Where I share my love of books with reviews, features, giveaways and memes. Family and needlepoint are thrown in from time to time.
Showing posts with label Mailbox Monday. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mailbox Monday. Show all posts

Monday, October 15, 2012

Mailbox Monday (Oct 15, 2012)



Welcome to Mailbox Monday, the weekly meme created by Marcia from A girl and her books.  This is where I share the titles I have received for review or purchased during the past week.  Mailbox Monday will be hosted in October by Marcia!



Christmas Roses
by Amanda Cabot

Celia Anderson doesn't have a husband on her Christmas wish list. But when a traveling carpenter finds lodging at her boardinghouse, she admits that she might remarry if she found the right man -- the kind of man who would bring her roses for Christmas It would take a miracle, though, to find roses during a harsh Wyoming winter.


But Christmas, after all, is the time for miracles. . .



The Christmas Pony
by Melody Carlson

With Christmas around the corner, the Turnbull family is in need of a few small miracles.


It is 1937, and Lucy Turnbull knows better than to wish for a pony this Christmas. Her mother has assured her in no uncertain terms that asking for a pony is the same as asking for the moon. Besides, the only extra mouths they need at their boarding house are the paying kind. Then an interesting pair of strangers comes to town, and Lucy's world changes forever.




Big Maria
by Johnny Shaw

Somewhere in Arizona's Chocolate Mountains lie the Big Maria Mine and a wealth of gold lost for a hundred years. There's only one problem: those mountains are now the home of the US Army Proving Ground, the world's largest active artillery range. But for Harry, Ricky, and Frank, three down-at-the-heels guys with few dollars but plenty of dreams, the gold offers each of them a chance for a new life.

Are scuba diving through an underwater ghost town; facing down a hungry mountain lion; doing the hesitation waltz across a minefield; matching wits with potheads, pit bulls, and bikers; and braving the might of Uncle Sam's full arsenal worth it? With little more than a samurai sword, a severed head, and an impractical amount of optimism, these intrepid soldiers of (mis)fortune are about to find out.



The Walnut Tree
by Charles Todd

"I was in Paris the day the French Army was mobilized."

In 1914, while visiting her friend Madeleine, Lady Elspeth Douglas's life is thrown into chaos when war breaks out and the Germans quickly overrun Belgium, threatening France. Having just agreed to marry Alain, Madeleine's dashing brother, Lady Elspeth watches him leave to join his unit, and then she sets out for England, only to find herself trapped on the French coast.

Caught amid a sea of stranded travelers, terrified refugees, and wounded men overflowing the port of Calais, the restless Elspeth -- daughter of a Highland aristocrat whose distinguished family can trace its roots back to the court of Mary, Queen of Scots -- decides to make herself useful, carrying water to weary soldiers near the Front. It is an act of charity that almost gets her killed when enemy shells begin to explode around her.

To her rescue comes Captain Peter Gilchrist, who pulls her away from the battle and leads her to safety. But before they can properly say good-bye, Elspeth and Peter are separated.

Back in London, surrounded by familiar comforts, Elspeth is haunted by the horrors she witnessed in France. She also cannot forget the gallant Peter Gilchrist, even though she has promised herself to Alain.

Transformed by her experience, Elspeth goes to London and enrolls in a nursing course, where she meets a fellow nurse in training, Bess Crawford. It is a daring move, made without the consent of Elspeth's guardian, her cousin Kenneth, a high-handed man with rigid notions of class and femininity.

Yet Elspeth Douglas is a woman with a mind of her own, which -- as she herself says -- is a blessing and a curse. She is determined to return to the battlefields of France to do her part. . . and to find the man she has no right to love, no matter how far Cousin Kenneth may go to stop her. But before she can set things right with Alain, he goes missing and then Peter is gravely wounded. In a world full of terror and uncertainty, can the sweetness of love survive or will Elspeth's troubled heart become another casualty of this terrible war?

A poignant, compelling tale brimming with adventure, danger, and love, The Walnut Tree is an enchanting holiday gift and a wonderful companion to Charles Todd's acclaimed Bess Crawford series.

What books came home to you this week?

Sunday, October 7, 2012

Mailbox Monday (Oct 8, 2012)



Welcome to Mailbox Monday, the weekly meme created by Marcia from A girl and her books.  This is where I share the titles I have received for review or purchased during the past week.  Mailbox Monday will be hosted in October by Marcia!



