Magical cookies may be the answer to bringing love to a tea shop worker. The problem is the recipient never seems to get to eat any. She tries several times to unite the man with the cookies but someone else always gets them. All along, and without the aid of magic, they are forming a relationship. Cute story.
Hiding from an abusive, belligerent father, Shelly settled in Clam Cove and safety. With her service dog, she daily copes with anxiety. Meeting shy Max brings her joy and the feeling of security with him. But, her father looms over her happiness. A cozy mystery with romance and a fight to overcome fear.
Alice and Robbie got off on the way wrong foot in their first encounter. She is in Edinburgh to start a three week literary tour in Scotland, England, and Wales. Robbie, it seems, is the tour guide. Days of antagonist barbs turns to romance. All the while, Alice is finding her true self with the help of the senior tour participants and Robbie.
A terrific young adult novel with a second chance flair. For Zac and Melody, it has been a ten year gap since he bungled the chance to finally win her. His mistake left her feeling bereft and unloveable. A disaster of a camping trip brings them the chance to recapture the lost years but all is not easy or uncomplicated.
Teenage enemies to lovers romance begins with a boyfriend’s betrayal and a desperate move for revenge. Jensen, the boyfriend, tries out for and wins a coveted spot on the high school podcast. His girlfriend, Findley, has been practicing for this opportunity for a long time. Seeking revenge, she enlists her friends and his archenemy to win a coveted spot on the football team-Jensen’s spot. Romance intrudes on the plan and Findley is the prize.
The mix of the incredible and the story of a budding love blend together to create a delightful romance.
An endearing second chance romance. Married after a one month whirlwind romance, Eve found the weeks apart from Foster to be seriously hard. She felt second to his motorcycle daredevil career. After three lonely months, she left him and divorced. However, the love never died and when he is seriously injured in a stunt gone wrong, she is enlisted to nurse him back to health. Life then takes many turns for both of them.
A very sweet and engaging romance.
The sweetness of a second chance romance shines through the pages. The love for a widow and her son pull a rugged cowboy to a love decision to woo and court the widow not sure if she has feelings for him. She senses her heart is coming alive and knows he already cares for her son. Mistletoe encourages kisses and new love.
An abusive ex-boyfriend stalks his ex-girlfriend with evil in his heart. Hanna is shaken when she almost gets run over. Her grandfather’s dog pulls her out of danger. The real danger still persists and her father hires a local private investigator, Blake, (also their neighbor’s son who has a clingy ex-girlfriend to contend with) to dig into the hit and run. Romance begins to stir the air in this cozy mystery.
A delightful children’s Christmas book. The illustrations are beautiful and the story is right out of a child’s imagination. I loved it so much that I bought a copy to read to my grandchildren.
The crash and burn of Felicity’s London life is the beginning to an adventure she never would have imagined. Selling her London condo and buying a sight unseen farm in the countryside ushers in a life completely different for her. It also brings Jesse, a man of depth and true character. A captivating story from start to finish.
A beautifully told story of the bond of sisters hundreds of years apart. The two sets of sisters have an unusual characteristic: they live on land but yearn to be in water. Being in water is problematic as water causes their skin to flake and painfully peel. The two current time sisters have dreams of the other two, of the hardships they faced and of the arduous journey they made captive on a ship from Ireland to Australia.
The enduring qualities of sisterhood bind the sisters together and their experiences create an unbelievably engaging story.
An overworked, job weary man meets an enthusiastic barista at an airport coffee bar. She relates stories of her time on a coffee farm in Guatemala. Her desire to return coupled with his work weary mind bring them to exit life in the States and embark on a journey to change. The adjustment to life in Guatemala for him is arduous and good. Their love flourishes among the kind and generous natives.
To me, it seemed the relationship formed rather quickly with only twice a week meetings in the airport. Time jumped without due notice. What seemed like a week was a month, a month a year. The descriptions of Guatemala are wonderful. There is quite a bit discussion of coffee bean harvesting.
Love takes center stage in this story of a mayor and a PR fixer working together to save an in danger event. Chemistry is instant for Liv and Artur when they meet. She is the one for him and he for her but there is a lot of work to be done first.
Two families have formed an ugly, fraught relationship over the years. The son and daughter of their opposing families have found a deep connection that never should have been. The ups and downs of their budding relationship are all centered around the family hatred. Will the family bondage of the family loosen enough to allow them to survive as a couple?
An emotional tale like Romeo and Juliet in a modern setting.
What an absolutely wonderful and tug on your heart strings novel. Eddie is ninety and has never been kissed. Bella is nineteen and grieving the death of her boyfriend. They meet when she drops off her boyfriend’s effects at the charity shop where Eddie works. As their friendship develops and grows, you learn about them and see the closeness grow. It is a touching look at two unlikely individuals helping each other with life.
