Edge of Dusk (Annie Pederson #1) by Colleen Coble

 

Annie is a law enforcement ranger and widow. She has a young daughter, Kylie. She is trying to run the Tremolo Resort and Marina in Rock Harbor left to her by her father as well as do her job and be a great mom. Jon Dustan, Annie's former love comes back to help his ailing father and fix up his cottage for sale. Together they get embroiled in the mystery that is occurring at the resort and in Annie's enforcement area.

I enjoyed this story and always read anything that shows up from Colleen Coble. She's a favorite author of mine.

I have voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book that I received from NetGalley. All views expressed are only my own honest opinion.

The Element of Love (The Lumber Baron's Daughters #1) by Mary Connealy

 

Laura and her sisters are forced to flee the machinations of a wicked step-father.  They travel as far away as they are able and end up part of Caleb's mission near the California gold camps.  Each one of them is looking for a husband so they can have their inheritance from their father and thwart the evil schemes of their step-father.  As always, Mary Connealy's stories do not disappoint.  Looking forward to the rest of this series!

I have voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book that I received from NetGalley.  All views expressed are only my own honest op

The Prince and the Prodigal by Jill Eileen Smith

 

This is the Biblical account of Joseph and his brothers. Jill Eileen Smith has a unique way of showing what life was like at the time and fleshing out the scriptures into a full blown story. I have loved all of her work so far. I really enjoyed this account.

I have voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book that I received from NetGalley. All views expressed are only my own honest opinion.

The Souls of Lost Lake by Jaime Jo Wright

 

Wren Blythe lives at a church camp with her father and older brother.  Her best friend Eddie lives there with his parents.  Both work at the camp.  A small child has gone missing and they join in the search and rescue effort.  Running parallel to this story is the story of Ava Coons who right around 1920 wandered into town dragging a bloody ax and began the legend and campfire story of Ava Coons.  

This is a somewhat strange story that pulls the happenings in this small community over a century and the lives of these people together.  It comes to a startling conclusion.  I'm still pondering whether I want to read this type of Christian "suspense" in the future.  

I have voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book that I received from NetGalley.  All views expressed are only my own honest opinion.

Shaped by the Waves by Christina Suzann Nelson

 

Cassie has returned with her 5 year old daughter, Lark  to a small town on the coast of Oregon where she grew up.  Her Aunt Shasta, who raised her, has Parkinson's and is in need of care.  Shasta lives above the coffee shop she runs and the whole town is a network of friends that help each other.  Cassie feels like she has returned to her safe place even amidst all the angst of seeing her aunt / surrogate mother in the midst of deteriorating health.  Cassie becomes embroiled in the mystery of who her real mother was and how she ended up living with Shasta at a young age.  This is a lovely book and keeps you guessing about the outcome while dealing with family issues in a thoughtful way.  

I have voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book that I received from NetGalley.  All views expressed are only my own honest opinion.

The View from Coral Cove by Amy Clipston

 

This is a lovely romance based in a small beach community in NC..  Maya Reynolds comes to run the Toy Shop she inherited from her recently deceased Great-Aunt CeCee.  Maya is an author who writes romance novels but she has reached a block since her own relationship ended abruptly when her fiance broke up with her..  She meets a local Vet, Brody Tanner and a friendship develops.  There are a lot of twists and turns in the story but it is just a sweet tale throughout.    Amy Clipston is one of my favorite authors and she has not disappointed this time. 

I have voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book that I received from NetGalley.  All views expressed are only my own honest opinion.

The Bookseller's Promise by Beth Wiseman

 

This seemed like a very odd story at first but as I got into it I really enjoyed it.  Beth Wiseman is a great teller of Amish tales and she really picks out interesting issues to write about.  Apparently this is the first in a series so it will continue to be interesting.  Jake Lantz runs a bookstore that he inherited from his grandfather.  His employee Eva is a few years younger than him and came to work for him when she was just a teen.  There is romantic interest between both of them but there are doubts on both sides about how to transition into a relationship.  Meanwhile, Yvonne flies in to try to talk Jake into selling an old book he has in the basement that he promised his grandfather he would never sell.  Yvonne has a client who is very anxious to own this very rare book.  The story goes from there into a very twisted and complicated tale that still keeps you reading to the end.  If you were wanting an uncomplicated, feel good tale, move away from this one.  If you want an intriguing, thought-provoking story, grab this one.  

I have voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book that I received from NetGalley.  All views expressed are only my own honest opinion.

Until Leaves Fall in Paris by Sarah Sundin

 

This is a wonderful historical romance.  Lucie Girard is a ballerina who has bought her Jewish friends' American bookstore in Paris to allow them to escape the Nazis.  Paul Aubrey is a widower who runs a branch of his family's automobile manufacturing company in Paris.  Both are part of the underground resistance, unbeknownst to each other.  When the United States finally enters the war they are to be put into interment camps and it becomes imperative that they escape the country and flee back to the US.  