For Review: 



Proof of Guilt
by Charles Todd

An unidentified body appears to have been run down by a motorcar and Ian Rutledge is leading the investigation to uncover what happened. While signs point to murder, vital questions remain. Who is the victim? And where, exactly, was he killed? 

One small clue leads the Inspector to a firm built by two families, famous for producing and selling the world's best Madeira wine. Lewis French, the current head of the English enterprise is missing. But is he the dead man? And do either his fiancée or his jilted former lover have anything to do with his disappearance-or possible death? What about his sister? Or the London office clerk? Is Matthew Traynor, French's cousin and partner who heads the Madeira office, somehow involved?
The experienced Rutledge knows that suspicion and circumstantial evidence are not proof of guilt, and he's going to keep digging for answers. But that perseverance will pit him against his supervisor, the new Acting Chief Superintendent. When Rutledge discovers a link to an incident in the family's past, the superintendent dismisses it, claiming the information isn't vital. He's determined to place blame on one of French's women despite Rutledge's objections. Alone in a no man's land rife with mystery and danger, Rutledge must tread very carefully, for someone has decided that he, too, must die so that cruel justice can take its course.




With or Without You
by Domenica Ruta

Domenica Ruta grew up in a working-class, unforgiving Italian town north of Boston where in the seventeenth century women were hanged as witches.  Her mother, Kathi, a notorious figure in this hardscrabble place, was a drug addict and sometime dealer whose life swung between welfare and riches, whose highbrow taste was at odds with her base appetites.  And yest she managed, despite the chaos she created to instill in her daughter the idea that art -- via a classic film or a classical education -- could transcend this life of undying grudges, self-inflicted misfortune, and the crooked moral code that Kathi and her cohorts lived by.  With or Without You is the story of Domenica's unconventional coming of age -- a darkly hilarious chronicle of a misfit '90s childhood and the necessary and painful act of breaking away, and of overcoming her own addictions and demons in the process.  In a brilliant stylistic feat, Domenica Ruta has written a powerful, inspiring, compulsively readable, and finally redemptive story about loving and leaving.  




Your House Is on Fire, Your Children All Gone
by Stefan Kiesbye

The village of Hemmersmoor is a place untouched by time and shrouded in superstition: There is the grand manor house whose occupants despise the villagers, the small pub whose regulars talk of revenants, the old mill no one dares to mention. This is where four young friends come of age—in an atmosphere thick with fear and suspicion. Their innocent games soon bring them face-toface with the village's darkest secrets in this eerily dispassionate, astonishingly assured novel, evocative of Stephen King's classic short story "Children of the Corn" and infused with the spirit of the Brothers Grimm.


Digital Books for Review:

No
Picture 
Available


Into the Dark
by Stacy Green

IT’S THE MOMENTS FROM OUR PAST THAT BIND US. 

Branch Manager Emilie Davis is enduring a day like any other–until two masked men storm into WestOne Bank demanding cash. Her hopes of a quick end to her terror are dashed when she realizes one of the men has no interest in the bank’s money. Emilie is his prize, and he’s come to claim her.

When hostage negotiator Nathan Madigan and Las Vegas SWAT enter the bank on a rescue mission, Emilie’s captor makes a shocking escape into the abyss that lies beneath the city: the Las Vegas storm drains, a refuge for the downtrodden and the desperate. 

HOW WILL IT END?

Who is the man the media has dubbed ‘the Taker?’ Why is he after Emilie, and what is the connection he’s convinced they share?

Emilie can’t run from the Taker, and she can’t escape her own past. As her life closes in on her, she has nowhere to turn but to Nathan. The lines of professionalism blur as Nathan becomes determined to save Emilie. Together they venture into the depths beneath Las Vegas and discover a shocking piece of the puzzle. 

But the Taker remains one step ahead. Desperate and sick of waiting for the Taker to emerge from the shadows, Emilie makes a bold move to reclaim her life that may cost her everything.







Redemption on the River
by Loren DeShon

Silas Jacobson pulled a trigger, killed his father, and ended up months later face down in Memphis mud, trying to forget the girl who betrayed him.

Silas buries his father on the farm, his guilt in himself and leaves home seeking to forget past mistakes. He travels on Mississippi steamboats and meets his best friend in a brawl, his worst enemy in a cathouse, and a mentor and lover at a New Orleans faro table. Fighting, fornicating, and cheating at cards are a grand time, but there's another woman, a girl on a mission of her own, who saves his life and offers the opportunity to redeem himself.

