Fascinating and engaging book reviews and encouragement you'll want to read.
Author:deanne01
I am an avid reader and reviewer. I am open for review requests please contact me at Cnnamongirl at aol dot com. I work with big name publishers and indie publishers alike. I am on launch and street teams and have MANY NetGalley and GoodReads reviews up. I love all animals and I am a vegetarian. Thank you for joining me here.
A lively competition draws her into her rival’s blueprints–and maybe even his heart.
Olive Kentworth has spent her life hiding her interest in architecture, even though she pores over architectural books and sketches buildings. When she accepts a job on a home expansion, it’s only because her cousin Amos agrees to pose as the builder. To further hide her involvement, Olive takes a position as a nanny–not knowing that she’ll be working for her idol, Joplin’s leading architect, widower Maxfield Scott.
Maxfield is intrigued by his new nanny–she makes his home and his life bearable again. His work, on the other hand, is a disaster. An untrained builder is remodeling a completed project of his. What’s worse, Maxfield’s current client wants changes to his plans because of that builder’s work.
As the architectural one-upmanship heats up, Olive’s involvement becomes harder to hide. Will the relationship between her and Maxfield survive, or will they both miss out on building something for their future?
Calista York needs one more successful case as a Pinkerton operative to secure her job. When she’s assigned to find the kidnapped daughter of a mob boss, she’s sent to the rowdy mining town of Joplin, Missouri, despite having extended family in the area. Will their meddling expose her mission and keep Lila Seaton from being recovered?
When Matthew Cook decided to be a missionary, he never expected to be sent only a short train ride away. While fighting against corruption of all sorts, Matthew hears of a baby raffle being held to raise funds for a children’s home. He’ll do what he can to stop it, but he also wants to stop the reckless Miss York, whose bad judgment consistently seems to be putting her in harm’s way.
Calista doesn’t need the handsome pastor interfering with her investigation, and she can’t let her disguise slip. Her job and the life of a young lady depend on keeping Matthew in the dark.
My Thoughts
Oh, how I have loved this series and how well researched it is. I enjoyed reading the author’s notes at the end of the book, she lets us know that some of the characters are based off of actual Joplinites of an earlier time, including their name. She does this as a way to honor these individuals and because she finds some of these people fascinating. I enjoyed our character Olive, a woman architect who has hidden her interest and talent because this is not an occupation woman are “supposed” to have during this historical time period. Her reading choices are not the lady’s society page but rather architectural books and building blueprints. Now that’s one smart cookie. Agreeing to help with a home expansion, only because her cousin Amos, “is the builder”. Max, or Maxfield as he is sometimes called is so grateful for his new Nanny, she gives his life a little breathing room as she cares for his children and his home. On the other hand, his working environment is a mess with an incompetent builder who very possibly may make him lose an important work contract he has. The competition between builders was interesting to read about as you wondered what is going to happen. Will Olive be able to keep her work skills a secret from Max, and should she? I can understand her wanting to keep it a secret in this time period but as their relationship ramps up, she should be more open. I think women should have been more valued for their smarts back then instead of having to hide it so much. I will admit I love the humor the author inserts into her books; it always brightens my day when reading it. I enjoyed reading more about the early 20th-century mining town of Joplin, MO, and its people, the author tells it in such an interesting way. Though this is the end of our journey in this series, which I have enjoyed immensely by the way, I look forward to many more books by this author.
Pub Date 13 Dec 2022 I was given a complimentary copy of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.
Regina Jennings is the winner of the National Reader’s Choice Award and a finalist for the Christy Award, the Golden Quill and the Oklahoma Book of the Year Award. A graduate of Oklahoma Baptist University with a degree in English and a minor in history, Regina has worked at the Mustang News and at First Baptist Church of Mustang, along with time at the Oklahoma National Stockyards and various livestock shows. She lives outside of Oklahoma City with her husband and four children when not traveling the world.
When the most famous toddler in America, Charles Lindbergh, Jr., is kidnapped from his family home in New Jersey in 1932, the case makes international headlines. Already celebrated for his flight across the Atlantic, his father, Charles, Sr., is the country’s golden boy, with his wealthy, lovely wife, Anne Morrow Lindbergh, by his side. But there’s someone else in their household―Betty Gow, a formerly obscure young woman, now known around the world by another name: the Lindbergh Nanny.
