguer Wade signed away his parental rights years ago, but has recently decided he wants his daughters back in his life, but finds he is unable to assert his rights as their father and kidnaps them in the middle of the night.  Brady Weller, a former cop with a tragedy of his own making in his past, begins to look for the Wade and the girls and quickly finds evidence that links Wade to an armored car heist; Brady is not the only one chasing Wade, though.  Robert Pruitt, who has a long standing grudge against Wade knows Wade has a large part of the armored car take and is being paid to find Wade by the man who considers the money his.  Easter, Brady and Pruitt take turns telling the story, each with a distinctive voice that tells not only the story that is unfolding, but the history that has brought them to the present and put them on a collision course that is unavoidable.  Richly described characters will work their way into readers’ hearts and minds as the plot picks up speed, building suspense, with an urgency to make sense out of the various narratives, but slow down and take in the details that make for a wonderfully moody atmosphere and pay attention to what is happening beneath the surface as families slowly reveal themselves and their tragic flaws. 

Just Jennifer

 Permanent Member of the Family by Russell Banks (Ecco, November 2013)

In his first collection of short stories published (six published here for the first time) in over a decade, Russell Banks plumbs the depths of human beings, their frailties, shortcomings, dreams and the things we tell ourselves and others that become our truths.  The tone for the rest of the collection is set by the first story, “Former Marine” in which Banks lays out, very simply, the life of one man who has tried his best, but has been defeated by forces around him: he has “retired” (been let go) from the local auction house, has mortgaged his trailer and land so his three sons, who are all now employed in law enforcement, were able to attend college and has turned to robbing banks, ineptly, to support himself.  As yet another act of fate intervenes, a chain of events is set of that ends with a stark and startling act.  “Snowbirds” explores a woman’s unexpected reaction to sudden widowhood; the title story watches as a family comes apart and then reassembles itself after divorce and death.  With simple precision, Banks lulls the reader into a sense of normalcy, though all the while foreboding pervades the narrative.  His ability to put a life under a microscope, dissect it into its most basic parts and then put it back together in unexpected ways has a Hitchcock-esque quality in many cases.  Theses haunting characters and the startling situations they find themselves in will stay with readers long after the last page is turned. 

Congratulations to...

... all this year's prize winners:

BigDa, ChrisyH., Elaine, Fernanda, GoGoRn, Karen, Kathyb, kellyham, LateNightReader, libraryaimee, Liza, mystery lover, Pageturner, Pam B, Taffrail, Tartu, the benign bibliophile, Tucker2011, and Yes.

Thank you to the Friends of the Library, for supporting the club.

Congratulations to...

... Kathyb, our Grand Prize Winner!

Congratulations to...

... ChrisyH., our Week #14 Prize Winner!

Progress Throughout Summer 2014

Click on image to enlarge.

Strangers in Death

Author: J.D. Robb (Nora Roberts writing as)
Stars: 4
Review by: Reader
Part of "In the Near Future" mystery series with Lieutenant Eve Dallas.

The Year of Magical Thinking

Author: Joan Didion
Stars: 2
Review by: Reader
Nonfiction.  National Book Award Winner - I wonder - how & why this book received this award.  A memoir - husband's death, daughter's illness, but also distinction of wealth.

Stranger in Paradise

Author: Robert B. Parker
Stars: 4
Review by:  Reader
This book is part of a series of Jesse, a police officer.  Jesse is a really interesting character.  I haven't read the series in order and felt that was fine.  An easy read book.

Torch

Author: Cheryl Strayed
Stars: 2.5
Review by: Miss Lucy
This is the third of Cheryl Strayed's books I've read, but it was the first one she wrote.  Torch is a novel that appears to be autobiographical.  It takes its main characters though the grief of losing their mother/wife, a strong, interesting, well-loved woman who would tell them and others to "work hard, do good, be incredible."

A Cousin's Promise

Author: Wanda E. Brunstetter
Stars: 5
Review by: Bookworm
Again I loved this book about the Amish.  It is about eight cousins.  They were in a horrible accident, their lives forever changed.

