Daughters of the Wreckage by Stefanie Koens

 

My thoughts

The narrators did a great job with this book. They each kept their part perfect.

While I did enjoy the narrators the actual story was just not for me. I usually love this type of book but this one seems more Christian fiction and I just don’t like that genre.

The author wrote a good story. Kept their two timelines at a good pace and made each character feel realistic. I can’t find any fault with her writing at all. It’s just me. I didn’t enjoy this one near as much as I thought I would.

If you like historical and Christian fiction based on real events, then you will love this one.

Thank you to the publisher, the author, and uplit books for the arcs.

3 stars.

About

A woman searching for answers in her own life finds them--and much more--in the wreckage and haunting stories of one of the most infamous maritime disasters in history.

Shortly before Christmas in 2018, Tess McCarthy, after years as a hard-working English teacher who never did anything out of the ordinary, flies to Western Australia's remote Abrolhos Islands. She is in search of answers--both to the infamous Batavia shipwreck and her personal family crises.

Amsterdam, 1628. Saskia, an orphaned young Dutchwoman, boards Batavia with relatives, bound for a new and potentially dangerous life in the East Indies--only for her world to first collide with Aris Jansz, the ship's taciturn under surgeon.

Tess, Saskia, and Aris--their lives linked by secrets that span generations--carry the baggage of past losses and the uncertainty of their futures. And, in the most unlikely circumstances, they may find qualities that echo through faith, acceptance, and love.

Our Mother's Secret by Alison Ragsdale

 

My thoughts

Alison tends to write very emotional stories. The kind that make you cry hard. They touch your heart also. Make you take a deep breath and think about life. Sometimes her stories touch your life. Or a part of your life. This story is so sweet and so sad but also uplifting and beautiful. 

Mairi and Fiona are twins. Not identical but still twins. They know each other's thoughts. What each are feeling. 

Fiona is sick. She needs a kidney. Since she was a wee child she's suffered from this. Inherited from their mother. Now at thirty Fiona is running out of time. If she doesn't get a match she won't survive.

Mairi would do anything for her sister. Anything. She's not a match for the kidney transplant though. And she's pregnant. After suffering a miscarriage her husband Tom tries in every way possible to ensure that Mairi takes it easy and doesn't do anything that could make her lose this baby. 

When their mother Helen comes and tells Mairi a big secret things change. Mairi and Helen have always had a tumultuous relationship and this just adds more to than she thought possible. Mairi loved her dad more than anyone. He was her rock. When he died she felt the loss in a way she didn't think anyone would understand. And she knows that Fiona is hiding something from her too.

This book is truly a very emotional one. I loved the characters even when they aggravated me to know end. It made me stop and think of what I would do if Fiona had been my sister and I was pregnant. Would I do all that Mairi did. Would I put the baby at risk? I can't honestly answer that. I believe I would do anything to help my sister if she needed me. But risk my unborn child..... I'm glad I didn't have to make that choice.

Alison writes with a flair. A tendency to want you to be in tears. At least that is my opinion. She loves to through a big fat curve into a story that makes you gasp. Yes I did guess two bit things in this story but still.. It was so good. It had me in tears. Lots of tears. I hope my eyes can withstand all of that. 

Thank you Bookouture and NetGalley for this arc. 

5 big stars...  

About

When my sister tells me time is running out for her life-saving transplant, tears roll down my cheeks. But she isn’t crying, she’s staring at our mother, who says words that will change my life forever. ‘It’s time for me to tell you the truth…’

I can barely breathe as my mother tells us there is a possibility that the father we adored might not be our birth father. Before I can process the secret she has kept from us, she takes my hand firmly in hers. ‘You have to find him Mairi, the other man. He is our last chance to save your sister.’

When I tell my husband Tom what my mother has asked me to do, I can see the pain on his face. All he wants is for me to rest and protect the precious life inside of me, the baby we hoped for all these years. How can I put my own happiness ahead of saving my sister’s life?

But finding the man my mother loved all those years ago is only the beginning. Because my sister is also hiding something, and it will change everything I thought I knew about our family. Am I truly prepared for what I will discover when I unravel the secrets of those I love the most? And will I be ready to make the most impossible choice of all?

Whisper Creek by Allison Brennan

 

My thoughts

This book will leave you feeling like you were in the fight of your life. The McKenna family did just that. They fought not only mother nature but men who wanted part of their land. By any means possible. 

Ellen McKenna was a widow. She had just lost her husband a year ago and was determined to keep their farm going. She was dealing with their children growing up and the loss of her husband was almost more than she could take. But Ellen is strong. She's very resilient and a good mother. 

A storm is coming and Ellen knows what all the rain will bring. So much flooding and being stranded. She does not want her children to go anywhere and she's determined to stay home. Her grandmother Penny is busy cooking. She's a stress cooker, so they will have plenty to eat during this storm. Determination though can't seem to keep everyone put. Things happen that makes everyone have to do things that take them away from their farm. Also there is something very wrong in the area. Home invasions are amiss. A man and his dog are shot. 