A Scottish immigrant deciphering the rules of her new homeland and its East Coast elite, Betty finds Colonel Lindbergh eccentric and often odd, Mrs. Lindbergh kind yet nervous, and Charlie simply a darling. Far from home and bruised from a love affair gone horribly wrong, Betty finds comfort in caring for the child, and warms to the attentions of handsome sailor Henrik, sometimes known as Red. Then, Charlie disappears.
Suddenly a suspect in the eyes of both the media and the public, Betty must find the truth about what really happened that night, in order to clear her own name―and to find justice for the child she loves.
“Gripping and elegant, The Lindbergh Nanny brings readers into the interior of the twentieth century’s most infamous crime.”―Nina de Gramont, New York Times bestselling author of The Christie Affair
My Thoughts
I think we have all heard of the Lindbergh baby kidnapping even though it happened in the early 1930’s. I’m not even sure how I heard of it, basically all I knew was it was a rich couple, and he was a famous aviator, and they had a darling baby boy with blond curls who was kidnapped.
Reading this book has given me more of an insight into what happened. Quoted from the book, ” The Lindbergh Nanny is not a work on investigative nonfiction. It is a novel, based on biographies, histories of the case, and a range of sources including websites dedicated to the crime.” I invite you to do your own research into this case for more information if you have the interest.
Scottish immigrant, Betty Gow comes to America to work. Struggling to make sense of the rules in this new country as she cares for Charles Jr, she finds Mrs. Lindbergh shy and nervous and Charles Lindbergh Sr eccentric and an uncomfortable person to be around.
Her darling is Charles Lindberg Jr. the baby in her charge that she dotes on. The Lindbergh’s are very wealthy and have plenty of staff to help them. Betty takes her childminding seriously and doesn’t have time for flirtations or romance then Henrick , aka Red comes around and she’s smitten. Shortly afterwards the darling baby disappears.
The book has a somber tone to it the whole way through. I do believe after the kidnapping there is a lot of filler in the book. It talks about Betty’s daily life, the police interrogation multiple times being that Betty is the prime suspect because she saw the child last before his disappearance. The book gives us good interaction between staff members, and we get a back story on most of them. Very well researched book. I give it 4 stars.
Pub Date 15 Nov 2022 I was given a complimentary copy of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.
Mariah Fredericks was born and raised in New York City. She graduated from Vassar College with a degree in history. She enjoys reading and writing about dead people and how they got that way. She is the author of the Jane Prescott mystery series.
Thank you for visiting today. may your day be blessed with goodness.
I don’t take pictures of our pets very often but I thought I would share a few I took this morning.
This is Felix, our black lop ear rabbit. If you look in the cage you can see Inky by the water bottle and Midnight is under the platform. You can see his white nose.
This is Inky our black guinea pig.
Hugo our cat and Felix our free-range black lop eared rabbit having breakfast. Hugo is actually afraid of Felix.
What types of pets do you have?
Thank you for stopping by today. Have a terrific day.
Welcome to another TTT! This week’s topic is a special one for the holiday season, and one that allows us all to spread a little cheer during this week leading up to Christmas.
Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl has asked us to list our bookish wishlist this year. Here are a few books from my list. Please don’t feel obligated to purchase anything from my list just take a look around at all the wonderful books on my and everyone’s lists to get gift ideas for yourself. The list was so easy and fun to make and it took a lot of willpower to not buy every book on my list as I was looking at them on Amazon. Please visit the many other posts and special Christmas lists on Top Ten Tuesday this week.
Some guests have come for a holiday, others for hidden reasons of their own . . .
When their father’s death leaves them impoverished, Sarah Summers and her genteel sisters fear they will be forced to sell the house and separate to earn livelihoods as governesses or companions. Determined to stay together, Sarah convinces them to open their seaside home to guests to make ends meet and provide for their ailing mother. Instead of the elderly invalids they expect to receive, however, they find themselves hosting eligible gentlemen. Sarah is soon torn between a growing attraction to a mysterious Scottish widower and duty to her family.
Viola Summers wears a veil to cover her scar. When forced to choose between helping in her family’s new guest house and earning money to hire a maid to do her share, she chooses the latter. She reluctantly agrees to read to some of Sidmouth’s many invalids, preferring the company of a few elders with failing eyesight to the fashionable guests staying in their home. But when her first client turns out to be a wounded officer in his thirties, Viola soon wishes she had chosen differently. Her new situation exposes her scars–both visible and those hidden deep within–and her cloistered heart will never be the same.
