Italy, 1943. With tears in her eyes, Giulia listens out for the sound of bombers flying overhead and thinks of the baby growing inside of her. Through the fabric of her lace dress her fingers touch the cold bullets carefully sewn into the seams. Luca might never forgive her, but she has to do this…
New York, present day. When Tori Coleman discovers that her mother was adopted, her whole world shatters. Jeremy, her boyfriend, wants to get married, but how can Tori commit when she doesn’t know who she truly is? The only clue to the identity of her biological family is a mysterious postcard with a photograph of an ornate wedding dress her grandmother Giulia made, which she’s told was gifted to a museum on an Italian island…
Tori arrives on Parissi Island, surrounded by turquoise Mediterranean waters, with the sweet smell of orange blossom filling the air. She soon finds the museum and learns that Giulia was Jewish, and secretly lived there during World War Two. She thought her grandmother abandoned her mother, but was she forced to leave and give up her child?
Just as she’s getting closer to answers, an unexpected call from Jeremy stops Tori in her tracks. As he passionately urges her to find out the truth, suddenly Tori wishes he were in Italy by her side, ready to propose again.
But then Tori is shocked to find bullets sewn into the lining of one of Giulia’s dresses and a notebook claiming she did something terrible during World War Two. Will the secrets in her family help her follow her own heart, or send her home from Italy with it finally broken forever?
An enchanting, unforgettable novel about desperate decisions in the dark days of war and the uplifting power of true love. Perfect for fans of Lucinda Riley, Soraya Lane and Victoria Hislop.
MY THOUGHTS
The author absolutely writes from the heart. Her books are so vividly described I could have easily been there watching the story play out.
This is a dual timeline and I enjoyed both time periods equally. I have read her contemporary fiction as well and enjoy it just as much. This is an author that is an automatic read for me, I just love her books.
When you read a book and you can feel the emotions the characters are feeling you care about them and want only the best. When secrets are revealed, they change a young woman’s life and help her to understand who she is as she discovers the importance of family.
Family relationships are so important. We really don’t know how long a person will be in our lives so have those family gatherings and make a lot of precious memories to carry you through.
I highly recommend this author’s books.
I was given a complimentary copy of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.
VISIT OTHER BLOGS ON THE TOUR
Author Bio:
Barbara Josselsohn is an award-winning journalist and novelist who loves crafting stories about strong protagonists facing a fork in the road. She is the author of five previous novels including The Lilac House, The Bluebell Girls, The Lily Garden, The Cranberry Inn, and The Last Dreamer. She has also written hundreds of articles and essays in major and regional publications about family, home and relationships. She lives just north of New York City and enjoys escaping to the beach or the mountains whenever she can. Other than writing, her biggest passion is her family: her husband, her three kids, and her rescue pup, a mini-schnauzer named Albie. She is currently at work on Book 2 of her Sisters of War series, a follow-up to Secrets of the Italian Island.
Today TTT is a freebie on That Artsy Reader Girl and for today’s Top Ten Tuesday I’m choosing to list my oldest NetGalley books on my shelf. I’ll be getting to them next year. I am looking forward to seeing what you’ve chosen as your topic this week so play along.
10 OLDEST BOOKS ON MY NETGALLEY SHELF
I am making it a point to read all of these next year. These were all published in 2021. Can you recommend any of these?
This is my first year doing the Christmas Songs Book Tag hosted at That Artsy Reader Girl and I’m excited to see what I can come up with. I hope you’ll join in the fun.
1. “All I Want for Christmas Is You”: Favorite bookish couple. Lauren Fox and Asa Williamson in
2. “I’ll Be Home for Christmas”: Name a book where a character is away from home (school, vacation, etc.). Ann Kirby in
3. “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”: Name your favorite “little” book (children’s book, short story, novella, etc.). Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown. I absolutely loved to read this to my children.
4. “Santa Claus is Coming to Town“: What book(s) do you hope Santa brings you this year?
The new Jody Hedlund books.
5. “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”: Which book turned your nose red (made you cry)?
The Royal Daughter
6. “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year”: Your favorite book/kind of book to read during the holidays. Historical and romantic Christmas books like this one, Midnight at the Christmas Bookshop
7. “We Three Kings”: Your favorite trilogy/book from a trilogy (or feel free to fudge it and pick a book from a series). I’m going with a series and so far, only two books have been released but I am pretty sure there will be three.