This story keeps you turning the pages to find out more. Will Avery make it home? Will Bobby be ok?

A family being held hostage. One girl who is wheelchair bound. What do these people want? It's pouring rain and everyone is on edge.  There is a lost cat that Bobby wants desperately to find. He's just a child and the cat seems to only trust him. And it's pregnant..... 

When the bad people come to the McKenna ranch their lives will be changed forever. Not only has someone been sabotaging things but whoever is doing it may be responsible for Ellen's husband's death. The people come to their farm to force Ellen to help save one's brother. She refuses until they let her know that they know where her daughter is. And Ellen is a nurse and just can't watch a person die. 

There is a lot going on but it's very easy to keep straight. Between the natural disasters and the human ones we wonder what is going to happen to the McKennas. Will everyone be ok. Will Ellen and her brother in law be able to prove what needs to be proven.(I don't do spoilers) 

This was an excellent story. It shows a mother's love also. When Ellen takes her pregnant friend with her to hopefully get her daughter, Avery, you might think she's a bit off. But wouldn't any mother want her child with her. Safe and sound? I sure would. Flood or no I'd want to make sure my baby was ok... That made this one even more realistic.

Thank you St Martin's Press, MacMillan Audio, and NetGalley for the arc. 

Five big stars.. 

About

Allison Brennan delivers a pulse-pounding thriller about one family fighting for their land against both human enemies and Mother Nature.

After the sudden death of her husband, Ellen McKenna is doing everything she can to keep her Texas farm afloat. She and her family hope to expand their operation, but times are tough and making ends meet is more expensive than she imagined, much less trying to grow. Many of their neighbors in Cooke County have thrown in the towel and agreed to sell their farms to a local businessman, but despite similar pressure, Ellen refuses to let her dreams die.

On top of the usual hardships, a series of recent storms has left the region partly flooded, and as the heavy rain begins again one morning, all the members of the McKenna family jump into action to protect their land and animals. Ellen’s oldest son discovers an injured dog—and the dog leads him to a man barely clinging to life, the apparent victim of a brutal home invasion. Then, Ellen’s younger kids go to check on a nearby neighbor and walk into a threat none of them saw coming.

Before anyone can figure out what’s really going on in their idyllic rural valley, the storm picks up again in intensity, and the McKenna kids find themselves in over their heads with no way to call for help. To protect her farm--and her family—Ellen must face down all the forces trying to tear them apart.

Allison Brennan's talent for twisty, tense pacing combines with a deeply drawn family drama and the unforgiving power of nature in this compelling standalone thriller.

Paper Ghosts by Sarah Addison Allen

 

My thoughts

I enjoyed this book very much. To me it was just the thing for this time of year. Maybe even more so if it was October, but right now it's what I needed. 

This is a story told in three parts. In two timelines. A kind of before and after story. One is Willamena's story, 1976, and the other is her granddaughter, Bailey, present day. It's a story of a small town with lots of, in my opinion, snooty people. Not all, but a lot. Especially the kids where Bailey went to high school. 

This has a love story going on too. A marriage of convenience also. There are some ghostly things going on but not in a scary way. 

I absolutely loved Willamena Wester. Her grandmother, Alice Wester, was not on my list of favorite characters at all. I understand that she thought she was protecting Willamena but she went too far. Enough already. Let that girl enjoy her life. Go to college. Marry who she loves.

Bailey was Willamena's granddaughter. Willamena encouraged her to leave. Go do something with your life. Go to college. Fall in love. She was the opposite of Alice. 

Bailey's dad called her home. Alice was not well and they needed to make amends. 

This story was so sweet. It had it's tense moments and there was an almost assault. But overall it was a very pleasant read. I read it pretty quickly and thoroughly enjoyed it. 

I also listened to the audio. Narrated by Marin Ireland. She did a good narration. Brought out the voices and kept me enthralled with the story.

Thank you St Martin's Press and Macmillan Audio for the arc.

4.75 stars. 

About

Part ghost story, part love story and steeped in magical realism, Paper Ghosts will transport you to a place where old secrets echo through the years and love finds a way of bringing us home.

Every family has its secrets... The Wester women live inside theirs.

For decades, the women of Wester House have unsettled and fascinated their small, timeless North Carolina town. Their home is full of whispers, old griefs, and uncanny knowing. But when Willamena Wester reaches out to the granddaughter she once pushed away, long-buried truths begin to stir.

1976:
Restless young Willamena falls for a stranded musician who brings freedom and the promise of another life to her carefully controlled world. Their brief, incandescent love story promises to escape the pull of the Wester legacy until Willamena makes a fateful choice that changes her life forever.