Join the Summers sisters on the Devonshire coast, where they discover the power of friendship, loyalty, love, and new beginnings.
This is Inspirational Regency fiction at its absolute best!
The Sisters of Sea View was a wonderful book. I have been reading this authors’ books since she has started writing and I don’t plan on stopping. I love how well researched her books are, you truly feel as though you are right here in the setting with the characters experiencing it all.
The setting is mostly at Sea View, a large home in Devonshire. After the unexpected death of the father, the ailing mother is unable to work so the four sisters devise a way to bring in money to save the house from being sold. They turn Sea View with its gorgeous view of the sea from its bedrooms into a home taking in boarders. It takes a while to set up all the characters as there are many, the new boarders, the townspeople, people off visiting, hired help and more.
Once we get past all of this the books goes at a smooth pace. There are four sisters and each one is lovely and has a unique place in the book. This book has the four sisters present but concentrates on the story of one of them more than the others. If I had a guess I would say, each sister has her own story. It was pleasing to see a sister who didn’t enjoy mixing in company because of what she thinks is a deformity that she keeps covered become less self-conscience and sure of herself.
There are characters staying at the house when it becomes a boarding house, some definitely a little quirky. We get somewhat of a backstory of these characters, and I think we’ll see more of them in future books. One thing is for sure, I would love to visit Sea View and go into the sea there. It sounds so peaceful and relaxing there. I am really looking forward to reading the rest of the books in this series. It will be hard to wait.
Pub Date 06 Dec 2022 I was given a complimentary copy of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.
About The Author
ulie Klassen loves all things Jane—Jane Eyre and Jane Austen. She worked in publishing for sixteen years and now writes full time. Three of her novels have won the Christy Award for Historical Romance. She has also won the Minnesota Book Award, the Midwest Book Award, and Christian Retailing’s BEST Award. Julie is a graduate of the University of Illinois. She and her husband have two sons and live in St. Paul, Minnesota. Visit http://www.julieklassen.com and talesfromivyhill.com for more information.
Have you read other Julie Klassen books? What makes you want to read this book? Do you have a favorite regency author to read?
Thank you for stopping by today. Enjoy your weekend.
“Don’t go in the guest bedroom.” A shadow falls on Douglas Garrick’s face as he touches the door with his fingertips. “My wife… she’s very ill.” As he continues showing me their incredible penthouse apartment, I have a terrible feeling about the woman behind closed doors. But I can’t risk losing this job—not if I want to keep my darkest secret safe…
It’s hard to find an employer who doesn’t ask too many questions about my past. So I thank my lucky stars that the Garricks miraculously give me a job, cleaning their stunning penthouse with views across the city and preparing fancy meals in their shiny kitchen. I can work here for a while, stay quiet until I get what I want.
It’s almost perfect. But I still haven’t met Mrs Garrick, or seen inside the guest bedroom. I’m sure I hear her crying. I notice spots of blood around the neck of her white nightgowns when I’m doing laundry. And one day I can’t help but knock on the door. When it gently swings open, what I see inside changes everything…
That’s when I make a promise. After all, I’ve done this before. I can protect Mrs Garrick while keeping my own secrets locked up safe.
Douglas Garrick has done wrong. He is going to pay. It’s simply a question of how far I’m willing to go…
This absolutely explosive and shockingly twisty sequel to international bestseller The Housemaid will keep you racing through the pages late into the night. Anyone who loves The Perfect Marriage by Jeneva Rose, The Woman in the Window and Gone Girl will be totally hooked! This book can also be enjoyed as a standalone.
Read what everyone’s saying about Freida McFadden:
From Book 1: “Welcome to the family,” Nina Winchester says as I shake her elegant, manicured hand. I smile politely, gazing around the marble hallway. Working here is my last chance to start fresh. I can pretend to be whoever I like. But I’ll soon learn that the Winchesters’ secrets are far more dangerous than my own…
Every day I clean the Winchesters’ beautiful house top to bottom. I collect their daughter from school. And I cook a delicious meal for the whole family before heading up to eat alone in my tiny room on the top floor.
