Going Home

By

Judith Keim
I have been drawn into a brand new series, in this first book of the series, by Judith Keim and I couldn't be more excited! It's a story that introduced me to Lettie (Violet Hawkins) and her determination to find her place in life. I hurt for her in the beginning with the childhood she endured and the foster parents who told her she was never going to be anything in her life. Tired of the life she was in, she strikes out for a new life in the "free love" of California only to find out that it wasn't any kind of life at all. Hungry and homeless, destiny brings her and Kenton Chandler to cross paths. He offers her a job at his family vineyard business and she's more than eager to accept.
The story takes the reader on a lifetime journey with Lettie. There are so many emotions that my heart went through with her. From all consuming love to the most devastating events, I felt the power of Lettie to pull through each and every situation her life brought her to. She stood up for her principles with determination. She has so much love and compassion for those she's loyal to. She loves with an infinite heart. I love the character of Lettie and felt a part of her life throughout the book.
Ms. Keim has a wonderful descriptive gift of writing. The research she put into the grape growing and wine making business is obvious and I learned how much there is that goes into that. I love the setting of the Willamette Valley in Oregon and I would love to visit there but feel like I have from reading this book.
I want to thank Ms. Keim for the honor of reading an ARC copy of this wonderful book. I am very much looking forward to reading the second book in this series, Coming Home, and living the next chapter in the Chandler Hill Inn Series. I definitely give it 5 stars.

Knit 2, Purl 2, Kill 2
By

Erina Bridget Ring 

Being a caretaker for an elderly parent is a challenge in and of itself. Throw in a group of mean, vindictive women and a crazy sister, you now have an unbelievable story of survival that Mrs. Ring went through.
This story is written from Mrs. Ring's heart. She had my heart yearning to be with her and to be her friend, to encourage, and to let her know how compassionate and caring she was through it all. She has such a caring and fabulous husband, Jack, who was her support, rock and champion.
Caring for her mom was difficult so finding a release in knitting seemed like a great idea....until a group of women knitters she was learning from, were beyond belief.
Not only is Mrs. Ring taking on the challenge of caring for her mom, a jealous and hostile group of women knitters, but in comes a sister who does such crazy and disruptive things, that chaos erupts concerning their mother.
This book took me into feelings and places that made my heart hurt. I had tears for what Mrs. Ring went through. My heart felt every emotional high and low she felt. I admire her for her determination and strength she found to overcome what seemed impossible at times. She says in this passage:
"I've learned a huge lesson, Jack. Bullies do come in the form of sixty-plus-year-old women. And I learned something else, too. I won't stop knitting, and I am not going to let those women destroy me. I've been looking for something, and that something was myself!"
This story is definitely one of survival through what was a very emotional and heart wrenching time. It's not easy to put your life out there like this but I am grateful for Mrs. Ring to write and share her story of coming out the other side better because of it.
This is a memoire of unbelievable events....written by a very caring and giving lady.
Thank you, Mrs. Ring, for the privilege of reading and reviewing your story.
Five stars for me!

Little Comfort
By

  Edwin Hill

"Sam will look right through you. He'll look right into your soul. He'll uncover your dreams, your demons, and your very core.  And he'll use all of it to get whatever he wants."

Crossing paths with Sam Blaine can be the worst thing to happen to a person...unless it's Gabe DiPursio.   It's probably worse than worse.  Then your whole life is linked to Sam.   The two of them have been through  horrific events that bind  them together no matter what.  This book takes the reader on a thrilling investigation of a psychological killer on the run along with his faithful and devoted friend. 

Hester Thursby is a Harvard librarian who also is very good at tracking down missing persons.  She is hired by Lila, Sam's sister, to track him down after he's been missing for years.  Hester has no clue what she's getting herself into.  This is a page turning story that doesn't slow down as the reader is taken along with Hester to locate Sam and Gabe.  There are clues that are sent to Lila by Sam through out the years and Hester starts to piece the puzzle together.  In the meantime, she has a "family" she's trying to hold together and that adds to the depth of the book.

The author has written a deeply suspenseful and page turning book with descriptions that put me in the story.  I wanted to turn and run away from what was happening but I couldn't help but turn the pages to find out what was going to happen next!  The POVs throughout the book switches between the main characters.  There are passages that link the past to the present story and bring it full circle as to why they are at this place in their lives.   The last part of the book is non stop thrilling with hardly any time to breathe.  

This is the first book I've read by this author.  This is out of my usual genre but I found it well written and entices me to see what Hester Thursby's next investigation will be in book two of this series, The Missing Ones.  I want to thank Mr. Hill for the copy of this book and the opportunity to read and review it. 