There is so much history her but also a great family story.  This book is culturally rich and a well crafted tale.  I highly recommend it.  

I have voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book that I received from NetGalley.  All views expressed are only my own honest opinion.

Stolen Angels (Detective Ellie Reeves #5) by Rita Herron

 

It's a few days before Christmas and a six year old is abducted from the school bus stop.  The whole town is in an uproar and it is up to Detective Ellie Reeves and her colleagues to find the girl and solve the mystery before Christmas.  The story explores both child trafficking and missing children.  It is heartbreaking what the families go through both victims and perpetrators.  This is a gripping story and very well researched and written.  I have found a new favorite suspense author!

I have voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book that I received from NetGalley.  All views expressed are only my own honest opinion.

Kiss Me, Cowboy by Diana Palmer

 

This is two stories in one book -- a sort of series.  In the first one a Colorado rancher meets a local waitress that is new in town.  She is really a television series writer who s hiding from a scandal involving her father who is a star of a series.  Both are trying to avoid publicity and are working in the small ranching community.  The second story involves a wildlife rehabilitator that we met in the first story who takes in injured animals and nurses them back to health and reintroduces them to their wilderness environment.  He finds a nearly frozen girl in the snow in his front yard.  She is running from the person who killed her mother and now wants her inheritance. Both stories are set in the same community in Colorado ranch country. I love the setting, the characters, and this author's way of telling a story.  I highly recommend this book for some enjoyable reading time.

I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book that I received from NetGalley. All views expressed are only my honest opinion.

Life Flight (Extreme Measures #1) by Lynette Eason

 

Penny Carlton drives a rescue helicopter, sometimes in horrendous weather conditions.  When Penny has to do an emergency landing she finds herself on a mountaintop in a storm with no way of notifying anyone of the emergency landing.  She has to leave her two co-workers and the patient in the bird and go on foot to find help and contact her office.  Meanwhile, a fugitive is loose in the same area.   There is a lot of action and suspense in this story and it is nail-biting at times, which makes for a great read.  I love this author and follow her.  I can't wait for the next piece of the story!

I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book that I received from NetGalley. All views expressed are only my honest opinion.

Sunrise (Sky King Ranch #1) by Susan May Warren

 

Dodge Kingston is a bush pilot who is returning to Alaska to help his father after his military service.  His former girlfriend is Echo Yazzie who is a dog sledding expert in the area.  They team up again to solve some situations that are occurring in the bush and find each other again and reestablish relationships from the past. This story is action packed and since it is first in the series I am guessing the other two books in the series will be about Dodge's two brothers.  They were triplets and all went into different branches of the military.  I love stories about the Alaskan wilderness and also love stories about military heroes so this book has double appeal for me.  

I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book that I received from NetGalley. All views expressed are only my honest opinion.

Lights Out (The SNAP Agency #1) by Natalie Walters

 

Brynn is a CIA Agent working on an international program that has members of other countries' intelligence agencies in the US for training. Now one of those spies is missing. So, in order to avoid an international terror incident, other agencies and private organizations are consulted and SNAP (Strategic Neutralization and Protection Agency) is given the case of finding the gentleman and assessing the terror threat. Jack is the lead on the case with the SNAP team and Brynn's boss sends her to be part of the team until the case is solved. Jack and Brynn were in love at one time and classmates at the CIA's training facility but their time there came to an end whey Brynn moved onto the coveted position that she now holds but Jack quit and went to another agency, feeling that Brynn had betrayed him. That's my feeble attempt at putting this in a nutshell, but it's more interesting than that.

I loved this story so much that I went looking for this Author's other work and discovered that there is already a Prequel to this story available for my Kindle so I promptly got it and read it. And I also found out that Book #2 is in the works for later this year. I can't wait to read that one! I love it when I find a new-t0-me author that I can get excited about.

I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book that I received from NetGalley. All views expressed are only my honest opinion.

Love in Plain Sight (An Amish Mail-Order Bride #3) by Kathleen Fuller

 

An abusive fiancé makes Katharine flee her family home in Wyoming and go to an Amish community in another state.  There she meets Ezra, a bachelor with no intention of courting at the moment.  Katharine is shy and tries to keep a low profile.  The two are part of the same Amish congregation and work at the same Inn and cross paths frequently.  This is a nice, feel-good story. This is third in a series and it was fun to see some of the characters from the first two books of the series and also to have a little mystery solved at the end that was with us from the beginning.  

I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book that I received from NetGalley.  All views expressed are only my honest opinion. 

