Tag: love

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

Review of “Second Star to the Right” by Mary Alice Monroe

Do you believe in magic?

If asked this question, I think most adults would tell you no. I am also sure that most of us would confess that we would like to imagine that magic, Santa Claus, fairy tales and all the things we believed in as children are still alive and well in some small corner of our hearts. 

Do you believe in Peter Pan?

Mary Alice Monroe wrote a charming story about family, children, love and magic. Part fiction, part based on the story of “Peter and Wendy” by Sir James Barrie, a magical story and all you have to do is look through the eyes of a child to see it.  

This book teaches us to believe

Second Star to the Right - Mary Alice Monroe  Second Star to the Right introduces you to a young mother fleeing the United State for England to protect her children from their abusive father. Add a young professor who is searching for his identity and then introduce an older lady who imagines herself to be Wendy Darling of Peter Pan fame. They all meet in a magical old house and together they learn lessons of love, trust and family. Throw in a visit from Peter and a trip to Neverland, but only if you believe. This is a charming story from beginning to end and there is even a happily ever after ending. 

  If you can find one small corner of your heart that believes, then you will love this book! Five Stars!

Happy reading, Linda

Review of “A Mother’s Conviction” By Karen Lenfestey

Trying something different

I have always loved to read and lately I have been trying new authors. These authors have multiple books to their credit, so it really isn’t fair to say they are new authors. I guess I should say they are less known authors and as a author I know how hard it is to get “known”. Maybe you would like to join me on this journey in reading I have embarked upon. 

An author worth sharing

Karen Lenfestey has several books to her credit and I like that she gave me a topic that got my attention. There are so many children in broken homes and this book gives you two perspectives. Karen writes about two sisters, separated by an automobile accident and tossed in two directions. 

What is best for the child

A Mother's Conviction - Karen LenfesteyA Mother’s Conviction takes you on a journey as you follow the lives of two sisters with different fathers. When Gola Moon crashes her car while driving drunk, someone ends up dead. Gola awakens from a coma to find herself facing a prison sentence and her daughters gone.  

Willow, the youngest, is hurt in the car accident and ends up in the foster care system. Bethany gave up her daughter when she was seventeen because she could not give her a good home. When Willow comes to her as a foster child, Beth gets a second chance to become a mother. 

Skye, the eldest, is taken from the hospital by her father who did not clear it with the authorities. His ex-wife is in a coma so she can’t take care of the girl, and if she lives she will be going to prison. Conner never feels comfortable in one place until his grandfather dies and he goes home to take care of the estate. He has been on the move, always changing jobs and names, so no one will take his daughter from him.

   Gola is going to be released from prison and wants her daughters back.  A less then perfect mother, a foster mother and a father vie for the custody of two beautiful girls, but what is best for the children? This is a great story about love with all it’s imperfections and about the effect adults have on the children in our lives. Don’t miss this one!

Happy reading, Linda

Review of “The Wedding Trap” by Adrienne Bell

Something for us less than perfect people!

This book is fast paced and written for less than perfect people like me. Adrienne Bell captured the perfect heroine, a little overweight and insecure, with a mother she loves but doesn’t get along with. This is a fun read!

A fun read!

The Wedding Trap - Adrienne Bell  In “The Wedding Trap”, Beth Bradley is backed into a corner, or so she thinks. Her best friend is getting married and she is to be her Maid of Honor. Beth couldn’t be happier for Isobel, except her ex-boyfriend is the best man. Who wants to show up at the wedding without a date when their ex is involved? So, she brings out her make believe boy friend, Charlie. No one believes Charlie really exists, so she has to find a man to play Charlie and the trouble and fun begins. 

Is he using her or is she using him?

She suspects he is a car thief, but oh what a car thief, with the perfect body wrapped in an expensive Italian suit. He is CIA, sent to investigate a mobster who just happens to be related to the bride. What better cover than to be the boyfriend of the Maid of Honor? 