Present Day:
Returning home is the last thing Bailey Wester wants. Yet as she reconnects with Willamena, the grandmother she feared, Bailey begins to understand the love, heartbreak, and impossible choices that shaped the women in her family and realizes the past may not have been trying to haunt them after all.

A luminous novel filled with Sarah Addison Allen’s stunning prose and signature blend of romance, Southern charm, and wonder, Paper Ghosts reminds us that in order to have the future we really want, sometimes we need to live with the past, and not let go of it.

Mother Daughter Sister Stranger by Hank Phillippi Ryan

 My thoughts

This book was so good. I highly recommend it. Also, I guessed at quite a few people being the kidnapper. I didn't get it. I was way off.....

Two sisters survive a plane crash that took their mother. Bea and Eliza survived. Bea married and has an adopted daughter Piper. I adored Piper. She's very smart and is eleven. She loves books and stuffed animals. She's just adorable. Eliza has her for the week and as they are waiting for Bea to show Eliza wonders, aloud, why Piper has her remembrance dress with her. They are going to the cemetery for the annual remembrance of the parents they lost. Bea is not there. Bea hasn't shown up to get Piper...

Eliza and Piper go through a whole lot of things. They are practically terrorized by things that are happening. They both wonder where Bea is and why has she left Piper. Has she been kidnapped or is she just deserting her daughter?

 

Eliza finds out a lot about her parents when she and Piper go to the family cabin. She hates this cabin but needs a safe place for her and Piper to go until she can find out what is going on and where Bea is. What she finds in the cabin is crazy. A book her father was writing at the time of the crash. And that her boss Whitney, who is a publisher, may have been having an affair??? It's a lot and Bea is determined to get to the bottom of it all. Then along comes their Aunt Margaret. She's the one who came to help them after their parents deaths. 

A lot of things happen but it's fairly easy to follow. Very well written and keeps you wanting more. A few twists and turns along the way and then a big surprise....

The narrator, Stevi Incremona​, did a great job. She kept each character separate and did Pipers character beautifully. Piper is a child and not all narrators can do that...

Also read the Acknowledgments... No, I never read an ending first. That would ruin it for me. I hate spoilers of any kind.... 

Thank you St Martin's Press and Macmillan Audio for the arcs..

Five stars

About:

What happens when the past rises from the ashes to destroy you?

Eliza Ramsey and her sister Bea are the sole survivors of the fiery plane crash that killed their parents—and share a bond they vow is unbreakable. But now, eleven years later, on the exact anniversary of the tragedy, Bea fails to retrieve her pre-teen daughter from a sleepover at Eliza’s. Eliza knows her sister would never leave her precious Piper behind—even in her care—and fears the worst.

Piper is confused at her mother’s absence. Her father, Bea's recent ex, is out of town and uninterested in Bea’s whereabouts. Police are dismissive. But Eliza is terrified. Especially as it becomes clear that Bea might have planned her own disappearance.

The Ramsey’s lives have already crashed and burned once—and now, Eliza discovers she must protect her niece from the horrifying truth about her family’s sinister history—and together, they must prevent their lives from going up in in flames once again.

A missing influencer. Her frightened daughter. And a sister on a desperate search for a happy ending. But someone knows the deadly key to their shared past—and now won’t stop until they’ve written a terrifying final chapter. Mother, daughter, sister—stranger.

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Brimstone Hollow by Archer Sullivan

 

My thoughts

I received an ALC and ARC of this book. It's the second in the Annie Gore books. 

Annie is hired to find out what happened to her father. An estranged father. He's a faith healing, snake handling, minister in a small town called Brimstone Hollow in the Appalachians. Right off it seems someone does not want Annie poking around. While most seem friendly there is someone who doesn't want Annie there. 

There are several dead bodies and between the cops and Annie it seems maybe they are related somehow. It's her job to figure out if Ezra actually died from snake bites or if maybe someone else did it. And if so why....

The cops work well with Annie and most of the people help as much as possible. But there are some who are set on leaving the dead to rest in peace. 

During all that is going on Annie keeps having crazy dreams and doesn't get a lot of sleep. But she does keep trudging on and when the pieces finally start to click she is in danger. She has to fight for not only herself but for another man who is shot trying to help her. Annie is bitten by a timber rattler and if she doesn't get help she could die.  

Annie of course solves the case and finds out exactly who did what and why. From murder, drugs, snakes, religion, you will find out what was done and who did it. I can't say I was totally shocked to find out who did one killing. There was a couple of clues that jumped out at me. It did not in any way take away from the story though. 

I look forward to more by this author. More of the Annie Gore series. This one was a bit dark and dangerous but Annie did get what she was after....

I have to admit that the audio had parts I didn't like. Emily Pike Stewart did a great job. The one thing I didn't enjoy though was her singing. Not that she sounded bad, just I didn't enjoy that part. She should have just read it. She does have a lovely singing voice, I just don't like when a narrator sings....