I try to ignore how Nina makes a mess just to watch me clean it up. How she tells strange lies about her own daughter. And how her husband Andrew seems more broken every day. But as I look into Andrew’s handsome brown eyes, so full of pain, it’s hard not to imagine what it would be like to live Nina’s life. The walk-in closet, the fancy car, the perfect husband.
I only try on one of Nina’s pristine white dresses once. Just to see what it’s like. But she soon finds out… and by the time I realize my attic bedroom door only locks from the outside, it’s far too late.
But I reassure myself: the Winchesters don’t know who I really am.
They don’t know what I’m capable of…
An unbelievably twisty read that will have you glued to the pages late into the night. Anyone who loves The Woman in the Window, The Wife Between Us and The Girl on the Train won’t be able to put this down!
My Thoughts
This is my first read by this author. Somehow, I missed the first in the series when it released but I’ll need to quickly remedy that. With the hype I’ve been hearing about this book even though its release date isn’t until February of 2023 I had to give it a try. Wowie, am I ever glad I did! In this book what you think you know, you don’t. What’s real, isn’t. There is so much going on I had to stop reading for a bit just to absorb it all and to keep it all straight. The suspense, the forbidden, the secrecy, the betrayal and deception. The twists and turns are roller coaster like and just as dizzying. Don’t trust anything you think you know about any of the characters, believe me you know nothing! This new to me author is on my hot list now and I’ll be checking out the rest of her books now.
Pub Date 20 Feb 2023 I was given a complimentary copy of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.
About The Author
#1 Amazon and USA TODAY bestselling author Freida McFadden is a practicing physician specializing in brain injury who has penned multiple Kindle bestselling psychological thrillers and medical humor novels. She lives with her family and black cat in a centuries-old three-story home overlooking the ocean, with staircases that creak and moan with each step, and nobody could hear you if you scream. Unless you scream really loudly, maybe.
Happy Friday & welcome to First Line Friday! It’s time to grab the book nearest to you and leave a comment with the first line then head over to Reading Is My Superpower to leave your link and see more First Line Friday posts.
Today I am featuring the upcoming release from Kim Vogel Sawyer, The Tapestry of Grace, releasing April 18, 2023.
First Lines………….
Alexandertol, Kansas
April 9, 1895
Augusta,Dyck
Augusta stood just inside the Alexandertol Mennonite Church and scanned the crowded benches on the women’s side of the sanctuary. Ach, every woman in town must have come to tonight’s meeting.
About The Book
When a group of Kansas women start a Frauenverein, a benevolent society devoted to aiding widows and orphans, life changes for more than just the hurting people they seek to help in this heartwarming romance inspired by historical events—from the bestselling author of Freedom’s Song.
With classes paused for the planting season, Alexandertol’s schoolteacher Augusta Dyck is glad for some meaningful work to occupy her time. She even knows exactly who their town’s benevolence society should help first: quiet, reserved widower Konrad Rempel and his young twin sons.
Konrad Rempel, however, is adamant that he doesn’t want help. His boys are mischievous but good-hearted. And though Konrad may be struggling, he doesn’t want anyone else sticking their nose in and telling him what his sons need. Or what he needs.
For her part, the charity’s founder Martina Krahn is relieved to have a reason to spend time outside her unhappy home. It even occurs to her that she may, through her work, encounter a boy in need of a family and so find a son for her husband since they have no children of their own.
Augusta, Konrad, and Martina each have deep needs and desires, and each imagines how they should be met: by reaching out or by being left alone. But God, indeed, knows best. Will the competing agendas of Alexandertol’s residents prevent them from receiving God’s help? Or will the members of this small Mennonite community find the answers to their prayers in the very last place they expect—in one another?
I love this author’s books and really look forward to reading this one, it sounds like a unique book
Leave your first line in the comments below.
Thank you for visiting today. Have a happy weekend.
This is a children’s book, but I think it works wonderfully as a book adults can read especially adults that enjoy guinea pigs. Beautiful illustrations really enhance the book. Perfect for gift giving and reading to the children in your life.
About The Book
Do you ever wonder about your pets and what adventures they may get up to? What they might experience when you’re not around? And, finally, where you’d be without them?
The Guinea Pig Chronicles is based on the lives and adventures of six real life guinea pigs, owned by the author and her family over a period of twenty years.