8. “Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow”: A character you would love to be snowed in with. Since I’m a happily married woman, I wouldn’t want to be snowed in with a male. I’d choose Kitty, an older woman from On Moonberry Lake. We could have some very interesting conversations.
9. “Last Christmas”: A book that seriously let you down. I wouldn’t say this book seriously let me down, but I didn’t think it was as good as the other books in this series.
10. “White Christmas”: An upcoming release you’re dreaming about.
I’ve started this book but have put it aside because it doesn’t release until April 2024. It’s super good and I can’t wait until I get a chance to finish it.
Which books would you choose for these songs? Merry Christmas.
On the night that Trudy Asp discovers her ex is engaged to the same dental hygienist who’s been picking at her teeth for ten years, her daughter, Madison, suddenly announces that she too is getting married, in Europe.
Frumpy, floundering, and forced to live with her martini-swilling mother, Trudy is swamped by these revelations. And on top of it all, she’ll be wearing the second most scrutinized gown at the wedding.
Having packed on the pounds during the demise of her marriage, the idea of being eyeballed by her ex and his scrawny fiancée Zelda, is truly horrifying. To make matters worse, there’s the paralyzing fear of a transatlantic flight — something Trudy has avoided for decades.
When Zelda offers to stand in for her, Trudy is forced to confront the forces that stole her marriage and threaten to steal her daughter’s wedding too. With three months until the ceremony, Trudy must get to Europe, squeeze herself into a gown, and claim the role she wants more than anything: Mother-of-the-Bride.
Will this Odd Mom Out sink or swim? Or will she drown in a sea of humiliation?
Pre-order Links
Publication Date: 1st January 2024
Author Bio –
Sandy Day is a recovering chatterbox and writer of riveting slice-of-life poetry, memoir, and fiction. She has authored five books to date, with two in the works. A graduate of Glendon College, she studied creative writing under Michael Ondaatje and bp nichol. A lover of cheese, coffee shops, and illustrations, she lives on the shore of Lake Simcoe in Georgina, Ontario, Canada. You can find and follow her on Substack and sandyday.ca – it rhymes!
304 pages Bethany House publishers November 7,2023 publish date
ABOUT THE BOOK
Could a captivating art exhibit hold the key to truth–and love?
Budding artist May Parker is captivated by the Japanese exhibits at the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition and longs to know more about her mother’s heritage–which her mother refuses to speak of because of the heartache she left behind in Japan. Wanting to experience more of the exhibits, May works as a Camera Girl–but her curiosity leads her into danger when a suit of samurai armor becomes the target of an elusive art forger.
After ten years apart, May is reunited with her childhood friend Lee Munro, a police detective assigned to keep a watchful eye on the exposition. Their friendship immediately begins to blossom with hints of something more, but when they become entangled in a dangerous heist involving the samurai armor and their love is threatened, can they overcome the odds against them?
MY THOUGHTS
I have been enjoying the Pictures of the Heart series and this book is no exception. In this series the setting is the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition. Camera Girls there take pictures with Brownie cameras and sell them to the tourists.
This book features May Parker, a Japanese American woman. She has an interest in Japanese art, which is the focus of the book. She is also trying to learn more about her Japanese heritage, but it makes her mother sad to talk about her past in Japan.
There is a lot of discrimination in the book which made me sad to read about the unfair treatment. May has been discriminated against since childhood and when, as a child, her best friend, Lee Munro moves away she knows she won’t have any easy time of it.
Camera Girl, May Parker enjoys her work but when a piece of Japanese art is switched with a forged piece she decides to investigate and is reunited with her childhood friend Lee.
I loved seeing the happy reunion between these two characters who had not forgotten each other over the years and had missed each other a lot. As their age has increased so has their maturity and that childhood friendship blossoms into a true love.
Lee is now a police officer and is involved in solving the forged art piece case and tasked with locating it and tracking the criminals in this crime ring.
Such a fascinating story. You could feel the tension rolling off the pages as the danger of the heist comes to the front. A strong story of faith, compassion, intrigue and romance.
I suggest you read this series in order as each story builds on the last. Highly recommended!
Pub Date 07 Nov 2023 I was given a complimentary copy of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.
THE AUTHOR
Tracie Peterson is the bestselling, award-winning author of more than one hundred books. Tracie also teaches writing workshops at a variety of conferences on subjects such as inspirational romance and historical research. She and her family live in Montana.