Thank you St Martin's Press and Macmillan Audio. 

5 stars for the book and 4.75 for the audio... 

About

Following her powerful debut in The Witch’s Orchard, private investigator Annie Gore returns in Brimstone Hollow, bringing readers back to the mountains that author Archer Sullivan, a ninth-generation Appalachian, knows so well.

There isn’t much that happens in the Appalachian Mountains that Private Investigator Annie Gore hasn’t seen. Before she was an Air Force Special Investigator, she was born and raised in those rolling hills, and lately Annie's cases have called her away from her Louisville office and closer to the small towns of her youth than she ever anticipated. But when her newest client asks if she’s ever been to a snake-handling church, Annie knows she’s about to enter unknown territory.

Katie May has been estranged from her father—one of Appalachia’s last infamous snake handling preachers—for twenty years. But when Katie finds out he’s been fatally bitten, and a funeral was held within twenty-four hours, she questions whether someone deliberately rushed the process. Despite Annie’s doubts, she takes the case. After all, when she looks at Katie, she sees a version of a girl who needs to understand her father in order to understand herself.

As she navigates the hidden hollers and dangerous secrets of this insular Eastern Kentucky town, Annie works fast, hoping to find the truth in record time for her client—and before too many memories from her own childhood surface. But it soon becomes apparent that someone wants Annie’s investigation to stop—by any means necessary.

God's Country by William Kent Krueger

 

My thoughts

This author is definitely one of my favorites. He's my top favorite male author. The books this man writes bring you right into the heart of the story. Keep you wanting more and give you things to think about. This series is great. I do need to go back and read some of the earlier books though. I have every one on my kindle. 

In this installment of the Cork O'Connor books Cork goes on a trip with the men in his family. They run into trouble and Cork meets two men who will forever change him. Make him doubt all he believed about himself. I cringed while reading parts of this book. The brutality of what the Kennedy brothers do will have you holding your breath. The older brother is way more hostile and cruel than his younger brother but both are responsible for what happened. One through not trying to prevent things. The other by being a cruel mean hearted man. Even though he was raised by a very brutal man who abused him, there is no excuse. None. I just can't give any clearance to anyone being so mean that they will kill good and decent human beings. 

This book takes you through a whole lot and you start to feel like you are there. In a canoe going through beautiful waterways and stopping for the night to camp in gorgeous ares. It just came alive to me. But as that did so did the brutality of what happened along the way...

Well written. Well lived. A breathtaking look at how our surroundings and childhood may make us who we are as adults. Maybe...

This is book #21 and I look forward to book #22....

Thank you Atria for this eARC...

5 stars. 

About

From the New York Times bestselling author of The River We Remember, a new mystery in the wildly popular Cork O’Connor series.

Cork O’Connor, preparing for a family trip into the Boundary Waters, is troubled by ominous visions about his future. Ignoring the warnings, he uncovers signs of violence while searching for his missing friend, Cordell Bishop. Soon, he is forced to negotiate with dangerous criminals, the Kennedy brothers, who are seeking their late father’s hidden stash.

Facing escalating danger and difficult choices, Cork grapples with his darkest instincts as he helps others escape and eventually takes justice into his own hands. God’s Country is an action-packed thrill ride that will keep readers on the edge of their seats.

A Time of Witches by Madeline Martin

 

My thoughts

May these pages remind you what women have always known-that love is power, kindness is strength, and the care of a friend is the best gift life will ever offer.

This book is so good. This is a quote from the end of the book. The Pages from the Grimoire
Be sure to read the Author Note. Lots of great info.

The audio was so good. It was executed to perfection. Distinguished between the characters like a pro. Well done.

An excellent story with two timelines a few hundred years apart. How they interact and are related. This book has two powerful women who help each other when death is imminent. If not one will cease to exist. Just disappear as if she never was.

How men ruled women by calling them witches if necessary. How love can sometimes prevail after many years.

The witch trials were horrible. The thought that women could turn on each other so easily is beyond my comprehension. Maybe to save themselves from being labeled a witch.

Thank you Harlequin Publishing and Harlequin Audio for the arc.

About

Two women, bound by blood and betrayal, must break silence across centuries—or be silenced forever, in the dazzling new novel by New York Times bestselling author Madeline Martin.

Lilith Legare’s life is unraveling. Since her mother’s death, strange things have been happening - plants turn toward her touch, animals linger in her path, and the birthmark on her arm has started tingling. Worse still is her recurring nightmare of being burned alive at the stake.

Her search for answers brings her from Savannah to England, to the decaying Brackenmere Manor where the past blurs with the present. There, Lilith discovers a legacy she never asked for and along with it, the threat of peril. History must be rewritten, or she too will die.