Silas staggers out of the mud to go to her, but he finds that she's deceived him from the start. He'll risk his neck for her—he owes her that much—but love is no longer possible. His shot at redemption comes down to his conscience, the two women, a poker game, and the turn of a card.

Redemption on the River is historical fiction set along the Mississippi River in 1848.




Books Won:



Dead Ends
by Sandra Balzo

Reporter AnnaLise Griggs has returned to her picturesque hometown of Sutherton in North Carolina's western mountains to take care of her ailing mother, Daisy.  But her one-month leave of absence becomes far more complicated with the arrival of an unlikely trio of visitors:  District Attorney Benjamin Rosewood, his wife Tanja, and their daughter Suzanne.

AnnaLise and Ben have recent history between them -- history that she can't forgive herself for and he, seemingly, can't forget.  When Tanja's yellow Porsche is found at the bottom of a mountain gorge, AnnaLise is forced to confront some difficult questions that need answers -- and fast. 

Digital Books Won:



The Zombie Always Knocks Twice (Hollyweird, #1)
by E. Van Lowe

Hollywood, California, is known for swimming pools,
movie stars…and now the risen dead.

Hollywood can be a difficult place to grow up, especially if you’re Kristine Golden, a fifteen-year-old necromancer with a sworn duty to lay the risen dead back to rest and no desire to be in the movie business.

When handsome deadie Alex Romero swaggers into her life, Kris must keep her promise, despite her growing feelings for him. If that’s not enough to give a girl a headache, a murderous zombie comes knocking at Kris’s door, rocking her world and threatening her family.

Can Kris solve the mystery of the rampaging zombie before someone else winds up dead? Or will the walking dead take over Hollywood and turn it into…Hollyweird





Night of the Purple Moon (The Toucan Trilogy #1)
by Scott Cramer

The epidemic strikes only those who have passed through puberty.

Abby Leigh is looking forward to watching the moon turn purple. For months, astronomers have been predicting that Earth will pass through the tail of a comet. They say that people will see colorful sunsets and, best of all, a purple moon.

But nobody has predicted the lightning-fast epidemic that sweeps across the planet on the night of the purple moon. The comet brings space dust with it that contains germs that attack human hormones. Older teens and adults die within hours of exposure.

On a small island off the coast of Maine, Abby must help her brother and baby sister survive in this new world, but all the while she has a ticking time bomb inside of her -- adolescence.



What Books came home to you this week?

Sunday, September 30, 2012

Mailbox Monday (Oct 1, 2012)



Welcome to Mailbox Monday, the weekly meme created by Marcia from A girl and her books.  This is where I share the titles I have received for review or purchased during the past week.  Mailbox Monday will be hosted in October by Marcia!


I won these eBooks this week:



Don't Tell
by Mercy Amare

I won this from the author.


I could be surrounded by a million people, but I would still feel alone. I smile on the outside, but inside I feel like I’m slowly dying. I cry out for help, but nobody sees me, at least not the real me. They see a façade, a mask that I put on to hide the pain.

I pretend that I’m normal, but really, what is normal? Maybe what I’m feeling is normal. The hurt, the disappointment, the loneliness… it could be all just be a part of life. Maybe I will never know what normal is.

I put on long sleeves and makeup to hide the bruises, but they only mask the outside. What happens when I can’t carry my burden alone any longer? What would happen if I told somebody the truth?

Don't Tell is a YA Contemporary Romance about love, forgivness and hope.









I won this entire set of ebooks for participating in the release tour of the fifth book - Nine Lives!

Mourning Sun (1st Highland Home Novel)
Captured Sun (2nd Highland Home Novel)
Seven Days (3rd Highland Home Novel)
Banished Sun (4th Highland Home Novel)
Nine Lives (5th Highland Home Novel)






I received the following books for review:


Arctic Fire
by Stephen Frey

Troy Jensen could do it all: he conquered the Seven Summits, sailed solo around the world twice, and even fought a bull in a Mexican slum on a dare. So when word comes that a rogue wave has swept Troy off a crab fishing boat in the Bering Sea and into a watery grave, his brother, Jack, doesn’t buy it. 