Fluffy was a brave explorer and rescued his friend from the jungle garden. Hamish was beautiful, but very unlucky. What he experienced shows how brave he was as well. A sore eye, sunstroke and toothache meant he got to know the vet very well! Jynesse was named after a well-known health drink, and ‘narrowly escaped’ becoming a celebrity. Winter and her friend experienced snow for the first time – and met Father Christmas! Autumn was a born mother and fulfilled her destiny by meeting handsome Valentino. Two became seven after the arrival of five beautiful baby guinea pigs. Stripey was one of Autumn’s babies and stayed with Autumn when the other babies found new homes. Finally, Stripey was special because she was the ‘last one’.
Each of the stories also shows how, when caring for a pet, human beings learn some valuable and important lessons. With charming illustrations by Katie John to accompany the stories, The Guinea Pig Chronicles is perfect for 7 – 9 year olds or anybody who loves guinea pigs!
My family and I currently have four guinea pigs, two males and two females. Having guinea pigs when I was growing up, I knew I would enjoy having guinea pigs again as an adult. Guinea pigs are a bit skittish, but they are so soft and love cuddles. Guinea pigs do not do well as solitary animals and must have a friend with them as they get very lonely. This is a children’s book, but I think it works wonderfully as a book adults can read especially adults that enjoy guinea pigs. Beautiful illustrations really enhance the book. Perfect for gift giving and reading to the children in your life. This book is a fictionalized version of the life and adventures of the author and her family’s six guinea pigs over twenty years. From outside adventures, playing in the snow, being visited by Santa and almost becoming famous doing commercials for a drink company the guinea pigs and their family had so much fun. I could see the piggies were very loved and well taken care of. This book is the perfect fit for me, and I loved reading about the guinea pigs’ adventures.
Pub Date 01 Dec 2022 I was given a complimentary copy of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.
Patricia Maxwell Watts is a seventy-four-year-old widow. She retired recently after twenty-one years from a well-known health care company, leaving her time to write her debut.
Does this sound like a book you would enjoy reading? Please let me know in the comments. Do you have a guinea pig or have you ever had one?
Thank you for stopping in today. The kids have a snow day from school, and we are relaxing. It sounds like a good cookie baking day today. Enjoy your day.
A laugh-out-loud, opposites attract romance about three of the world’s most beloved C’s: Christmas, Coffee, and Cats.
Veterinarian and animal lover Kara Ingalls needs a Christmas miracle. Opening the Meow and Furrever Cat Café to find loving homes for adorable, adoptable cats was a dream come true—but with more cats than customers, it’s quickly turning into a nightmare. If Kara can’t figure out some way to get the café out of the red, it won’t last past the holidays.
Marketing guru Ben Reese may be annoyingly smart and frustratingly bossy, but when he hatches a plan to put the café in the “green” by Christmas, Kara realizes that she’d be a fool to turn down his help. And so what if he turns out to be an excellent problem solver and nerdy-hot—he can’t even handle fostering one little kitten. She needs to keep their relationship professional and focus on saving the cafe.
But if Ben and Kara can set aside their differences—and find homes for all the cats by Christmas—they might discover that, by risking their hearts, they’ll have their own purr-fect holiday . . . together.
My Thoughts
What a cute warm hug of a Christmas book. A Cat Cafe Christmas is the perfect read for your cold winter’s night while sipping hot chocolate with your cat(s) snuggled in your lap. This rom com features Ben and Kara. Kara is a veterinarian and co-owner of Meow and Furrever Cat Café. They need a Christmas miracle and plenty of donations to stay open and run the veterinarian’s office as a low cost one for the disadvantaged like she wants to. There are such cute blurbs at the beginning of each chapter talking about the cats for adoption.
With more cats than customers it looks like they may be in trouble. Ben is a marketing guru who decides to help put together a marketing plan to help the cats, it has nothing to do with how pretty Kara is of course. He just may turn from grumpy to sunshine the more time he spends with Kara though.
Kara and Ben both have a lot of healing to do though from previous relationships and are in this for the cats. Ben admits he is not at all a cat guy but when he takes a kitten into his apartment to watch for a bit with it’s crazy and mischievous antics it seems as though this little one has him now wrapped around its paw.
It’s heartwarming to see the healing process this couple is going through, and my favorite part is seeing the cats adopted into their forever homes. Warm, cosy, Christmas, romance and full of adorable and adoptable cats. What more could you want in a holiday read?