In 1645 Suffolk, Sybil Brantham stands accused as a witch. An educated, wealthy widow, she is branded a threat by men who fear her independence. As arrests begin and suspicion abounds, Sybil must protect her younger sister, even as betrayal takes root within her household.

Across centuries, Lilith and Sybil are bound by blood and by danger. To save themselves, and each other, they must confront the silence that has stolen women’s power for generations—and dare to claim their voices before it’s too late.

The Women in White by Sarah Pekkanen

 

My thoughts

I enjoy Sarah Pekkanen's books almost every time. This one was a good story. It did start just a bit slow but picked up with each alternating chapter..

Riley applied for a job as a caretaker for an elderly woman. When she steps in Betty's home she is instantly transported to the 1960s. Betty has no television. Has never heard of the internet and no cell service. Her appliances are vintage and she's the sweetest women you'd ever hope to meet. Betty is in her 80s. She's in a wheelchair but gets around her home pretty good. Also.... Betty hasn't been out in like sixty years. Her husband brought her to this house and that is where they lived. He died and now Betty is all alone. 

This is one of those stories that makes you stop and think. About age and aging. About things that may have happened in a time when women were expected to obey and always be submissive to men. A time when men took advantage of women. In this case used the women's husband's jobs to make them do what was needed doing. A professor who was hoping to make it big with mind reading. He took four young women and shaped them. Made them do as he wanted. Put them through rigorous testing. Testing of their minds. They had to stay with him during one such testing period. I thought that if it was me I would have just left... If I had lived back then I would have done exactly what these young ladies did. Endure. Take whatever they had to take. Do what they were told.

I felt a lot of emotions while reading this story. One being so much anger. Anger at how females were treated. Anger at them for allowing it. Sadness for the losses that came. Anger at how the husbands treated their wives. But mostly I had sympathy for these women. You get to know Betty most of all. She is the one who hires Riley. Riley is a good person and helps Betty. Helps her find some semblance of closure and acceptance. Riley takes Betty outside. Takes her on adventures. She not only helped Betty, but also herself. 

I enjoyed this book. I didn't want to put it down. I did figure out who took the college girl in the present. It was just obvious to me. It did not in any way take away from the story though. Also I was very proud of Riley for how she handled her ex-husband in the end. Way to go girl!!

The audio was great. The narrator Saskia Maarleveld did such a good job of changing between many characters. She truly brought them to life.

Thank you St Martins and Macmillan Audio for the arc.

4.5 stars. 

About

The newest next thriller from #1 Bestselling Author Sarah Pekkanen combines a decades-old mystery with spine-tingling paranormal elements in this twisty novel of the seen and unseen.

Extrasensory perception.
The Gift.
A Sixth Sense.
Or something else….

In 1964, four remarkable young women at a prestigious university became the subjects of parapsychology experiments by a visionary scientist. On the cusp of a historic breakthrough, the women mysteriously vanished and the program was erased from history. Decades later, Riley Bell, newly divorced and desperate for a fresh start, accepts a caretaker job for an elderly widow named Betty. Riley steps into a home that is frozen in another era - no microwave, television, or cell phones, and Betty has never heard of the internet. Why has Betty lived in such profound isolation for so many years, and why does she need Riley now? As the story unfolds across two timelines - Betty’s 1960s era of 5 o’clock martinis and high-stakes experiments, and Riley’s quest to uncover the truth about the missing women - old secrets rise to the surface. And the only way to survive is to confront the mystery that has lingered for sixty years.

The Wonder of One by Suzanne Redfearn

 

My thoughts

I have read and loved so many of this author's books. This one may be her best one yet. It's a bit different from the others, but still holds your heart hostage throughout the whole story. There is a child in this one that will touch you in a very profound way. Vivien.

Vivien was born with a birthmark on her face. Around her eye. An ugly birthmark. One that makes some people shun her. Makes other children run from her. But to the ones that love her it's just a part of who she is. A part of her love and most sincere being. Vivien is a rare child. One that will touch your heart. Make you cry for her. Make you root for her. All the way through this book you just want to hug her. 

Vivien's mother was a bit cold. She was not kind to Vivien. Not motherly if you will. I'm not even sure if she truly loved Vivien. At least not in the way a mother should love her child. Maybe it was the circumstances of how Vivien came to be. Maybe it was just a deal to get what she wanted. 

Vivien had plenty of people who loved her though. Ones that stood up for her. The ones who were there for her no matter what. Feed her. Taught her. Clothed her. Did all the things a mother should have done. They were the ones who had been there from the beginning of Vivien's life. 

There is no father. But there is a male role model. She did have Profe. He was everything that a father should be. He was also someone who had been in the family for many years. He had worked for Vivien's grandfather and now for her mother. He was the one who taught Vivien until her mother finally sent her away to school. 

Vivien was bullied something awful. Mostly by a bully called Bart. A person who I believe was just jealous of Vivien. Vivien did have friends. She had people who were there for her at school. But there was also the ones who were mean and cruel, like Bart. Bart terrorized her. 