The second book in The Lost Bride Trilogy does not fail. Sonya, Cloe, Trey, and Owen learn more about the events of the past history of the house and the curse of Hester Dobbs. Hester is pure evil and trapped in the Lost Brides Mansion to her own accord. She creates havoc and noise. Sonya and Cloe are determined to find out the key to ending the curse and every tidbit of information begins to build on ideas.
I eagerly anticipate the last book to tie it all together.
The story is close to a second chance romance but the first chance did not happen. It could have though. Allison was a young teen when she met older Jess on her grandfather’s Colorado ranch. When he dies, Allison finds herself back at the ranch with Jess. She cannot hide her feelings for him. Jess is battling his own for her. When the unexpected happens, emotional chaos begins. Great story.
August and Sloane. She has crushed on him since her teens. He also crushed on her but pushed the feelings way down and married someone else. Thrown together for a social media blitz, their chemistry is way over the top. They are still in denial. A Spicy and fun romance.
The events at Christmas bring together the lost children of Heather to celebrate the season and witness a wedding. Finding out that they were triplets was devastating for the triplets and even more impacting for their mother Heather. In this story, coming together can be a time for healing and acceptance. Heather’s guardianship daughter, Em, is in fear of losing Heather to her biological children even though Heather assures her of her love. A former foster child of Heather, Colt, estranged from both Heather and Em, is also part of the healing and of restoring his place with Em. Throw in a huge surprise, this book is a wonderful telling of family, Christmas, and love.
Spicy and sweet tale of a mother, a father, a baby and their struggles. As financial worries pile up, Taylor and Loretts work to find ways to make ends meet. Loretta has doubts springing up about their relationship. Taylor is as sure as ever.
A wonderful story of their relationship and of them making mistakes and always trying to find their way together.
A Southern Christmas is a wonderful set of novellas. Each novella has a special nod to the South at Christmas. The stories are engaging, captivating, and full of romance.
Oh, how I loved this story of developing love and the complications that might arise. The impetus for the love is an abandoned baby that binds a widow and his six year old daughter to the woman the baby is left to. The joy of their budding feelings is hampered by the fact that he is a temporary vet and destined to leave when his time is up. The pull to stay is strong and the desire to set down roots is starting to form. If only there was a way.
An emotional story that will fill your heart with hope of a heart hugging ending. The story is filled with the love of family, the fears of decisions, and the determination to overcome obstacles and roadblocks.
Joey (Joanna) and Nash were deeply in love. He broke her heart when he left to protect her. Coming back, Val is not ready to trust that he will not leave again no matter how much he pleads his case. Plus, she is pregnant with their baby so there is another person to be concerned with. Danger still surrounds Nash and he is determined to dig through everything to find the true guilty party. Can Joey rebuild her trust in Nash? Is his love true? A captivating story.
A marriage of convenience is on for pregnant Val and Liam. For Val, it is a way for her baby to be born in marriage, just not to the biological father. For Liam, it is a way to persuade his widowed mother to remarry. Things are great for Val and Liam until the baby’s father starts making huge waves.
A delightfully sinister mystery with bodies piling up at an overnight dinner celebration. It seems no one is safe and everyone is trapped in a Chappaquiddick mansion. The ending is a total surprise.
A journey of a lifetime begins with a single step. For Lucie, it is a journey to her ex husband's wedding. Traveling through France with her very pregnant daughter and her neurodiverse nephew, things get exciting. The journey has bumps and bruises as it continues bringing new emotions and life changing decisions. A thoroughly engaging novel.
An engaging story that looks at the complications of a family that changes when orphan teen girls are adopted. The two biological teen sisters resent the addition of the girls and their behavior reflects their resentment and their privilege. It is a telling remark and contrasts with the behavior of the adopted daughters. Their mother struggles with her own lack of judgment in raising her biological daughters, indulging their every whim. The road to creating a cohesive family is long and painful.
Such a sweet and cute romance. Emma works with the Girls and Grit ranch with the broncos. Noah is just discharged from the Seals. Both have insecurities about life and work. They have chemistry together but he feels he has nothing to offer. There is love building if they can only reach out and grab hold.
A completely engrossing story of the lives of a mother, her daughter, and the mystery of her mother’s life. The conversations are short and to the point. The narration follows the same pattern. It is loaded with successes and disappointments. I thoroughly enjoyed the story and the format.
A cute story of how a soldier’s lost diary brings renewed life to a young journalist. The diary was lost during WWII and the grandson of the man who had the diary returns it to a woman in a small English town. Her granddaughter is tasked with reading the diary. The reading begins a journey for her of discovery and love.