There is one mishap after another and you will laugh as you fall in love with Beth and Charlie (aka Alex). The nice thing is that Alex, in spite of Beth’s ability to stumble into trouble, has fallen madly in love with her. 

  A great love story with a little mystery thrown in! I highly recommend this book. Happy Reading, Linda 

 

 

Let’s go to the movies!

Movie,”Me Before You” by Jojo Moyes

Me Before You” from the book by Jojo Moyes was a fantastic movie. This story gives you a lot to think about when a young man who has it all, suddenly finds himself paralyzed and confined to a wheel chair. The film deals with life as a quadriplegic, a love that develops against all odds and a mans who doesn’t want life, if he can’t live it on his own terms. “Do you believe you should have the right to end your life?”

Very sad and moving! I highly recommend, Me Before You.

Happy reading, Linda

Review of “Timber Rose” by J.L. Oakley

Take a step back in time!

This author takes you on a trip back in time. J.L. Oakley’s book was a pleasant surprise. This book tells of a time when a woman wasn’t allowed to vote, and was limited on written information about their own bodies. A book on marriage told how to give a party, but skipped the chapter on sex and childbirth. In “Timber Rose”, Caroline eloped and then found herself estranged from her family, so there was no one to explain the personal side of married life. She finds herself blessed with an enlighten friend that is willing to explained what her mother should have told her.

Hiking in a skirt?

Timber Rose - J. L. OakleyThe book, Timber Rose tells the story of a woman from the privileged class who, against her parents wishes, belongs to a mountaineering club. The book is set in the American Northwest in the 1840’s where a woman hiking and mountain climbing was not considered a proper activity. Timber Rose gives you a look into the first women climbers who dressed in long skirts, loggers’ boots, and if you were really brave, knickerbockers (A loose man’s pants with full legs.) to see the world from a mountain peak. 

She considered herself a new woman.

Caroline tried to be the proper daughter. but parties did not interest her. She liked nothing better then hiking into the wilderness, and that is how she found herself on a boat crossing a lake where she and a friend were scheduled to climb Mount Rainier. How was she to know she would meet a man who would change her life? 

Not the proper man!

Bob Alford’s family was not a pillar of society and did not have money, but he was the one who caught Caroline’s attention. At first they met casually, then with the help of Caroline’s cousin they would sneak off to spend time together. Alford had been a logger but he wanted more, he learned about the plant life in the Northwest and he had been accepted as one of the first members of the newly formed Forest Service. The job came with a house, so the next thing to do was propose to Caroline and write her father for permission to marry his daughter. They belonged together and no one could separate them. .

Love, family, marriage and friendship.

His family is loving and excepting while hers disowns her. They begin their life with her family sending thugs to bring her home and they leave Bob bruised and beaten. They are married and no one can keep them apart. In this book you learn about small town life, friendships and a love that continues to grow stronger in spite of the hardships that come their way. 

Very entertaining! I highly recommend this book!

Happy Reading, Linda

 

 

    

 

    

Review of the book “The Charm Bracelet” by Viola Shipman

A grandmother’s treasure. 

Once long ago all little girls had charm bracelets. Someone would give them a charm for all the monumental occasions in their life. By the time that little girl became a grandmother, she had a bracelet so full you wondered how she could possibly find the space for another charm. 

She is a guy!

Viola Shipman is a pen name for Wade Rouse, who writes regularly for People and Coastal Living. Mr. Rouse decided to take the name of his Ozark grandmother, the woman whose charm bracelet and family stories inspired him to write the book, “The Charm Bracelet”.

The Charm Bracelet - Viola ShipmanThree generations of family tied together by a bracelet!

   Arden Lindsey has run away from life in small town America. A life where everyone knows and remembers your every mistake! She married and had a beautiful daughter, Lauren. Lauren’s father leaves and refuses to play a part in her life, offering little help, even financially. 