Against his better judgment, Jack decides to quit his job as a Wall Street trader and head to Dutch Harbor, Alaska, to investigate. Minutes after revealing his plan in his father’s New York City office, Jack is nearly run down in the street. He doesn’t think much of it at the time, but as he digs deeper into Troy’s disappearance, Jack unearths information about RED-CELL-SEVEN (RCS), a super-secret American intelligence group that has operated for forty years in almost total secrecy and with complete impunity—and its leaders intend to keep it that way at any cost.

Dodging bullets as he makes his way to Dutch Harbor, Jack connects the dots that link Troy with RCS. And when he realizes that it’s impossible to return to his old life, Jack charges headlong into the deepest recesses of America’s most secret and feared intel group in order to uncover the truth about Troy’s disappearance. Along the way, Jack learns that the civilian world’s rules of fair play don’t apply to this brutal new world that has swallowed him whole—especially when he crosses paths with the leader of RCS, a man firmly committed to destroying America in order to protect it.




Sweet Hell on Fire

by Sara Lunsford

As a corrections officer at an all-male maximum security prison, Sara Lunsford worked with the worst of the worst, from serial killers to white supremacists. She knew that at the end of every day, she had to try and shed the memories of the horrors she had witnessed in order to live a happy existence. But the darkness invaded every part of her life. And dealing with a stressful divorce and a mother sucumbing to cancer led her to a complete immersion in her work and eventually the bottom of a liquor bottle. Sweet Hell on Fire takes the reader on a journey with the author, from hitting rock bottom to becoming a woman who understands the meaning of sacrifice, the joy of redemption and the quiet haven to be found in hope.




All to Jesus: A Year of Devotions

by Robert J. Morgan

“Cast all your cares on him.” “Love the Lord with all your heart.” “I can do all things . . . .” You’d be surprised how often the word “all” appears in the Bible—thousands of times. And with each description of God’s comprehen- sive promises, each reminder of our complete blessing in Christ, each appeal for our full and total surrender, His reputation grows larger before our eyes.

We see again what He can do. We see again who we can be.

From Robert J. Morgan (100 Bible Verses Everyone Should Know by Heart, Then Sings My Soul) comes All to Jesus, a choice sampling of the Bible’s most “all”-encompassing statements, surrounded each day by inspiring stories, personal reflections, and the encouraging assurance that you are cared for in ways you never imagined.

Derived from the pages of real life and a pastor’s heart, each daily reading meets you in an ever-deeper place, revealing God’s immeasurable power and keen attention to the smallest detail. Truly, He is all you need. All year long.

I received the following Digital books for review as well:






Violet Midnight (Violet Night Trilogy 1)
by Lynn Rush

Blending in with her college co-eds proves difficult for vampire Hunter, Emma Martin, considering the mystical tattoo on her wrist glows whenever Vamps are near. And after three months of silence, the glow is back with a vengeance.

Jake Cunningham witnesses Emma, a violet-eyed beauty, using unimaginable powers to fight off a fanged creature. Finally, after two years of searching, he may have found out what he’s become—a Hunter, like Emma.

Thankful for an ally in the fight against the Vamps, Emma finds hope and comfort in Jake’s arms. As she learns more about her new love’s family and its dark heritage, she may be forced not only to hunt them but to sacrifice her life to save Jake’s soul.

***Portion of all proceeds donated to American Cancer Society***





Carnival Girl: Searching for God in the Aftermath of War
by Sonja Herbert

The only life little Sonja Francesco has ever known is traveling the carnival circuit and living with her five siblings in a tiny caravan home. The family never stays anywhere long enough for Sonja to make friends or develop roots. The only one in her family, Sonja always believed in God and wants to belong to a church. 

At fourteen, Sonja meets the Mormon missionaries and develops a strong testimony of the truth of the Gospel. But can she live the commandments while traveling with the carnival and running one of the attractions every Sunday? Will it be possible for her to leave her family’s life behind and live the life she has always dreamed of?




Justice (Deck of Lies Book 1)
by Jade Varden

When you build an entire life on a foundation of lies, it only takes one truth for the whole thing to come crashing down. I never invited the truth in. I never went searching for it. I never had any reason to suspect that the two people I loved most were dishonest with me every second of every day. 

I made one bad decision, and in a single day my entire world changed. If I'm ever going to discover the truth about myself and my parents, I have to trace all the lies back to their source. I have to try to find the truth that they're hiding. 