Angels All Over Town

Author: Luanne Rice
Stars: 2
Review by: BookDancer
This diamond in the rough is the very first novel by one of my favorite summer authors.  It hints of the wonderful books to come.

Plain Pursuit

Author: Beth Wiseman
Stars: 5
Review by: Bookworm
About the Amish - their simple life and unfailing faith in God.

ObamaCare Survival Guide

Author: Nick J. Tate
Stars: 4
Review by: Bobjam
Difficult law to understand and this book is non-complimentary to its application. It is a good resource guide to anyone who wishes to try and understand how this law will affect them.

Firefly Lane

Author: Kristin Hannah
Stars: 4
Review by: Kathyb
A must read if you were a teen in the 80's.

The Light Between Oceans

Author: M.L. Stedman
Stars: 5
Review by:Kathyb
So wonderful. 

Moloka'i

Author: Alan Brennert
Stars: 3
Review by: Kathyb
Interesting book about leprosy on the Hawaiian islands. A 7 year old is taken from her family and lives her life on Moloka'i.
 

A Curious Man: The Strange and Brilliant Life of Robert "Believe It or Not" Ripley

Author: Neal Thompson
Stars: 4
Review by: BKF
A well written biography of a very quirky, interesting man. Thoroughly enjoyed it!
 

In One Person

Author: John Irving
Stars: 4
Review by: Car-Lay
I'm  not quite finished with this book but have read enough to write a review.  The narrator and main character is Billy, a bisexual whose first love is Miss Frost, a transgender librarian who introduces Billy to books about "crushes on people you shouldn't have a crush on".  As with many of his other books, Irving focuses on characters that are different and peculiar.  We follow Billy for more than a half century as he lives his life as a "sexual suspect".

Summer People

Author: Elin Hilderbrand
Stars: 3
Review by: BookDancer
OK "Soap and suds" reading for the beach. 

In the Company of Cheerful Ladies

Author: Alexander McCall Smith
Stars: 4
Review by: BookDancer
Book 6 in the No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency series continues to delight with its loveable characters and humorous adventures. I plan to keep on listening until I go though the whole series. McCall Smith is still writing them; book #13 is due any day.  Maybe I'll still be listening by next summer's reading club!

Etched in Sand: A True Story of Five Siblings Who Survived an Unspeakable Childhood on Long Island

Author: Regina Calcaterra
Stars: 5
Review by: Miss Lucy
I don't know how any mother could treat her children this way.  Regina and her four siblings are, at best, left to fend for themselves for days at a time, and, at worst, severely beaten.  "The system" is totally useless for these children, and, even at times, works to their detriment.  And yet, the 4 sisters survive and grow up to lead loving lives with their own families.  We don't hear much about how the brother turned out.  Regina went on to make her life meaningful and successful.  The book is very well-written, and I recommend it highly, if you can stand how disturbing it is.
 

The Sandcastle Girls

Author: Chris Bohjalian
Stars: 4.5
Review by:Car-Lay
This book deserves a 5 rating because it was so well written.  However, it was a difficult read and a disturbing topic.  Part of the story takes place during the First World War with the main character, Elizabeth, volunteering to deliver food and medical aid to refugees from the Armenian genocide.  Prior to reading this book, I did not know over 1.5 million Armenians were killed in this genocide.  Fast forward to the present for the other part of the book in which Laura, Elizabeth's granddaughter and a novelist of Armenian heritage, researches her next book and her family's history.  Bohjalian cleverly switches between present day and  WWI to tell the story of Elizabeth and Laura, their love, loss, and family secrets, at the same time, staying true to a horrific historical time.
 

Memoirs of a Poet

Author: Timothy Taylor Woldt
Stars: 3
Review by: Book Worm 1
This was a pretty good read. It was a good first effort on the difficult art of poetry!!

Belong to Me

Author: Marisa de los Santos
Stars: 3
Review by: Barb
I think I found this book on a sale table for fifty cents and chose it because I liked the colors on the cover. They reminded me of Mexico. The story takes place in suburban Philadelphia with several families intermingling for unusual reasons. The beginning contained some humor in the reality of the situations, the middle was rather slow, and the ending, tying everything together was satisfying.