345 pages Avon publisher October 11,2022 publish date
ABOUT THE BOOK
Piper McCaulley doesn’t know which way is up or down. Her gran, her last remaining family, died two weeks before Christmas, leaving Piper to reevaluate her life. Did she really want to stay chained to the family business just to hang on to this old house? She didn’t care that her great-great-great grandpa had built it with his own hands. How could she make huge life decisions if she’d never even been outside of Alaska?
She needs to leave the snowy wilderness that’s her backyard and see the world, and since her gran left her a battered old compass, Piper takes this a secret message from her beloved grandmother: to follow her heart.
But before she is even a foot outside the door, Piper finds herself caught in a blizzard and wakes up in 1945 in the original home that her ancestors had built—a time when her gran was just a girl Piper’s age. Once she has gotten over the shock, Piper has the joy of getting to know her grandmother in a whole new way, a way that sheds light on everything Piper had come to know and not know about her own past.
Over the course of one magical holiday season, Piper must go on a journey through time to learn the meaning of real love, home, and how a family legacy can connect one another forever.
MY THOUGHTS
I think maybe when I requested this one, I was drawn in by the cover but hadn’t really read what the book was about. This is a time travel book which I’m not crazy about those types of books, I like books that are a little more realistic.
Piper McCaulley is a young woman living in 2022, her grandmother has died a few weeks before Christmas and she has mixed feelings should she stay in the family business and continue to live in the house her great-great-grandfather had built?
Somehow getting lost in a snowstorm in Alaska propels her back in time to 1940’s when her grandmother was living at home and a youngster, living in the house Piper is living in.
Time travel doesn’t do it for me, but I did think it was neat that she got to meet past relatives and become friends with her grandmother when she was younger. There were tender moments. She even falls in love.
She is able to reevaluate the importance of family without all the modern-day distractions. I was wondering would she be able to stay in this time period, would she want to and what would happen to her romance if she wasn’t able to stay in this time period. Overall, a heartwarming story worth reading.
Pub Date 11 Oct 2022 I was given a complimentary copy of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.
THE AUTHOR
Courtney Cole is a New York Times bestselling author of over twenty novels. She enjoys eating reader emotions for breakfast, wearing cashmere socks (when she’s not barefoot) and collecting hula girls.
An optimist, Pacman champion, trophy wife, and fierce mama, her motto is to live with grace. She believes in the power of blonde hair dye and red lipstick, and feels that a well-timed smile can change the world.
328 pages Bethany House publishers September 26,2023 publish date
ABOUT THE BOOK
Some secrets can only stay buried for so long. . . .
Anna Lakeman has spent her life working alongside her paleontologist father, drawing intricate sketches at every dig. When they find dinosaur bones near their home in Wyoming Territory, they’re given the opportunity of a lifetime and are swiftly caught up in the competitive era of the Bone Wars. But after her father becomes sick and Joshua Ziegler, an old beau, returns for the summer, Anna’s world is upended, and the practical, orderly life she has made for herself shatters.
Medical student Joshua Ziegler left his hometown to forget Anna, the one woman he truly loved and deeply hurt. But when he returns, time hasn’t erased the feelings they’ve always had for each other. After Joshua’s nephew goes missing–just like his sister did years ago–and Anna’s job is threatened, tensions mount and dangerous secrets are unearthed.
MY THOUGHTS
The sciences are not one of my favorite things to read about. I’ve read so many books by this author that I just knew she could turn a subject that I wasn’t overly excited about into a fascinating story that I couldn’t put down.
When this historical fiction story took place, the late 1800’s paleontology was not a field women got into, there were a few but they were not well received and discredited often. A young woman who grew up with a famous paleontologist father has for many years been drawing intricate sketches at every dig as a way of cataloging and keeping track of all the progress.
When the elements open up a previously closed area in Wyoming Territory, near their home and they find bones it’s just what they need. This is just the opportunity her father needs to further his career during the competitive Bone Wars, and it’s working. He’s got permission to do his dig and no one else is permitted in this area, then exciting bones are found.
When her father falls ill and rapidly declines Anna Lakeman is not only upset about her father’s career advancement, thinking someone may take it from him but she’s very worried about this health. She is determined to go it alone and do the digging for her father.
When her former beau shows up the hurt feelings come rushing back, they had a big misunderstanding but now he’s back. Doctor in training Joshua Ziegler left to forget his feeling for Anna but upon returning they both realize the feelings are still there.
