Tag: book review

Review of “A Perfect Fit” by Heather Tullis

   Love has to be the most complicated emotion of all and In the first installment of the DiCarlo Brides series, Heather Tullis takes us on an emotional ride.

  In the book, “A Perfect Fit”

Heather Tullis - A Perfect FitCamellia DiCarlo, Cami for short, has led a charmed life. She and her sister Lana had a loving mother and father and the perfect family. Her mother died several years ago of a debilitating disease and her father had sat by her bedside, supporting her until the very end.

   Cami’s world has suddenly come crashing down with the burial of her father. She had just recently found out he had terminal cancer, a disease that would have killed him within months, if the pulmonary embolism hadn’t taken him first.

   Cami and Lana walk into the lawyer’s office expecting a very private reading of the will, but who are these other women? George Marlin DiCarlo’s estate consisted of a series of Resorts, Hotels  and Spas and he was worth billions. The thing Cami finds impossible to believe is that he also had four other daughters by four different women. How could he keep that kind of secret? Did her mother know?

   The will explains it all, they are each to receive one sixth of their father’s estate, provided they complete his terms. Since none of them besides Cami and Lana knew about the other, they are to take over the opening and running of his latest resort in the mountains of Colorado. They must occupy the home he has bought for them and live together for one year. George explains that he loves each of them equally. He hopes, by requiring them to spend the next year together, they will come to love each other, as friends at least, if not as sisters. 

   Cami feels betrayed. She and her father were so close; how could he not have told her? She then gets another shocker. After meeting a young man that fascinates her, she finds out her father is match making from the grave. 

   I loved this story with all the twist and turns.

Happy reading, Linda 

 

Review of “With This Ring” by Patricia Kay

Love

Love is something we all dream of finding and some never do. This author takes us on a search for the elusive emotion. But not all love is the same and sometimes we have to examine what we feel, what we need and want.   

The Author, Patricia Kay

Patricia Kay gives us a great story, keeping us entertained while showing us the different faces of love. 

With This Ring

Patricia Kay - With this RingIn “With this Ring”, Amy grew up with parents who loved her, but most of all they loved each other. Sam, a wildlife photographer, was not so lucky. When love came, Amy was ready to embrace it but Sam took a little longer to realize that Amy was the love of his life. One more assignment and they would be married but then the unthinkable happens. Sam is on assignment trying for that one in a million picture and suddenly he is falling down a mountainside. They don’t recover the body, but Amy is told there is no way Sam could have survived.  

   Justin is Sam’s best friend and he has been a little in love with Amy since Sam introduced them. It is only natural that Justin would be there for Amy and he can’t help falling more in love with this amazing woman.

   Two years later and Amy has allowed herself to move on. Sam will always be the love of her life but Sam is dead. Sweet, dependable, loving Justin wants to marry Amy and she does love him. He has been there for her, her best friend so she accepts his proposal.

   One morning Amy opens the door expecting to see Justin, only to find Sam. Does Amy marry the man who is always beside her, always ready to love and care for her, or does she go where her heart leads her, back to her one true love? 

This was a great read and gives you an insight into the many facets of love. Don’t miss this story of survival, love and friendship. 

Happy reading, Linda

Book Review: The Summerhouse and Return to Summerhouse by Jude Deveraux

The Author

  I went to a used book sale and found a fantastic read. I have read Jude Deveraux over the years and have always enjoyed her books, but this book seemed to call to a special place in my soul. When I found that there was a second book, I immediately ordered a copy from Amazon. These books were published in 2001 and 2008 so you will probably not find them in your local bookstore. I consider it well worth the effort to secure a copy.

The Summerhouse

  Jude Deveraux - The Summerhouse  In The Summerhouse three lost souls are offer the use of a summer house in Maine. All three had met in New York City at the Department of Motor Vehicles 19 years earlier. They were drawn together that long ago day because of mistakes on their driver’s licenses that had to be corrected. While they waited, they discovered that they all shared a birthday. Now, three broken women meet in a charming cottage on the Maine coast. 

  Leslie, married to her high school sweetheart, suspects he is having an affair and decides to get away where she can think things through. Madison had been in New York to try for a modeling career and went home to nurse her high school boyfriend after a car accident. Ellie had become a famous novelist and in trying to boost her husbands sense of self esteem had lost her own. None of their lives had turned out like they had envisioned on that distant twenty first birthday. 