The Ocean at the End of the Lane

Author: Neil Gaiman
Stars: 5
Review by: Chuck3
Surprisingly enjoyable fantasy adventure told by a middle-aged man looking back on an event that happened when he was 7 years old.

The Martian Chronicles

Author: Ray Bradbury
Stars: 5
Review by: Chuck3
Classic sci-fi.  Amazing that this was written more than 50 years ago!

The Christmas Box

Author: Richard Paul Evans
Stars: 4
Review by: msbell
Very touching book!
 

False Profit

Author: Patricia Smiley
Stars: 3.5
Review by: mystery lover
Enjoyable.
 

Coat of Many Colors

Author: Dolly Parton & Judith Sutton
Stars: 5
Review by: Woman on the Go
Lovely children's book I finally had time to read.
 

Pope John Paul II

Author: Patrick Edwards
Stars: 5
Review by: Woman on the Go
Interesting to anyone that loved Pope John Paul.

Icons

Author: Judith Millidge & Jessica Hodge
Stars: 5
Review by: Woman on the Go
A great read if you like a peek into the lives of celebrities.

Assaulted Pretzel

Author: Laura Bradford
Stars: 3
Review by: L.Z.
Fun. Better than the previous one, Hearse and Buggy.
 

The Whole Enchilada

Author: Diane Mott Davidson
Stars: 4
Review by: Saraswati
I think this is my 100th book for the summer.  It was a nice, feel good way to end.  I get the feeling that this may be the end of this series.  The main character has overcome all the trauma of a past abusive relationship and is now on a good path.  The included recipes look great too.  There was death, but a lot of justice was served too.  Enjoy!

Things Your Dog Doesn't Want You to Know: 11 Courageous Canines Tell All

Author: Hy Conrad & Jeff Johnson
Stars: 3.5
Review by: Miss Lucy
This is a cute book.  Eleven dogs take turns sharing their thoughts.  Each dog has his/her own story and personality. 

I loved Gabby's essay, My Opinion of Boys.  There's Sarge, the drug-sniffing dog who got fired when it was discovered that he's been sampling and enjoying the bounty he's been finding.  And I loved #3 of Orson's The Seven Rules of Food - "More than once, and for no reason, you push back my breakfast and dinnertime by one hour.  This goes on for months and months.  All the meals are exactly one hour late, until you finally realize your mistake and get my feeding schedule back on track.  This is very annoying."  I swear, my own dog cannot adjust to Daylight Savings time changes either!
I could go on and on.  If you love dogs, read this book!

City of Thieves

Author: David Benioff
Stars: 5
Review by: ddlesmom
WW II Russia.  A Red Army deserter and a 17 year old boy are sent on a mission to find a dozen eggs for the General's daughter's birthday.  They have one week.  If they find them they live, if they don't they die.  Characters are amazing along with the people they meet along the way of their quest.  Great book.

Orphan Train

Author: Christina Kline
Stars: 4
Review by: ddlesmom
Historical fiction based on true events of orphans taken from the streets of NY and put on a train for the Midwest to be placed in homes as farm hands, etc.  There is a secondary story of a foster teen that I think gets in the way of the real story.  Enjoyed it nonetheless.

Mockingjay

Author: Suzanne Collins
Stars: 2
Review by: ddlesmom
Not the best in the series.  In fact I was pretty disappointed.  Seemed like she needed a way to finish and didn't know how.  The main character, who was strong and resilient in the first two books became a shell of herself.
 

Catching Fire

Author: Pam Dean
Stars: 4
Review by: ddlesmom
Second book in Hunger Games trilogy continues to propel the story forward.  Exciting and action packed!  I can see why everyone loves this series of books.

Wind Chime Point

Author: Sherryl Woods
Stars: 4
Review by: Miss Lucy
I read Wind Chime Point because "book lover" reviewed it on this blog, and I love wind chimes... crazy reason to read a book, but since "book lover" said it was good, I gave it a try.  I loved it!  And I've since seen that "BookDancer" has read it, and "Gypsy P" discovered the author.  Well, Sherryl Woods is now a new favorite of mine. 