I would rate it higher but there is too much rambling and filler than I considered necessary.
I read through three of the recounts of innocent victims convicted of crimes they did not commit. I was unable to read any more as the ineptness and racism in each crime turned my stomach as they should to anyone who reads this book. I can say that if true crime and proving the innocence is something you would read, this book would be number one on the list.
The town of River's Edge welcomes grieving young widow Harper into its fold. She is lost without the life she and her husband planned. When she meets Christmas lover and woodworker Cam, she finds a friend to listen to her. Slowly her walls begin to fall but her grief still lingers. Cam, she finds, is the best man to reckon with and handsome, too. A very sweet and moving Christmas romance.
A Christmas romance to love. Love is in the air at a winter lodge between a lawyer and a musician. Jeannie is not quite sure of Everett, a guitar player. He is cute and nice and so much more. Everett is sure that Jeannie is meant for him. He is aware of her having her eye on an associate at work-a playboy at that. The magic of Christmas and the wonder of the stars brings them close as the notion of the other guy hovers.
Loved this story to bits. The decision of a man to seek the woman he loves is so precious. Celie had a middle School crush on Jake. Jake barely noticed Celie. Then, he has to tell her that her fiance is bailing on her. This makes Celie despise him. All the while, Jake had developed a thing for Celie and when she leaves to work on a cruise ship, he finally decides to take action. He signs up to take her cruise and the excitement takes off. It is such a sweet romance.
A lively and engaging story of a writer searching for idea content for a bestseller and a guy she hopes will create the story within her. Aspen wrote an emotional bestseller but her two next books flopped. She thinks that if she recreates the emotions that triggered her first book, it will happen again. Enter Brick-desperately striving to revive his grandfather’s business and a willing player in Aspen’s plan. Brick and Aspen make a deal to both of their advantages but a contract does not guarantee the outcome.
A great Kay Scarpetta crime solving novel. I have been a reader of Patricia Cornwell for years and love her interlacing of forensic details, interrelated crimes, and deep characters with flaws.
In this novel, a longtime friend and once lover is violently and brutally murdered. Microscopic clues are the sole source of information. Kay’s job is to determine what connects another death to this one and who did it.
The death of a middle school secretary brings all sorts of trouble out of the woodwork. Leslie, a dog groomer and amateur detective, is in the thick of it because she found the body. The Ag teacher who grows chili peppers and the school groundskeeper are prime suspects. But who did the deed? Leslie is nosing around town to find out.
A cute cozy mystery.
A beautiful story of loss, friendship, belief in magic, and the pull of home. The characters all struggle with past mistakes and the serious course they took for each one. Their belief in the power of mountain magic and lore deeply shadowed the truth of mistakes, failure, regret. A simply wonderful novel.
Life teeters on the edge for editor Caroline. She has been at odds with her career since her mother’s death. With an ultimatum to find her next book to publish, she goes to spend Christmas at her mother’s cabin with her sister. A detour to Aspen happens when she reads a mysterious letter to her mother from there. Many things happen in Aspen, testing Caroline over and over.
A captivating Regency romance. The fortunes of Raven are changing and he puts into motion his plan to woo and marry a high bred woman. To do this, he leases a picturesque mansion of a dowager whose property is in dire straits. The dowager’s granddaughter is put in charge of agreeing to renovations and she and Raven are well matched. But, he is dead set on his plan.
What happens is a Regency lover's dream.
A second chance to love blooms in Napa when Chiara and Jameson begin to work together on a winery project. Always friends but never romantic, it is finally their chance if things align. A sweet Christmas romance.
Wolf Comte made a vow to the deceased team leader in the service that he would look up his three biological half-brothers. He never dreamed that his flame of many years would work and live on their ranch with his three year old son. Wolf had no idea that he had a son. The child’s mother tried but was unable to contact Wolf to tell him. Now. Wolf is back in Last Stand making a stand for Taya and his son. And, there are his three half-brothers to contend with.
A hard hitting, second chance romance, lovely in content and connections.
The excitement and joy of a young boy and the gentleness of his father draw Amanda to Isaac and Rafe. Her life holds deep sorrow as does Rafe’s. Can they overcome fear and let love capture their hearts? Only the magic of Christmas will determine.
A lovely, lovely story of second chances for 80 year old Augusta and 83 years old Irving who were teens in love but thwarted at every turn. The sweetness of young romance in the 1920’s is told against the confusion and misunderstandings of the 1980’s. A very, very enjoyable novel.
A short story about friendship between two women. One woman is surprised to find a friend so well matched to her. It is a fast and easy friendship that is not what it seems.
Well written with the right tones to create a friendship that might be the best.