You read about Vivien's life throughout many years. She grows up to be, in my opinion, a very strong young lady. She gave ice skating a try and was very good. She met Meryl at a pond by the school where Vivien went. Meryl was an ice skating teacher. She saw something in Vivien. They became the best of friends.

This book is priceless in my opinion. It has everything you want in a story. There is laughter, joy, love, heartbreak, death. To much death maybe. Separation. Politics in a vague way. In a huge way when one of the most important people in Vivien's life is taken by ICE. This is one of those stories that will stick around. Make you wonder about things. I hope it will make you look at people who are different in a better way. Not be so judgemental. If you read it that is.

I listened to the audio and read the book. I loved Natalie Naudus as the female narrator. To me though, JD Jackson just wasn't right for the male part. He left a lot to be desired in my opinion. I just could not seem to get into his way of bringing the character to life. He seemed wrong for the part. 

Thank you Lake Union and Brilliance Audio for the ARCs. 

5 stars for the story but only 3.5 for the audio.... 

About

From the #1 Amazon bestselling author of In an Instant comes an inspirational coming-of-age story about one extraordinary girl’s determination to chase a dream.

Vivien Kendall has always been different. Born with a birthmark covering much of her face, she’s been bullied, ridiculed, and mistreated as a child. But at the age of six, Vivien learns that in each of us there burns a spirit flame—a deep belief in oneself that must be nurtured and never allowed to go out.

Living by that wisdom and through the enduring friendships of her nanny, her mentor, and the legend who eventually becomes her coach, she chases her dream to someday become the greatest figure skater in the world.

Along the way, she faces a rapidly evolving world full of modern prejudice and injustice. She falls in love, has her heart broken, learns what it means to win or lose, and discovers the wonder of one, the power within each of us to change things.

When You Loved Me by Beatriz Williams

 

My thoughts

Beatriz Williams is an automatic go to for me. If I see a new book coming, especially one set on Winthrop Island, I'll need to grab it. This is the best yet and I look forward to the next book. Very much so...

This book starts out with a horrific accident during a football game. One player is dead on the field and another's life is turned upside down, never to be the same again.

Nothing given away there. It's just how the story starts. Then you go to Winthrop Island and start searching for buried treasure.

Lucy Cooper had been coming to Winthrop Island during the summer for most of her life. When she was small she lived there with her parents. Her mother took her and left but Lucy came back to visit. She had a best friend, Laura Peabody, and Lucy's dad Bud Cooper,  who lived there. One summer though there was a teenage boy named Ben Ressler. Ben was visiting and both girls had crushes on him. That last summer a boy named Ben came between two best friends. Lucy did not mean to fall in love with Ben. But it happened. They were each other's first loves.. Laura didn't take it to well.

Ben had moved back to Winthrop after his football career plummeted. He became a landscaper and worked hard. He is well loved and no one on the island holds what happened against him. It was an accident.

When Lucy and Ben meet again the fire sparks. Though both it seems try to hide it and not make a deal out of it.

Then there is another story going on but set back in 1816-1817. Still on Winthrop Island. It's set during The Great Snow and is another romance in the making. Hephzibah is living with her sister and brother in law and there is a huge snow storm. Also there are pirates. When two men come in wanting help for their captian and promising to pay them handsomely what can they do. Silas who is married to Beulah, Hephzibah's sister, is sickly. Hephzibah takes charge and does what needs doing. The captain, Ramsay, is hurt and needs quite a few stiches. Hephzibah does the sewing and must do a fine job. 

You get to know the characters in both stories and how they weave together. Lucy's dad has spent his life researching buried treasure and was convinced there was treasure on his land. Thus the reason Lucy's mother took her and left. 

I adored this story. Both of them. Two strong women. Two strong love stories. Pirates and buried treasure. A mystery. A murder??? There are a few things going on and you just have to find out who is doing what and why. I wanted everyone to end up happy and together. I loved the love stories. I loved these characters. The way Ben helped the girls basketball team start winning. How he stood by Laura when she needed him but never left Lucy's side either. 

You may see a few names from other books set on Winthrop Island by this author also. I recognized some. I can't wait to read the next book already. 

Thank you Ballantine Books and NetGalley for this ARC. I also received a physical copy from attending an author event. 

I bought the audio and am so glad I did. I loved how the three narrators made this book even better. The dialect from back in the early 1800s was great. So well done. Each one did great.

 

Five stars.

About

A young widow returns to her late father’s New England estate, only to be drawn into the hunt for the rumored pirate treasure that consumed his life, in this thrilling and moving novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Husbands & Lovers.

Local history insists that a legendary pirate buried his treasure somewhere beneath Windward, the decayed Cooper estate on Winthrop Island, but Lucy Cooper never trusted the fable that broke her family apart. When a widowed Lucy returns with her young daughter to grieve her estranged father, she discovers the property’s buried under a mountain of debt, and Ben Ressler has just turned up on her doorstep.