I thought it was funny that Gabi loved wind chimes, but her sister Samantha thought they were annoying.  One of my kids told me that wind chimes were annoying and I thought she was crazy.  But now I see she's not alone.

I've just checked out Sand Castle Bay (#1 in this trilogy), and I intend to read Sea Glass Island (#3) as well.
 

Reading Magic: Why Reading Aloud to Our Children Will Change Their Lives Forever

Author: Mem Fox
Stars: 5
Review by: PKB
I read 18 books this summer, but this little book hit home with the importance of making life long readers in the next generation. Keep on reading club members.

Paris

Author: Edward Rutherford
Stars: 3
Review by: Smudge
Moving back and forth between the 1200s and the 1960s and the lives of six families, Rutherford is really telling the story of Paris.  There are many interesting facts, although sometimes I felt like I was attending a lecture, it is not a novel one can read straight through.

Affliction

Author: Laurell K Hamilton
Stars: 3.5
Review by: Saraswati
Much better than the last book.  More character development and emotion.  Since Anita was raising zombies long before the current craze, I can't blame Hamilton for riding the wave.  I thought the Zombie war was anti-climatic and then the story was done.  Either this series is pretty much over or a big new twist will occur to "bring it back to life." 
 

The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells

Author: Andrew Sean Greer
Stars: 4
Review by: Smudge
If you could live your life - with the same people you love in it although your relationships may be slightly different - in a different time period, which one would you choose?

A Week in Winter

Author: Maeve Binchy
Stars: 5
Review by: Lynn T. book lover
 This book was wonderful, heart-warming and cozy...I was so sad when I finished it...knowing it was her last (Maeve Binchy died last summer). Here is the description from Goodreads: Stoneybridge is a small town on the west coast of Ireland where all the families know one another. When Chicky Starr decides to take an old, decaying mansion set high on the cliffs and turn it into a restful place for a holiday by the sea, everyone thinks she is crazy. Helped by Rigger and Orla, her niece, Chicky is finally ready to welcome the first guests to Stone House. John, the American movie star; Winnie and Lillian are forced into taking a holiday together; Nicola and Henry, husband and wife; Anders; Miss Nell Howe criticizes everything and leaves a day early; the Walls are disappointed to have won this second-prize holiday in a contest where first prize was Paris; and Freda, the librarian, is afraid of her own psychic visions.
 

Smithsonian magazine

Author: various
Stars: 4
Review by: Mary NK
Catching up on my magazine pile - this had great articles about giraffes in Niger, Gobekli Tepe in Turkey, and how Lincoln spent election night.

The Whole Enchilada

Author: Diane Mott Davidson
Stars: 3
Review by: Marianne S.
Adequate entry in the series, but the author seemed rushed toward the end.
 

Palace on the Lake

Author: Daryl Wood Gerber
Stars: 3
Review by: mystery lover
A short story that keeps your attention.

In the Company of Others

Author: Jan Karon
Stars: 3.5
Review by: Barb
This is a "Father Tim Novel" with the good priest and his wife, Cynthia, traveling to his ancestral home of Ireland. When misfortune hits in the form of an injured ankle for Cynthia they must stay at the lodge they arrived at first, finding an old journal of the area to read, as well as learning about and loving the people around them. For some reason I had a hard time getting into the book, but I think that is just me lately.

The Pearl

Author: John Steinbeck
Stars: 5
Review by: Carol
Wonderful to reread this classic.
 

The Sixth Man

Author: David Baldacci
Stars: 4
Review by: books&beads
I've now become a fan of David Baldacci.  This was about government conspiracy filled with suspense, full of twists and turns. Overall a really good thriller to read and enjoy.
 

Barefoot

Author: Elin Hilderbrand
Stars: 3
Review by: books&beads
A good summer read or if you are looking for something easy to read. Three women, who each have a secret, gather in Nantucket for a summer together. I enjoyed reading this story about family, cancer, kids, and messy relationships.
 