The more I discover about myself, and my past, the more I realize that lies really are better than the truth. But now that I know the lies are all around me, I can't stop until I've discovered them all. I'll pull each lie away, one by one, and examine it to see what's underneath…until this house of cards crumbles into dust at my feet. 

I just hope I can survive the crash.





Sugar Rush
by Rachel Astor

Dulcie Carter has been running her family’s homemade sweet shop, Candy Land Confections, on her own since her mom passed away. Butbusiness is slow and rent is high, so Dulcie knows if she wants to keep her mom’s dream alive, she’ll need a miracle. Winning the annual Assembly of Chocolatiers competition will change everything, if only she can overcome her fears and bring herself to create something new for the first time in a long time.

Then she meets Nick, a molten-hot guy with a sexy smirk and chocolate brown eyes. The attraction is stronger than any sugar rush—until she discovers he’s set to inherit his family’s big-box candy shop in town, which is her strongest competitor for first prize. Nick’s got his own reasons for needing the win, but then being around Dulcie is proving addictive.

As the competition heats up, so do the sparks between them. Can they keep their sights on winning, when love might be the sweetest prize of all?





The Persecution of Mildred Dunlap
by Paulette Mahurin

The year 1895 was filled with memorable historical events: the Dreyfus Affair divided France; Booker T. Washington gave his Atlanta address; Richard Olney, United States Secretary of State, expanded the effects of the Monroe Doctrine in settling a boundary dispute between the United Kingdom and Venezuela; and Oscar Wilde was tried and convicted for gross indecency under Britain’s recently passed law that made sex between males a criminal offense. When news of Wilde’s conviction went out over telegraphs worldwide, it threw a small Nevada town into chaos. This is the story of what happened when the lives of its citizens were impacted by the news of Oscar Wilde’s imprisonment. It is a chronicle of hatred and prejudice with all its unintended and devastating consequences, and how love and friendship bring strength and healing.





All the Broken Pieces
by Cindi Madsen

Liv comes out of a coma with no memory of her past and two distinct, warring voices inside her head. Nothing, not even her reflection, seems familiar. As she stumbles through her junior year, the voices get louder, insisting she please the popular group while simultaneously despising them. But when Liv starts hanging around with Spencer, whose own mysterious past also has him on the fringe, life feels complete for the first time in, well, as long as she can remember.

Liv knows the details of the car accident that put her in the coma, but as the voices invade her dreams, and her dreams start feeling like memories, she and Spencer seek out answers. Yet the deeper they dig, the less things make sense. Can Liv rebuild the pieces of her broken past, when it means questioning not just who she is, but what she is?





Conjure (The Hoodoo Apprentice Book 1)
by Lea Nolan

Emma Guthrie expects this summer to be like any other in the South Carolina Lowcountry--hot and steamy with plenty of beach time alongside her best friend and secret crush, Cooper Beaumont, and Emma’s ever-present twin brother, Jack. But then a mysterious eighteenth-century message in a bottle surfaces, revealing a hidden pirate bounty. Lured by the adventure, the trio discovers the treasure and unwittingly unleashes an ancient Gullah curse that attacks Jack with the wicked flesh-eating Creep and promises to steal Cooper’s soul on his approaching sixteenth birthday.

When a strange girl appears, bent on revenge; demon dogs become a threat; and Jack turns into a walking skeleton; Emma has no choice but to learn hoodoo magic to undo the hex, all before summer—and her friends--are lost forever.


What books came home to you last week?


Sunday, September 23, 2012

Mailbox Monday (Sept 24, 2012)



Welcome to Mailbox Monday, the weekly meme created by Marcia from A girl and her books.  This is where I share the titles I have received for review or purchased during the past week.  Mailbox Monday will be hosted in September by Kristen at BookNAround.



I won these first two books: 



Living in Harmony
by Mary Ellis

(won from FaithfulReader.com)

Amy King -- young, engaged, and Amish -- faces life-altering challenges when she loses both parents in unexpected tragedy.  Amy's fiance, John Detweiler, persuades her to leave Lancaster County and make a new beginning with him in Harmony, Maine, where he has relatives who will help them.

John's brother Thomas and sister-in-law, Sally, readily open their home to the newcomers.  Wise beyond his years, Thomas, a minister in the district, refuses to marry Amy and John upon their arrival, suggesting instead a period of adjustment.  While trying to assimilate into the ultraconservative district, Amy discovers an aunt who was shunned.  Amy wants to reconnect with her, but John worries that the woman's tarnished reputation will reflect badly on his beloved bride-to-be.