The Girls of Pearl Harbor
By

Soraya M. Lane

Becoming a part of history in a novel is one of the reasons I love historical fiction so much.  Ms. Lane has done an amazing job in taking me back into the historcal events of what happened at Pearl Harbor when the Japanese flew in and started bombing.  I know from history what took place but "living" this through the characters in this book had my heart pounding and my stomach churning with them.  I was in the thick of these events right along with these characters.

Three best friends plus one, embark on what they think will be the adventure "as the best time of our lives" in the US Army Nurse Corps.  This is the story of April and Grace, two sisters, and their best friend, Poppy.  Their "plus one" is a fireball of energy, Eva, and they fast become treasured friends with each other.   Their first assignment is based in Hawaii, a paradise that will never have it's pristine beauty and peaceful living disturbed.....until that fateful day and the vicious attack on December 7th. 

Ms. Lane's narrative of the attack is heart-stopping action that I felt I was experiencing right along with these characters.  I was in shock and unbelief right along with Grace as she was witnessing the horrific events.   The ear splitting blasts of gun fire, the stench of smoke and death, the ghastly sight of all those injured and dead bodies was so realistic.  I cried and wanted to scream along with the nurses as they ran for cover.  As the awful events of that attack start to settle down, there's unbelievable tragedy that made me cry so much.  "How did we go from having the time of our lives here to losing everything." 

Now that America has been pulled into the war, the nurses are faced with a new assignment.  They are going to work in Mateur, Tunisia.  I traveled along with them and when we stepped off the train, it was definitly a foreign country like none other.  "Grace's heart beat fast as she looked around, amazed all over again at how a regular girl from Oregon had somehow ended up on the other side of the world, in a place so different she couldn't have even imagined it in her wildest dreams."  The living conditions were such a challenge, not to mention the loosly termed "hospital" these nurses worked out of.  It was under almost impossible conditions for them.  The heart they had for helping the wounded and suffering soldiers was truly a sacrifice of love.  They gave their all and cared for each soldier with every breath they had.

There were also the personal stories of each character woven throughout this book.  Each one touched my heart and endeared them to me.  I became attached to them in ways that I didn't expect and pulled for them to fight their way through the horrific conditions, the heart breaking decisions, and the situations they encountered outside of the caretaking they put everything into.  I lived their stories in the words and pages of this fictional, but realistic account of what the nurses in the USANC endured.  I learned so much about their strength to complete their missions and of their love for their country and the patients they cared for.

I want to thank Lake Union, Netgalley, and Ms. Lane for the kindle copy of this historic read that took me back to this time and event.  I have a new found admiration for the nurses who served in this time in history.  I give it 5 plus thankful stars! 

Evening in the Yellow Wood
By
Laura Kemp
Evening in the Yellow Wood is a "hold-on-tight and don't let go" kind of a read! This book took me into the world of Justine Cook and her world was a place of unsolved myteries, unsolved murders, and unsolved questions of what really happened to Justine's father, Robert Cook. It was a thrill of a time searching with Justine for the answers. There is a lot going on in this novel and it never slows down.

Justine's father leaves (she feels abandoned) when she's only twelve years old on her birthday. He has left a gift for her with a card. She doesn't understand how a father could do this. One she's so attached to and loves so very much. She's angry and tears the card up and leaves the gift unopened.

The story then advances to ten years later and Justine sees her father in a newspaper photo. She knows she has to find him. She wants answers as to why he left her. This is where the story takes you on a wild and unforgettable ride into a world of secrets and mystery. A world of terror, shamans, old legends, mind reading, murders, paranormal visions, totems and symbolism. This book has so much that kept me running and holding my breath as I was holding onto my seat! I was "living" this story along with Justine and trying my hardest to get through the tangle of past versus present. It was a heart pounding, rushing adrenaline, don't close my eyes kind of a book. There was a romance aspect to the story that had me pulling for the characters in spite of all the obstacles and threats thown into the mix.

Ms. Kemp wrote a book that kept me awake reading. I could hear and feel a "bumps in the night" kind of feeling as I turned the pages. The story had the pictures in my head and my mind seeing the tricks of the visions so vividly because of the descriptive writing. I enjoyed this book very much...it holds a wonderful mix of things that make you go "YIKES" but also has a storyline with a romance that I loved. There are also so many humorous passages that gave me laughs.

"Except for the fact that I'm a liar who has paranormal visions that cause me to wander around and almost fall off breakwalls, a married ex-lover who has a tendancy to show up unannounced......and a crazy grandmother.......... . aside from that, Mrs. Locke-I'd be a perfect candidate for your son."

I am sufficiently breathing now and had a thrill of a read in this book. I want to thank Ms. Kemp for the copy of her suspenseful book that had my heart racing in so many places. It was GREAT! A five star thrill a page book!