Aunts Aren't Gentlemen

Author: P.G. Wodehouse
Stars: 4
Review by: KM
I'm a huge fan of P.G. Wodehouse. I prefer audiobook versions, especially with the narrator Jonathan Cecil, who is, in my opinion, one of the best. The summary: On doctor's orders, Bertie Wooster retires to sample the bucolic delights of Maiden Eggesford. But his idyll is rudely shattered by Aunt Dahlia who wants him to nobble a racehorse.      

A Good American

Author: Alex George
Stars: 4
Review by: Smudge
A sometimes humorous sometimes tender story of a multi-generational immigrant family in 20th century America.

The Night Circus

Author: Erin Morgenstern
Stars: 4
Review by: Jambob
I gave this book a 4 due to its extreme sense of creativity. Two magicians unlike any other you know, are thrown into a competition of which they are given no rules, boundaries, or time to complete. They compete by creating magical exhibits in a mysterious circus that only operates at night. The book is mesmerizing and you ponder how it will all end especially since the two competitors fall in love and this competition is to the death. While reading the book I saw in my mind's eye what a wonderful movie it would make with all the special effects adding to the magic of the story!

Hotel Riviera

Author: Elizabeth Adler
Stars: 2
Review by: smudge
Predictable.

Brothers Emanuel: A Memoir of an American Family

Author: Ezekiel J. Emanuel
Stars: 4
Review by: KM
What a great, great read. It's an autobiography--I don't usually read things like this, but am SO glad I did. Very good history of the 1960's and '70's, insightful for different parenting styles, politics, Jewish history and culture and psychology/behavior. It also helped me understand that some people find intense discussion and lively debate normal and necessary--a very valuable realization.
 

The Death and Life of Gabriel Phillips

Author: Stephen Baldwin
Stars: 2
Review by: Lrizza
I didn't realize when I picked this up that the author was actor, Stephen Baldwin.  I would've  put it back on the shelf had I realized.  I'm not much into his religious diatribe.  I found this book to have unnecessary dialogue and  weak and uninteresting imagery.  The way he addressed the "power of prayer" made it sound like something more magical than spiritual.  The only reason why I finished it was because it was a mystery and curiosity got the better of me.  The ending did have a big twist to it, which made it the most enjoyable part of the book.  I wouldn't even bother reading it.

Just Jennifer

The Tilted World by Tom Franklin and Beth Ann Fennelly (William Morrow, October 1, 2013)

In 1927 Mississippi, and throughout much of the South, it rained inches a day for months, swelling the Mississippi River and her tributaries to depths never before seen, compromising the levees that protected the small towns along the shore and the people living in those towns.  Dixie Clay Holliver is just twenty-two, but in her six years of marriage she has watched her young ambitious husband Jesse turn mean and greedy, bribing whomever he feels necessary to accomplish his means, has buried a child and has become the best bootlegger in the Greenville area.  When two revenuers, looking for what they assume is Jesse’s still, vanish without a trace, Hoover sends to more agents, Ted Ingersoll and Ham Johnson back to Hobnob to find what happened to the two men and finish their work.  On the way into town, they stumble upon a crime scene and an abandoned baby.  Ingersoll, who grew up an orphan, can’t bear to leave the baby at an orphanage and finds his way to Dixie Clay when he hears she is heart sick from the death of her infant son.  What he doesn't expect is to fall in love with her and find that she is behind the successful bootlegging operation, two things that set off a chain of events changing everything for Hobnob and its residents as the river continues to rise higher and higher.

Husband and wife team, novelist Franklin and poet Fennelly have created not only a meticulously depicted, historically accurate novel, but a lyrical story of falling in and out of love and families and the different ways we create and destroy them.  The plot is haunting and the despair of some of the characters is palpable; Dixie Clay, Ham and Ingersoll all find themselves doing things they, until this point in time, could never have imagined doing, things they must do not only to survive but to be able to once again live.  Each character’s past is deftly woven into the narrative creating well-developed characters who live and breathe on these pages.   An eloquent novel to be savored. 