This is the story of three generations of women. Lauren a talented artist who sees her mother give up her dream as a novelist, to work as a magazine editor in order to support them.  Arden who is working so hard to give her daughter a stable life that she has no life of her own. Lolly with her positive outlook and her inability to find a way to convince Arden that she needs to stop and smell the roses, or in this case the peony. 

Three generations of women tied together by love and three charm bracelets. Charms that have a story to tell about each of them, of Lolly at a time of her life when she needs family more then ever. Can each of them help the other find the path to happiness? 

  This is a charming story filled with love and family. I highly recommend it.

Happy reading, Linda  

Book Review: Twenty Wishes by Debbie Macomber

Debbie Macomber

  We all know that Debbie Macomber is an outstanding author, but with “Twenty Wishes”, part of the Blossom Street series, she hit it out of the ballpark. This author always tells a great story but “Twenty Wishes” isn’t just great, it is outstanding. If she doesn’t get another movie option on this book I will be surprised!

Twenty Wishes

Twenty Wishes - Debbie MacomberThe main character is Anne Marie Roche. She met and fell in love with an older man. He had children, didn’t want more and Anne Marie thought she could live with that. It wasn’t until her biological clock started to run out that she changed her mind. They divorced and she bought a book store and settled into single life.  She and her husband was on the verge of reconciling when he died unexpectedly. 

  The story centers around Anne Marie and her group of friends, all on their own and feeling like life was leaving them behind. It was Anne Marie’s idea, make a list of things to do, an inventory of wishes, something fun and interesting and keep it manageable, Twenty Wishes. Twenty possibilities that would help add meaning, fun and excitement to their life. 

One of those wishes started Anne Marie down a road that would change her life and give her everything she ever dreamed of. She began by volunteering as a lunch buddy at the local school and there she met Ellen, a little girl with only a sick grandmother to care for her. It is so much fun to watch Ellen and Anne Marie grow and become friends, to learn about life and all it’s possibilities. And, it isn’t just a change in Anne Marie, it’s the whole group. Twenty Wishes works a miracle for everyone as each person steps out of their comfort zone and learns to take chances and live.  

I can’t recommend this book highly enough! Maybe we could all use the concept of Twenty Wishes. Get out and live your life to the fullest and you might find that in helping yourself, you can help others. 

Happy reading, Linda

Book Review: Thrill Me by Susan Mallery

Love

It is only fitting I should write of love on Valentine’s Day. We dream of love, write songs about love, but how many of us knows what love is? Love stories give us an example of the author’s idea of love. Written on the page and adapted until it is perfect, but love is seldom perfect. So many of us have had our view of love battered and torn until we don’t reconize it when we see it. So what is love?

Thrill Me - Susan MalleryThe Story – Thrill Me

Maya Farlow’s mother married a man she barely knew and they moved to Fool’s Gold, California. Maya inherited two brothers and for a short period she learned what it was like to have a home and people who cared for her. But her mother didn’t know how to be happy and the marriage soon ended. They continued to live in Fool’s Gold and Maya continued to see her two half brothers. It was a little dysfunctional, but it was family. 

In Thrill Me, the author picks up the story line some years later. Maya all those years ago ran from a young man who loved her. She was scared of trusting anyone, much less a man who claimed to love her and wanted to spend the rest of his life taking care of her. Maya and Del are both back in Fool’s Gold and if they are honest, the love has not died, but has grown!

Susan Mallery writes exceptional stories of small town life. She walks you through a town built on friendship, caring and festivals and introduces you to the citizens of Fool’s Gold.  You see two people who cared very deeply for one another as teenagers find a love that is worth fighting for and through it all you get to know the people that care for them. It’s a great story that will keep you entertained.

   If you are a Susan Mallery fan you need to read this one. If you have never read any of Susan’s books then this is a good place to start.

Happy reading, Linda  

 

 

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