Pub Date 04 Oct 2022 I was given a complimentary copy of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.
About The Author
About the Author
Codi Gary grew up in a small town in Northern California that no one has ever heard of. In 2011, Codi and her husband uprooted their two children and moved two states over to Southern Idaho. They only had one car and during their first Idaho winter, Codi read all the books on her shelf (TWICE) and played a lot of peek-a-boo. But one day, while her children were napping and her husband was at work, she sat down at her lap top and made a list of things she wanted to accomplish before she was thirty.
Number One- Lose weight (still working on that!)
Number Two- Finish one of her novels
Since the time she was eleven, reading and writing was an escape, but she could never finish a story. Life, school, love…she just kept getting distracted.
But in August 2012, Codi wrote “THE END” on her very first full length novel.
It had a little bit of everything in it and man, was it terrible. But it did give her something to work with…
The small town of Rock Canyon, Idaho.
In September 2012, Codi saw an “Open Call” for Valentine’s Day novellas from Avon Books, for their new digital imprint. She submitted her first contemporary romance novella to them and ten days later, she got an email…
“Hi Codi!
We really enjoyed THE TROUBLE WITH SEXY and would like to include it in our Valentine’s Day Anthology!”
Seven year and twenty-four books later, Codi is still writing. She is a member of the RWA Honor Roll, and her first full length novel, Things Good Girls Don’t Do, has sold over 100,000 copies. Right now, Codi is working on several projects and trying not to get caught up in Tik Tok. Follow Codi on social media for more updates, and adorable animal pictures!
Thanks so much for stopping in today. May your day be blessed.
Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.
I have a lot of books on my Winter TBR list, I’ll list a few here. Do you have any of these on your list as well?
“Don’t go in the guest bedroom.” A shadow falls on Douglas Garrick’s face as he touches the door with his fingertips. “My wife… she’s very ill.” As he continues showing me their incredible penthouse apartment, I have a terrible feeling about the woman behind closed doors. But I can’t risk losing this job—not if I want to keep my darkest secret safe…
It’s hard to find an employer who doesn’t ask too many questions about my past. So I thank my lucky stars that the Garricks miraculously give me a job, cleaning their stunning penthouse with views across the city and preparing fancy meals in their shiny kitchen. I can work here for a while, stay quiet until I get what I want.
It’s almost perfect. But I still haven’t met Mrs Garrick, or seen inside the guest bedroom. I’m sure I hear her crying. I notice spots of blood around the neck of her white nightgowns when I’m doing laundry. And one day I can’t help but knock on the door. When it gently swings open, what I see inside changes everything…
That’s when I make a promise. After all, I’ve done this before. I can protect Mrs Garrick while keeping my own secrets locked up safe.
Douglas Garrick has done wrong. He is going to pay. It’s simply a question of how far I’m willing to go…
This absolutely explosive and shockingly twisty sequel to international bestseller The Housemaid will keep you racing through the pages late into the night. Anyone who loves The Perfect Marriage by Jeneva Rose, The Woman in the Window and Gone Girl will be totally hooked! This book can also be enjoyed as a standalone
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Ginny Baird brings her signature charm to this multicultural story about two disputing families sharing a beach house and the messiness that comes from falling in love with someone who your family is determined to despise.
Busy flower shop manager Evita Machado can’t wait to get to Nantucket. With a bad breakup behind her, relaxing at the shore with her folks and her brothers and their families sounds like the sure cure for heartache, and their vacation destination looks like an amazing place! But when they arrive at the quaint rose-covered cottage, another group has already put down stakes: the Hatfields.
Ryan Hatfield was Evita’s former crush from high school, but their business rival moms refused to let them date. Now history professor Ryan is here for a week with his parents, who won them this oceanfront rental in a society silent auction. Once it’s clear there’s been a double-booking due to a bidding mistake, Ryan’s mom digs in her heels, meaning to stay. When Evita’s mom won’t back down either, both sides tepidly agree to share the luxury accommodations by dividing the cozy space.
With the boisterous Machados livening things up and the strait-laced Hatfields tamping them down, can Evita and Ryan keep the peace between the warring factions while fostering a growing chemistry between the two of them?