Just Jennifer

The Novel Cure: From Abandonment to Zestlessness: 751 Books to Cure What Ails You by Ella Berthoud and Susan Elderkin (Penguin Press, September 20, 2013)

For decades, readers have often sought solace or found a place to escape to in fiction.  Berthoud and Elderkin, who have been sharing novels for twenty-five years and who have run a bibliotherapy service out of The School of Life in London since 2008 have compiled a compendium of ailments and prescribed a novel or two as a “cure” for each.  They have also included short essays on “Reading Ailments” such as “Household Chores, distracted by” and offer up practical remedies (create a reading nook) to solve the problem.

Feeling hopeless? The women recommend Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men and the faith George and Lenny have in their futures as a quick pick me up (maybe not the best choice given their fate, though).  Hate your nose?  Try Perfume: The Story of a Murder (Patrick Suskind) which will draw you into an eighteenth-century world where the streets are so fetid that the only thing to do is find pleasing scents and create new ones, all the while garnering a new appreciation for your once despised once.

From A to Z, nothing is taboo.  Plenty of cross references assures that no malady goes forgotten.  A fun book to pick up and thumb through at random even if you are feeling right as rain.

Escape

Author: Barbara Delinsky
Stars: 4
Review by: Saraswati
My first Digital Library NJ book.  I was looking for another and this was recommended so I gave it a try.  Worked great on my IPhone (just a little small-LOL.)  This book is about realizing the path you have taken has taken a wrong turn.  You just realize it but what do you do?   This is a nice, heartwarming story.  A good way to end the summer.

Claim Me

Author: Julie Kenner
Stars: 3
Review by: Saraswati
Book #2 in this 50 Shades type novel.  The couple can't live without each other so they are back together.  Lo and behold - the almighty male's business is being subjected to situations that may throw this knight off his horse.  Determined to overcome the couple stay together because the extra curriculars are all that and more.  Have to wait for book 3.

Release Me

Author: Julie Kenner
Stars: 3
Review by:  Saraswati
If you liked the 50 Shades series you would probably like this too.  Another Diane Palmer meets kinky series.   A knight in shining armor saves the day and all shall be glad with some kink thrown in.  This is the 1st in this series so the couple meets and flirts.  This time the ages are more appropriate and the female has a dual degree in Engineering and Comp Sci.  Then they get together, it becomes too overwhelming and they break up.  Don't forget the kinky!  This is rather lightweight kink compare to other novels too. 

On What Grounds

Author: Cleo Coyle
Stars: 4
Review by: Saraswati
This is the first book in this series and it explains a lot since I read book 3 first, then 2.  The coffee industry info is great and I have learned a lot from this series.  This is the introduction to the cast of characters with the unfortunate death of an employee at the coffeehouse.   An enjoyable series.

The Night is Alive

Author: Heather Graham
Stars: 3
Review by: Saraswati
The latest in this series.  This takes place in Savannah, GA.  It has pirates, history, love, and of course ghosts.  Good summer read.

Stories I Only Tell My Friends

Author: Rob Lowe
Stars: 5
Review by: Rebecca S
Thoroughly enjoyable. 

Worth Dying For

Author: Lee Child
Stars: 3
Review by:  Michelle D
I like all Lee Child/Jack Reacher books a lot, so I was happy with this one.  However, I read purposely hoping that it explained what happened in the last book (61 Hours) and it did not.  There was basically one or two lines alluding to it, but that was it, so in that respect, I was disappointed.
 

Shore Stories: An Anthology of the Jersey Shore

Author: Rich Youmans, editor
Stars: 4
Review by: Smudge
Short stories, poetry, photos of the New Jersey shore.

The Good Lord Bird

Author: James McBride
Stars: 3
Review by: BigDa
A good yarn.
 

Stealing Home

Author: Sherryl Woods
Stars: 5
Review by:Gypsy P
Sherryl Woods was recommended to me by my neighbor, Linda Goetz ~ I'm not afraid to say I'm addicted.  Can't wait to get my hands on another one of her books.

Closure

Author: Lieutenant William Keegan Jr.
Stars: 4
Review by: Angel1
The untold story of the ground zero recovery mission.