Can John and Amy find a way to overcome problems in their relationship and live happily in Harmony before making a lifetime commitment to each other?





It's Fine By Me
by Per Petterson

(won from GrayWolfPress.org)

Fans of Per Petterson's other books in English will be delighted by this opportunity to observe Arvid Jansen in his youth from a fresh perspective.  In It's Fine By Me, Arvid befriends a boy named Audun.  On Audun's first day of school, he refuses to talk or take off his sunglasses; there are stories he would prefer to keep to himself.  Audun lives with his mother in a working-class district of Oslo.  He delivers newspapers and talks for hours about Jack London and Ernest Hemingway with Arvid.  But he's not sure that school is the right path for him and feels that life holds other possibilities.  Sometimes tender, sometimes brutal, It's Fine by Me is a brilliant novel from the acclaimed author of Out Stealing Horses and I Curse the River of Time.

These next books are for review:



One Last Strike
by Tony La Russa

After thirty-three seasons managing in Major League Baseball, Tony La Russa thought he had seen it all -- that is, until the 2011 Cardinals.  Down ten and a half games with little more than a month to play, the Cardinals had long been ruled out as serious postseason contenders.  Yet in the face of those steep odds, this team mounted one of the most dramatic and impressive comebacks in baseball history, making the playoffs on the night of the final game of the season and going on to win the World Series despite being down to their last strike -- twice.


Now La Russa gives the inside story behind this astonishing comeback and his remarkable career, explaining how a team with so much against it was able to succeed on baseball's biggest stage.  Opening up about the devastating injuries, the bullpen struggles, the crucial games, and the players who made it all possible, he reveals how the team's character shaped its accomplishments, demonstrating how this group came together in good times and in bad to become that rarest of things:  a team that actually enjoyed it when the odds were against them.

But this story is much more than that of a single season.  As La Russa, the third-winningest manager in baseball history, explains, their season was the culmination of a lifetime spent studying the game.  laying bare his often scrutinized and frequently misunderstood approach to managing, he explains his counterintuitive belief in process over result, present moments over statistics, and team unity over individual talent.  Along the way he shares the stories from throughout his career that shaped his outlook -- from his first days managing the Chicago White Sox to his championship years with the Oakland A's, to his triumphant tenure as St. Louis's longest-serving manager.  Setting the record straight on his famously intense style, he explores the vital yet overlooked role that his personal relationships with his players have contributed to his victories, ultimately showing how, in a sport often governed by cold, hard numbers, the secret to his success has been surprisingly human.

Speaking candidly about his decision to retire, La Russa discusses the changes that he'd observed both in the game an din himself that told him, despite his success, it was time to hang up his spikes.  the end result is a passionate, insightful, and remarkable look at our national pastime that takes you behind the scenes of the comeback that no one thought possible and inside the mind of one of the game's greatest managers. 




Ghost Town
by Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson

Welcome to Exeter, the "most haunted town in America," thanks to a deadly flood that unleashed an army of ghosts decades ago.  And when ghost trackers Amber, Drew, and Trevor attend a conference during Exeter's spookiest week of the year, the ghouls grow restless.  First, an innocent bookstore worker is mysteriously killed, setting off a string of strange deaths that point to a shadowy spirit known as the Dark Lady.


With a paranormal revolution ensuing, the team must stop the twisted bloodbath.  But a past horror involving the death of a former teammate has them spinning faster than a specter in a storm, especially when they learn that it's his ghost who awakened the Dark Lady.  Now, with their lives on the line and the entire town at stake, the three must decide whether to trust the spirit of their old friend or to finally put a stake through his heart. 






Buddy: How a Rooster Made Me a Family Man
by Brian McGrory

At least on the surface, Brian McGrory had it all figured out -- a plum gig at the Boston Globe, season tickets to Fenway, and a classic town house in Back Bay.  Best of all, he had the coolest companion to enjoy it with, his wise and wonderful golden retriever, Harry.  But a dog's life can only go so long, and when Harry dies, everything changes.  Brian begins to realize what's missing, and it's someone he's known all along: Pam, Harry's veterinarian.  Pam, though, comes with accessories exotic to the city-loving bachelor:  a home in suburbia, a yard with grass, two young daughters, and a long list of animals that includes a portly, snow white rooster named Buddy.  Buddy loves the women of the house and fiercely delights in protecting them, so Brian quickly becomes public enemy number one.