Wildflower Hope

By

Grace Greene
"What the brain knows and what the heart hopes for are often different."

Wildflower Hope.....I have just experienced another emotional and heart tugging journey in the life of the main character, Kara Hart. Kara has had so many tragedies take place in her life that she's struggling to make sense of it all. What is the way forward in her life after the loss of so much?

I love the theme of wildflowers in this series. They are resilient and able to overcome difficult conditions. They grow where they are planted and bloom in spite of adverse conditions. "Wildflowers are tough. They root in unlikely, often hostile environments, yet they manage to grow and bloom." This is the beautiful analogy Ms. Greene uses to take the reader on the continued story of Kara. I was drawn into this continuation of Kara's uncertainties and what is ahead for her in the restoration of the Wildflower House.

Kara must deal with some hard choices in the battle to move forward. There is so much hurt in her life not only from the loss of her father, to betrayal, to a feeling of loneliness, to an addiction she wasn't sure she could overcome. She must choose where and how she wants her life to move forward. I felt the difficult and hard fight she was facing. She is like Wildflower House....she has some renovations to make in her life to put it back together. Things that need to be repaired, things that need to be taken out and things that are still a perfect part of her. This is a beautifully written book that took me through the renewal and sometimes painful hurdles that are part of Kara's life.

This is a story about finding hope, the ability to be able to forgive, and to find the strength to have confidence in her abilities and talents. There are wonderful characters in this book who support Kara in this search for her new purpose. They have wonderful advice and help guide her to make her own decisions and choices. They help her emotionally to be the person she's created to be. They help her to let go of the past and to see a future. They help her realize that she has value and a purpose. She has talent and abilities that are gifts to share with others. This book is an emotional journey. It is a message that through life's hard tumbles and struggles, there is HOPE!

I love the way Ms. Greene drew me into the settings. I was seeing the landscapes, the renovations of the house and the carriage house. The grottos and forests were places I was in and smelling the flowers and fresh air. I was a part of this story emotionally and physically in the pages. It was a powerful and touching read.

I want to thank Ms. Greene for the honor of reading this ARC of her book. I loved every part of it. I am so looking forward to continuing the rebuilding of Wildflower House and Kara's life that she has ahead in the next book. This is a five star plus excellent read!

The Girl in the Diamond Studded Heels
By
G.C. Allen
The adventure continues! When I finished book one, "The Kind of a Girl", and had so much fun with Lorraine Innis, I KNEW that this next book was going to be the ticket to another thrilling adventure! Oh, was it ever! What a whacky and wild ride it is!

The second book continues from where book one left us off....what is Lorraine going to do to complete this "mission" she has started? To get justice for the death of Martina. Well, she has a slight problem in getting this plan off the ground in that she's still forgetting to remember! Throw in the instant rocket to fame and stardom and now she's along for the ride. Oh the places she goes!

I love the characters in these books. They are some of the most outrageous and unforgettable of any I've ever encountered! Their escapades, capers, stunts and situations are a thrill a page! I especially liked the character Eugenia Bupp. She is a crude, blunt, crass and just "puts it out there" old lady and has her own "mission" to accomplish when her original plan fails to ignite. I laughed so hard at her quips and snide remarks. She's one BA lady!

Then, of course, I love Lorraine! I love her! She's become the world's newest sensation and all she wants to do is take care of her "business" but she doesn't remember that's what she wants to do!
"" Oh, yes, you're right," said Lorraine, "how forgetful of me. No, I'm not supposed to know any of you. Am I?"" It's a crazy, mixed up world but she's along for the ride until she can jump off. I was so convinced of who Lorraine is but then.....who is she really?

The book has chapter titles that just add a touch that makes the book complete...well, until book three now! I enjoyed the titles and how they drew me to read more to see how they tied into the next chapter. Oh! AND THAT ENDING! I never expected what happened!

Ms. Allen's zany, uproarious, quirky, and witty humor shines throughout this book! I laughed so hard that my sides hurt and I had tears in my eyes! My husband thought I'd lost it! I enjoy Ms. Allen's writing style and how it makes me feel. It's a feel good kind of read that goes in so many unexpected ways.

Again, this is a read that took me on one hilariously wild and crazy ride with Lorraine! She's my new heroine! Or hero?! So, I really hope you will grab these books, punch your ticket and hop into these books! They are so entertaining and quite the adventure! I can't wait to continue the journey with Lorraine in "The Girl in the Aubergine Sandals"! I hope you will join me by reading these books!

I want to thank Ms. Allen for the copy of this book! It's wonderfully written and so much fun! Totally another 5 star Lorraine adventure!