“Uniquely charming! With her delightful characters, Biller builds an irresistible world inside a Viennese Victorian-era hotel that is equal parts screwball comedy, epic love story, and thrilling mystery. An utterly captivating novel about the power of fate.” – Joanna Shupe, USA Today bestselling author of The Fifth Avenue Rebels series Diana Biller’s Hotel of Secrets is chock full of banter-filled shenanigans, must-have-you kisses, and romance certain to light a fire in the hearts of readers everywhere.
During ball season, anything can happen—even love.
It’s ball season in Vienna, and Maria Wallner only wants one thing: to restore her family’s hotel, the Hotel Wallner, to its former glory. She’s not going to let anything get in her way – not her parents’ three-decade-long affair; not seemingly-random attacks by masked assassins; and especially not the broad-shouldered American foreign agent who’s saved her life two times already. No matter how luscious his mouth is.
Eli Whittaker also only wants one thing: to find out who is selling American secret codes across Europe, arrest them, and go home to his sensible life in Washington, DC. He has one lead – a letter the culprit sent from a Viennese hotel. But when he arrives in Vienna, he is immediately swept up into a chaotic whirlwind of balls, spies, waltzes, and beautiful hotelkeepers who seem to constantly find themselves in danger. He disapproves of all of it! But his disapproval is tested as he slowly falls deeper into the chaos – and as his attraction to said hotelkeeper grows. “With prose to match the sumptuous setting of 1870s Vienna, Hotel of Secrets is an exquisite and decadent read. Diana Biller breathes new life into historical romance with writing that is singularly lush, deeply romantic, and transportive. Readers will get swept away by the combination of nail-biting intrigue and whole-hearted passion.” – Rosie Danan, bestselling author of The Roommate
A swoony, slow-burn rom-com, Melonie Johnson’s Too Wrong to Be Right features a true romantic on a mission to find her happily ever after.
After her latest jerk of a boyfriend dumps her (and ditches her with his pet hedgehog), florist Kat Kowalski is done chasing after Mr. Wrong. With her two best friends moving on to more serious relationships, she’s ready to stop repeating the same mistakes that are leaving her stuck in the single lane. Armed with a list of qualities for her perfect Mr. Right, Kat swears off dating until she finds him.
Then in a meet-disaster involving a corpse and a salty cockatoo, she stumbles across Mick O’Sullivan at his family’s funeral home. Their immediate chemistry warns Kat to keep things platonic; after all, following her heart never worked out in the past, and this time she’s determined to listen to her head. But can Kat and Mick be just friends? As she gets to know him better, the lines blur, and Kat starts to wonder if she’s gotten it wrong and Mick is exactly who she’s been looking for…
A mesmerizing novel about three generations of women who have lost each other—and the quest to weave them back into a family.
An immersive historical tale spanning the life stories of three women, The Woman Beyond the Sea traces the paths of a daughter, mother, and grandmother who lead entirely separate lives, until finally their stories and their hearts are joined together.
Eliya thinks that she’s finally found true love and passion with her charismatic and demanding husband, an aspiring novelist—until he ends their relationship in a Paris café, spurring her suicide attempt. Seeking to heal herself, Eliya is compelled to piece together the jagged shards of her life and history.
Eliya’s heart-wrenching journey leads her to a profound and unexpected love, renewed family ties, and a reconciliation with her orphaned mother, Lily. Together, the two women embark on a quest to discover the truth about themselves and Lily’s own origins…and the unknown woman who set their stories in motion one Christmas Eve.
From an exciting new voice in WWII historical fiction comes a tale of love, loss and a betrayal that echoes through generations…
Paris, 1940: War is closing in on the city of love. With his wife forced into hiding, Jacques must stand by and watch as the Nazis take away everything he holds dear. Everything except his last beacon of hope: his beloved bookshop, La Page Cachée.
But when a young woman and her child knock on his door one night and beg for refuge, he knows his only option is to risk it all once more to save a life…
Modern day: Juliette and her husband have finally made it to France on the romantic getaway of her dreams – but as the days pass, all she discovers is quite how far they’ve grown apart. She’s craving a new adventure, so when she happens across a tiny, abandoned shop with a for-sale sign in the window, it feels fated.
And she’s about to learn that the forgotten bookshop hides a lot more than meets the eye…
A heartbreaking tale of love and loss in war, perfect for fans of Kate Quinn and Rachel Hore.
Water for Elephants meets The Night Circus in this World War II debut about a magnificent travelling circus, a star-crossed romance, and one girl’s coming-of-age during the darkest of times.