For Brian, it's all deeply unsettling -- the long commutes, the absence of his treasured morning walks, and, of course, the lurking, diabolical rooster.  But as much as he'd like to condemn the bird, Brian admires Buddy's extraordinary relationship with Pam and the girls.  Strong and content, devoted to what he has rather than what might be missing, Buddy has it all figured out.  Will Brian learn the secret to family harmony or find himself packing?  With luminous writing and expert comic timing, McGrory brings to life a classic story of love, acceptance, and change as one man's nemesis becomes his madcap mentor.

In the tradition of bestsellers like Marley and Me and Let's Take the Long Way Home, Buddy is a wise and poignant tale of finding your way in life -- and how wonderful that can be when you have to fight for it. 




Life with Lily
by Mary Ann Kinsinger and Suzanne Woods Fisher

On a small Amish farm in upstate New York, young Lily Lapp has plenty to do and plenty of people to love.  But changes are coming -- including a new baby brother, a new teacher at school, and new ways of looking at the world.  Lily's growing up Amish, and there's always a lot to learn -- if only Lily can stay out of trouble!




Tears Water the Seeds of Hope
by Kim Tews

Tears Water the Seeds of Hope is the inspiring true story of a Midwest husband and wife that become disenchanted with the relentless pursuit of the American Dream and embark on a journey that spans six countries and redefines their values and lives.  The story begins in a small town in Wisconsin and weaves its way through South and Central America as the couple gathers an army of supporters and establishes an organization to save the lives of children in the end stages of starvation in eastern Guatemala.  The narrative is filled with action-packed adventure and heartwarming victories a the characters face incredible odds and seemingly hopeless situations, while hundreds of volunteers join mission teams to offer help and hope through the programs of the ministry.  Readers of all ages will enjoy the roller-coaster ride of emotions -- from laughter to tears to sheer joy -- as they realize that ordinary people can make a difference one life at a time.





Man in the Blue Moon
by Michael Morris

"He's a gambler at best. A con artist at worst," her aunt had said of the handlebar-mustached man who snatched Ella Wallace from her dreams of studying art in France.  Eighteen years later, he has disappeared, leaving Ella saddled with debt and struggling to support three sons.

While World War I rages through Europe, Ella begins her own battle to keep the mystical Florida land that has been in her family for generations from the hands of an unscrupulous banker.  A mysterious man who arrives at Ella's door in an unconventional way convinces her he can help, and a tenuous trust begins.

But when the battle for Ella's land intensifies, the town's suspicion of her visitor surges, and it's soon apparent he is as haunted by his past as Ella is terrified for her future.  As the two realities collide, hypocrisy and murder shake the coastal town of Apalachicola, jeopardizing everything Ella has fought so desperately to save.

In a riveting portrait of turn-of-the-century Florida, acclaimed author Michael Morris weaves an unforgettable drama of love and loyalty, betrayal and redemption.

And I got this great set of children's books from Sylvan Dell for review: 





And then I purchased these books this week:


by Chevy Stevens

From the acclaimed author of STILL MISSING comes a psychological thriller about one woman’s search into her past and the deadly truth she uncovers. 

All her life, Sara Gallagher has wondered about her birth parents. As an adopted child with two sisters who were born naturally to her parents, Sara’s home life was not ideal. The question of why she was given up for adoption has always haunted her. Finally, she is ready to take steps and find closure. 

But some questions are better left unanswered. 

After months of research, Sara locates her birth mother—only to be met with horror and rejection. Then she discovers the devastating truth: her mother was the only victim ever to escape a killer who has been hunting women every summer for decades. But Sara soon realizes the only thing worse than finding out about her father is him finding out about her. 

What if murder is in your blood? 

Never Knowing is a complex and compelling portrayal of one woman’s quest to understand herself, her origins, and her family. That is, if she can survive…




by Maggie Stiefvater

Grace and Sam share a kinship so close they could be lovers or siblings. But they also share a problem. When the temperature slips towards freezing, Sam reverts to his wolf identity and must retreat into the woods to protect his pack. He worries that eventually his human side will fade away and he will be left howling alone at the lonely moon. A stirring supernatural teen romance.


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