When Leslie, Madison and Ellie reunite at Summerhouse, they come across a business card. Madame Zoya has an unusual gift, she can send them back in time to relive any three weeks of the past. Will each woman take a different path and follow her dream?  

Return To Summerhouse

Jude Deveraux - Return to Summerhouse In Return To Summerhouse therapist Jeanne Hightower has purchased the summerhouse in Maine and offers it to three of her patients. Amy thought she had the perfect life, until she suffered a miscarriage. Yes, she was having a hard time getting over the loss of her child, but did Stephen have to send her away to some strange place? Zoe is an artist who, after a car accident, found herself unable to remember why her hometown hates her.  Faith, a widow, lost her husband and after the funeral attacked her mother-in-law in front of the entire town. Amy is wondering why she ended up as a member of Jeanne’s crazies. If she isn’t like them, why is she the only one to receive  Madame Zoya’s card? Amy finds the house and is invited in for tea by Primrose, sister to Madame Zoya. Together, they decide that while Amy has the perfect life, maybe she is meant to help her husband Stephen. Stephen’s father owns a trucking company and because his brothers refuse to take any responsibility, Stephen is forced to run a business he has little love for. Amy begs Madame Zoya to allow her to take Zoe and Faith with her to eighteenth-century England to change Stephen’s future. Will stepping back in time show each woman how to achieve the happy ending they all seek? 

Together, these are two outstanding books!

Happy reading, Linda

 

Book Review: Perfect Touch by Elizabeth Lowell

Author Elizabeth Lowell

Elizabeth Lowell writes exciting romantic suspense stories that she sets in the American west and Perfect Touch is no exception. The story plays out in the Grand Teton Mountains of Wyoming. 

Perfect Touch

Perfect Touch - Elizabeth LowellSara Anne Medina is a art dealer and owns her own design studio, Perfect Touch. She is first attracted to Jay Vermilion’s voice, as she consults with him on the telephone. Jay is involved in a lawsuit, his former stepmother and his greedy half-brother are trying to claim a collection of paintings owned by his late father. Sara goes to Wyoming to testify on behalf of Jay’s claim to the sole right to the paintings. 

Jay wins the court battle and he and Sara set about cataloging and evaluation the paintings. A very inconvenient attraction complicates an already tense situation as the couple battles feelings they are powerless to resist. Sara grew up on a ranch and she has no desire to go back. Jay is tied to a land he cannot exist without, so there is no future for them. Two murders and Jay, an ex-solder, finds himself in the middle of a crisis, he must protect Sara, find the killer and solve the mystery of a lost painting. In the aftermath, he has to figure out how to live his life without Sara.

   Perfect Touch is an excellent thriller, Eliabeth Lowell at her best! I highly recommend this book. 

Happy reading, Linda

Scattered by Joan Johnston

Joan Johnston - ShatteredJoan Johnston writes novels with a western theme. I went to a used book sale and found one of her older books that I hadn’t read; “Shattered“, one of the her Bitter Creek novels. I had forgotten what a truly gifted storyteller this lady is.

Nine years ago Kate Grayhawk Pendleton walked into a hotel room she shared with her husband to find him in bed with another woman. Kate walks out of the room and into the bar downstairs, where she picks out a stranger and asks him to go upstairs with her. He checks them into the penthouse suite and a few weeks later she learns she is pregnant.

Fast forward nine years and she has buried her husband with military honers and become involved with a Texas Ranger, but all is not what it seems. She had been shot a few months before and while she is unconscious one of her twin sons had an accident, requiring a blood transfusion. Her mother-in-law, who is a prominent politician, has found out the twins are not her son’s biological children, but that doesn’t concern her as much as what the news, should it come out, will do to her political future.

As if Kate doesn’t have enough to deal with, her husband comes back from the dead and the biological father turns out to be a mob boss’ illegitimate son. Now I admit when you write this all out it sound a little hokey, but Kate and Wyatt Shaw have found the kind of chemistry that happens once in a lifetime. It also turns out Shaw is one of the good guys who has had a hard time living down the circumstances of his birth. While he is angry with Kate for keeping his sons from him, he is so pleased to be a father that he can’t hold on to his anger. He also finds out he is still as attracted to Kate as he was on that long ago night. Kate on the other hand is fighting her attraction to Shaw. She keeps telling herself that she is in love with the Texas Ranger, but she just can’t seem to make herself believe it.

This is really a fun read with plenty of mystery to keep you turning the pages.

Happy reading, Linda Laughlin

 

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