“A powerful reminder that to live is not just to survive, but to be seen and known for ourselves.” —Pam Jenoff, author of The Orphan’s Tale
When all is lost, how do you find the courage to keep moving forward?
1938. Lena Papadopoulos has never quite found her place within the circus, even as the daughter of the extraordinary headlining illusionist, Theo. Brilliant and curious, Lena—who uses a wheelchair after a childhood bout with polio—yearns for the real-world magic of science and medicine, her mind stronger than the limitations placed on her by society. Then her unconventional life takes an exciting turn when she rescues Alexandre, an orphan with his own secrets and a mysterious past.
As World War II escalates around them, their friendship blossoms into something deeper while Alexandre trains as the illusionist’s apprentice. But when Theo and Alexandre are arrested and made to perform in a town for Jews set up by the Nazis, Lena is separated from everything she knows. Forced to make her own way, Lena must confront her doubts and dare to believe in the impossible—herself.
Soon to be a Hallmark Channel original movie!!!
Do the “Cupid chocolates” from Lucy’s shop really help people meet their One True Love? Dean, a TV reporter, has his doubts…
Lucy’s chocolate shop, How Sweet It Is, has been in her family for generations…along with the secret recipe for Cupid chocolates. Rumor has it that if you eat one on February 14, you’ll meet your soulmate. Lucy herself isn’t sure if it’s magic or just romantic optimism, but a family legend is at stake. Besides, with her grandmother to support and a rival bakery opening up across the street, it certainly doesn’t hurt to believe.
Dean, an ambitious and skeptical TV reporter, doesn’t like the idea of a business taking advantage of romantic desperation. He doesn’t count on Lucy joining him as he tracks down and interviews couples supposedly brought together by the chocolates. Together, they find that the truth can be complicated…especially when it comes to their own hearts.
Bestselling author Tracie Peterson celebrates 30 years of writing with a collection of both old and new stories.
Four short contemporary romances take readers to the author’s native state of Kansas.
Spring – Stormy Weather Gina Bowden, a young widow, fights city council to regain funding for her son’s Boy Scout troop. Something better than lightning hits, though, when she teams up with the equally tenacious troop leader.
Summer – King of Hearts Elise Jost is a non-traditional student just one credit short of graduating. A hard-working woman determined to establish herself in the business world, she enrolls begrudgingly in a Renaissance appreciation course that will complete her credit hours. Her life’s direction takes a different course when she makes a high grade with Professor Ian Hunter.
Autumn – Falling for Love Karen Armstrong Jacobs has been widowed five years and taken in her mother to live with her. When she learns her mother’s three sisters need a place to live, she opens her home up to them as well. Now there are a lot of repairs that need to be made to the house for safety’s sake. Enter Dan Polk, a widower with a contracting business and a heart for ministry, who makes over the house and Karen’s lonely heart.
Winter – Silent Nights Lynn Murphy always dreamed of having the perfect marriage, and for a while she delighted in her dream come true. But Frank’s job has gradually overtaken their lives. When their plans for an anniversary trip at Christmastime are ruined by yet another business obligation, Lynn decides she’s had enough. She runs away to her grandfather’s house looking for answers. Only there does she begin to glimpse the surprising ways that God will satisfy the desires of her heart.
She gave up everything— and changed the world.
A riveting novel based on the true story of the woman who stopped a pandemic, from the bestselling author of Mrs. Poe.
In 1940s and ’50s America, polio is as dreaded as the atomic bomb. No one’s life is untouched by this disease that kills or paralyzes its victims, particularly children. Outbreaks of the virus across the country regularly put American cities in lockdown. Some of the world’s best minds are engaged in the race to find a vaccine. The man who succeeds will be a god.
But Dorothy Horstmann is not focused on beating her colleagues to the vaccine. She just wants the world to have a cure. Applying the same determination that lifted her from a humble background as the daughter of immigrants, to becoming a doctor –often the only woman in the room–she hunts down the monster where it lurks: in the blood.
This discovery of hers, and an error by a competitor, catapults her closest colleague to a lead in the race. When his chance to win comes on a worldwide scale, she is asked to sink or validate his vaccine—and to decide what is forgivable, and how much should be sacrificed, in pursuit of the cure.
Thanks for stopping by to see my list. Enjoy your day and hopefully you’ll get lots of reading today.
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