Thirteen summers ago, a teenaged Lucy never meant to fall in love with Ben, a Dartmouth football star vacationing next door at the Peabody estate, and the object of an all-consuming crush by Laura Peabody, Lucy’s best friend. Those two weeks with Ben were the best and worst of Lucy’s life, dooming her friendship with Laura. Now Ben’s returned to live quietly in the Peabodys’ caretaker lodge, after a fatal accident ended his dazzling NFL career. He’s also the last person who saw Lucy’s father alive.

As Lucy reconstructs her father’s troubling final days, she uncovers his research on the frozen winter of 1717, when a desperately wounded pirate sought refuge on Winthrop Island with an enigmatic healer. To Lucy, this history points the way to a different kind of how to forgive yourself for the mistakes of the past and earn a second chance at love. But just as Lucy’s long-buried emotions sear to the surface, a shocking turn of events reveals that someone else on the island will do whatever it takes to claim the fabled plunder.

A timeless story of love and atonement, When You Loved Me maps both a centuries-old treasure hunt and the intimate territory of the human heart, weaving together past and present as only Beatriz Williams can.

Where She Rests (Nikki Hunt, #12) by Stacy Green

 

My thoughts

I've read all of the Nikki Hunt books and will continue to as long as Stacy Green keeps writing them. Nikki is the best. So strong and take no crap bad.... 

When three young teens are brutally murdered Nikki makes it her mission to find the killer. Two of these young girls worked at the bakery she frequented. Shot execution style. Nothing missing. Except a possible third girl. A runaway. A street child. If she is alive Nikki will find her. 

Back when Nikki was a teenager her parents were brutally murdered. An innocent young man was sent to prison for it. Nikki truly thought he was the killer. He was released after the true killer was found and brought to justice. The innocent young man is now Nikki's brother in law. He's just about the kindest person ever. But he is taken in again. A possible suspect in the murder of the two young girls in the bakery. Nikki comes to his defense...

This story has many twists and turns. A few suspects. Don't even try to figure out who the murderer is.. You won't guess. I thought I had it all figured out. I was wrong. I'm glad I was wrong but I still didn't like the one I thought was the killer. He was a jerk. 

I love almost all of the characters in this series. They start to feel like friends after a while. This one kept me reading all day. I didn't want to put it down. I wanted so bad to know who the killer was and why. Why he killed the two girls in the bakery.

All questions were answered and I finally released a held breath right before the Epilogue... Once Nikki woke up and Rory could breath again I was happy. Now I can't wait for the next book. I'm wondering how Stacy will top this one. It was perfect. 

Thank you Bookouture and NetGalley for this ARC. I bought the audio and it was just great. Made the characters even more realistic.

5 big stars..

About

The girl feels her pulse spike as she tucks herself into the tight space hoping he can’t hear her heavy breathing. She watches him adjust the limp body beside him, and then pause, as if he’s noticed something…

When Special Agent Nikki Hunt walks into the local bakery, she can’t believe the terrifying scene inside. Owner, Claire, is in floods of tears and trembling, the bloodied blond hair of her two young shop assistants peeking out from beneath the white sheets covering them. Nikki immediately panics as she hears Stillwater police whispering that her brother-in-law, Mark, might be the killer…

Though Nikki once proved Mark was innocent of murder, there are people in town who still believe he should be in prison. And everyone knows he just started dating Claire. But finding Mark shaking in the station’s interrogation room, her gut tells her he’s innocent once again. Evidence that a homeless teen was sleeping in the bakery is Nikki’s first real lead, and she begins a desperate search.

But despite knocking on every door, Nikki can find no trace of the missing girl. And then she receives the call she dreads… another body has been found.

Will Nikki be able to protect the people of Stillwater, and her own family? Or has the girl she’s been searching for already lost her life?

Fans of Kendra Elliot, Lisa Regan and Mary Stone will inhale this unbelievably pacy crime thriller until the early hours, desperate to flip the final pages.

The Iron Hex by Victoria S. Walsh

 My thoughts

I did enjoy most of this book. Parts were repetitive and slow but still it was ok. You have a girl who seems to be in love with a guy. The problem is the guy is a witch killer and the girl is a witch. Her best friend is a rabbit. A literal rabbit. What could possibly go wrong?

Eira is a witch who has lost her memory. Her best friend is a rabbit. She thinks her family are all dead and gone. Then along comes Hugo to help her. And her friend Evangeline is suddenly there too. These three take a journey to find a memory witch who can restore Eira's memories. There are some big secrets along the way too. And a love story in the making. Well not exactly in the making since it's kind of been there all along. The problem is one is a witch. One is a killer of witches. How do you make a love match out of that? You'll see...