The Knight's Pledge (Sons of Scotland #4)

 

This is a delightful romp in medieval Britain and Scotland that is rich in history and the culture of the time.  This is my first introduction to this author and this series so it took me a while to figure out some of the twists and turns but once into the story, I could not put it down.  I love reading about this period in history but I have no desire to time travel back to it.  I don't think I would last five minutes.  But reading about it is a delicious experience. 

I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book that I received from NetGalley. All views expressed are only my honest opinion.

Under a Broken Sky (Emma Lawson #2)

 

Emma Lawson is an Ethics Investigator in Sacramento, California.  Her boyfriend is the head of the homicide section of the Sacramento Police Department.  Their cases and happenings around them are overlapping and in a very short period of time (a couple of days) there are a lot of complications and new happenings.  The story is very fast paced and full of surprises.  It kept me guessing.  I loved the characters and their different personalities and was overjoyed to find a book where people were somewhat "normal" and good-hearted (except for the villains of course).

This is one of the best suspense books I've read in a while.  Now I have to go pack and read the previous book of the series to get up to speed because I am now following this author on Amazon and eagerly anticipating the next book in the series.  

I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book that I received from NetGalley.  All views expressed are only my honest opinion. 

Shortbread Shakedown (Christmas Cookies) by Sofia Aves

 

Acting Brigadier General Dominic Cage returns from deployment ro Afghanistan and is met at the airport by a mysterious blonde bombshell that kisses him and presses some cookies into his hands and then disappears.  Crusty Cage returns to his old office and digs in to spend the rest of the holiday leave catching up on work.  But soon one of his friends introduces him to a relative who just happens to be VIolet.  She proceeds to include him in Christmas plans with her family and has the man head over heels for her but very dubious about the whole famliy thing.  It comes around to them making a commitment to each other and him buying in to the whole house and furniture and belongings thing that he has avoided all these years with multiple warzone deployments.  

I felt like this could have been a full fledged, fleshed out story.  It was too condensed.  I loved the premise and the characters but the plot could have been more developed.  A happy story that left me wanting more . .

Wrapped Up in Christmas Hope by Janice Lynn

 

Morgan is a widowed mother of a five year old boy.  She has moved to Pinehill, KY, so her son can be raised around family.  Her son would love to be a firefighter when he grows up so he attaches himself to Andrew, a local firefighter.  Andrew is not looking for a relationship because he knows he can't do the family thing because he is planning to become a smokejumper which is a dangerous job and requires long periods of time away from home.  He is however, very attracted to Morgan and to her little boy.  Morgan doesn't want another relationship right now and especially not with a man with a dangerous job -- her first husband died that way.  But Morgan is also very attracted to Andrew.  This is a sweet Christmas tale about Christian values, family bonding, camaraderie between fellow workers and Christmas joy.  This is a great book to read during this holiday season for some fun relaxation.  

I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book that I received from NetGalley.  All views expressed are only my honest opinion. 

Ever Constant (The Treasures of Nome Book #3) by Tracie Peterson, Kimberley Woodhouse

 

This is another wonderful book in this series set in Nome, Alaska. Whitney's two younger sisters are married, her father and his family have joined them in Alaska, her mother and grandfather have died and Whitney is finding the stress of being the oldest, but still unmarried, and ostensibly the head of the family, a little too stressful. Add to it the local unscrupulous owner of almost every property in Nome who is trying to court Whitney to get his hands on her inheritance. Whitney is more interested in the local doctor, Peter Cameron and helping him with all the deadly diseases spreading through the indigenous villages and the gold camps. This is an interesting slice of Alaska history and just an engaging tale. I suggest you pick up copies of Books 1 and 2 along with this one and have a reading marathon over the holidays.

I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book that I received from NetGalley. All views expressed are only my honest opinion.

Her Darling Mr. Day (American Royalty #2) by Grace Hitchcock

 

Theodore "Teddy" Day has returned to New Orleans to his family's luxury riverboat business to try to heal from being jilted (for the 2nd time in his recent life) in New York. Flora Wingfield is a New York heiress that convinces her parents to visit a great aunt in New Orleans for the purposes of finding husbands for the five Wingfield daughters, of which Flora is the eldest. Flora's father is all in with this as he would like more connections to further his business interests. Flora has had a crush on Teddy for years. They have always been friends but soon they become business partners as well. Teddy is great at designing riverboats and Flora also has an interest in design. Together they are an unbeatable combination in designing boats for Teddy's business. They both realize they are in love but other suitors, more approved by Flora's father, are causing ripples in the process. This is a fun and exciting story full of interesting insights into the foibles of high society in the early 1900s.

I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book that I received from NetGalley. All views expressed are only my honest opinion.