This is a three part story. I've only read the first part and do highly look forward to the next one. While parts of this story drove me crazy, most was so good. I hated hearing Iron Retinue in almost every paragraph. It was a bit overdone. But this was the author's first attempt at this kind of story so you have to give credit to that. A debut novel that seems to be a hit. 

I listened to the audio while reading the ebook and the narrator Jeremy Carlisle Parker did a good job with it. While she is not one of my favorite narrators she does do a decent job of holding your attention. Keeping the characters separate has to be a job on it's on. 

 

Thank you Harlequin Trade Publishing/MIRA and Harlequin Audio/MIRA for the arcs.

3.75 stars. 

About

She doesn’t remember her past. But some memories come with a cost.

Eira Eckhart has spent years building a quiet life in a small town at the edge of a recently overthrown kingdom. Her memory is fractured, her past a blur—but with her shop, her loyal rabbit familiar, and practicing only the potions magic still legal under the watchful eye of the Iron Empire, she’s managed to remain unnoticed by the empire’s witch hunters.

Until Hugo Venton walks through her door.

Brash, clever, and infuriatingly handsome, Hugo is searching for something…and seems to know more about Eira than she knows about herself. But when a terrifying encounter with an unnatural, deadly new breed of soldier puts a price on her head, she has no choice but to join Hugo on his quest.

Their hunt for a missing princess pulls Eira across the continent—and deeper into a past she can’t recall. As buried memories, mysteries in the Iron Empire’s capital, forgotten feelings, and the truth behind her identity begin to surface, Eira realizes the forbidden magic simmering in her veins might be the very thing that could save them from the Iron Empire’s forces as they draw ever closer…if she can remember how to control it in time.

Meet Me In Paris by Kristin Harmel

 

My thoughts

I will read anything Kristin Harmel writes. Her books always take me to places I would not be able to go. (I don't fly) They give me the emotions that all good books give. All of the emotions. They always keep me wanting more. This book was just so good. Filled with several characters and their stories. Their feelings and emotions. From finding true love to losing old loves. From young to young at heart..

This is a story of many faces. A few young ladies coming to Paris to help their friend get over her husbands affair. A divorce vacation if you will. A mother/daughter who always planned to visit and are here before it's to late. The mother has terminal cancer. A group of people who were in Vietnam together, for a reunion of sorts. A single young lady who just wants to know her father who never was part of her life. (I didn't like him at all. He reminded me of someone in a way). An older man who found out the true love of his life didn't die. She's alive but in a home for memory loss. (dementia) What a story there....

You truly will get to know these characters and all their feelings. The emotions and caring they each have. And there is a lady's man in the group of Vietnam veterans. He was a hoot for sure. 

All of the stories are heartwarming and in ways heartbreaking. Very emotional. Very touching. 

I think this author always out does herself. This is such a good book. It was so interesting to read one that was not historical though in a couple of places there is history in the subject. 

I can't wait to read her next book. 

Thank you Gallery Books and NetGalley for this ARC. 

Five stars 

About

Nine Americans in Paris. Seven intertwined love stories. One City of Light.

Love Actually meets The Notebook in a tale of love, loss, and finding your way home, all set over the course of one life-changing week in Paris.

Julia Glover has brought her twenty-three-year-old daughter, Piper, to Paris for the first time—but they know it will also be their last trip here together. Julia is dying, and as the mother and daughter desperately try to make memories together as the clock ticks down, the world opens up around them. Piper meets a cute French waiter, who might just understand her better than anyone she’s ever met, and Julia meets a man at a dive bar and struggles with how to tell him the truth about her future.

Rock star Jackson Quick’s glory days are behind him. He had a handful of hit songs thirty years ago, but he hasn’t toured in a decade. This week, he’ll launch his reunion tour in Paris, the city where it all began. But he wants more out of life than being defined by fame. When he meets a woman who finally sees him for who he is at his core, the ground shifts beneath his feet.

Henry McGee has been writing hit songs for decades—including Jackson Quick’s biggest hit, City of Light. But his secret is that every love song he’s ever written is for a woman named Celeste, whom he loved a lifetime ago, when they were both teenagers in Paris during World War II. He has spent eighty years believing she died—but when a letter arrives telling him the opposite, he’s on the first flight to France. Can he break through the haze of her dementia, using the songs he’s written all these years, to remind her of who they once were to each other—and to tell her he came back for her?

Henry’s granddaughter, Melody, has just discovered that her husband of twenty years, Gilles, a French cosmetics executive, is having an affair. When she confronts him, he tearfully apologizes and begs her to forgive him. But can she? And, perhaps even more importantly, does she want to? Or is there a different kind of life out there for her if she chooses to be alone?

These intertwining stories—plus several others—unfold over a few breathtaking spring days, as an unforgettable group of Americans in Paris must find their way to their own versions of happily ever after in the City of Light.