There is a bit of a mystery when Joshua’s nephew goes missing. Is he in danger and what happened to him? A very intriguing story, I also enjoyed the historical aspect of it and can’t wait to read more in this series.
Pub Date 26 Sep 2023 I was given a complimentary copy of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.
THE AUTHOR
Kimberley Woodhouse is the best-selling and award-winning author of more than two dozen books. She is a wife, mother, author, and musician with a quick wit and positive outlook despite difficult circumstances. A popular speaker, she’s shared at more than 2,000 venues across the country. Kimberley and her family’s story have garnered national media attention for many years including ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, The Montel Williams Show, Discovery Health channel’s Mystery ER, The Hour of Power, The Harvest Show, and over 1,000 other TV appearances and radio interviews. She lives and writes in the Poconos with her husband of thirty years. kimberleywoodhouse.com
339 pages Kensington publisher April 26,2022 publish date
ABOUT THE BOOK
Finding love on Martha’s Vineyard has been a dream come true—but for the bride-to-be, the price of happiness may be too high . . .
With her long-awaited wedding to police sergeant John Lyons only weeks away, bestselling author and Vineyard Inn proprietor Annie Sutton is faced with more drama than usual. Between the hideous heirloom gown her new family expects her to wear and the challenges of bonding with John’s contentious daughter Abigail, Annie’s having serious doubts. But when the baby she once found on her doorstep goes missing, Annie has bigger concerns, including that the little girl’s pregnant, older half-sister is in no condition to hear bad news . . .
Desperate for answers, Annie combs the island, questioning friends and even her family-to-be. Because suddenly it seems as if Abigail will do just about anything to stop her father from marrying Annie—even if it means putting a child at risk. But if scaring Annie half to death is the plan, it’s working. Nothing else matters now except finding the little girl. And if postponing her future with John—indefinitely—is the only way to make that happen, it’s a sacrifice Annie may have to make . . .
MY THOUGHTS
It’s lovely to continue a series with a carryover of so many characters you’re familiar with. These delightful beach reads will charm you right into reading them. Set on the beautiful Martha’s Vineyard, you will hear the waves crashing and feel the mist on your face as you’re out walking.
We’ve met famous author of mystery books and Vineyard Inn proprietor Annie Sutton in the past books. She is excited to be soon tying the knot with police sergeant John Lyons.
Her biggest concern is how to wear the wedding dress his family expects her to wear. Wedding dresses are supposed to be beautiful, feminine and make you feel happy and wonderful, this does none of these.
A baby that she rescued off of her porch several years ago is now missing and everything shifts from the importance of her wedding dress to the missing child. What has happened to the child, who would want to take her?
A mystery, a romance and some family drama. This was as good as all the other books in this series.
Pub Date 26 Apr 2022 I was given a complimentary copy of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.
THE AUTHOR
I enjoy writing about the types of challenges in life that are faced by “everyday” women—and showing how they turn their struggles into wisdom in order to overcome obstacles. Each book also includes a bit of a mystery and a touch of love “just for fun.” I also have written under the name Abby Drake.
My first novel, SINS OF INNOCENCE, was published by Random House in 1994, and was named an amazon.com ebook bestseller in 2016, which was very exciting! A few of my early Vineyard novels appeared on the USA Today bestseller list.
My 20 novels have been published around the world in various languages. My latest series is from Kensington Books and takes place on Martha’s Vineyard (where I live): the first titles are A VINEYARD CHRISTMAS and A VINEYARD SUMMER. Both are available in print, large print, as ebooks, and as audio books.
317 pages Sourcebooks publisher October 4,2022 publish date
ABOUT THE BOOK
Aleen Cust has big dreams. And no one—not her family, society, or the law—will stop her.
Born in Ireland in 1868 to an aristocratic English family, Aleen knows she is destined to work with animals, even if her family is appalled by the idea of a woman pursuing a veterinary career. Going against their wishes but with the encouragement of the guardian assigned to her upon her father’s death, Aleen attends the New Veterinary College in Edinburgh, enrolling as A. I. Custance to spare her family the humiliation they fear. At last, she is on her way to becoming a veterinary surgeon! Little does she know her biggest obstacles lie ahead.
The Invincible Miss Cust is based on the real life of Aleen Isabel Cust, who defied her family and society to become Britain and Ireland’s first woman veterinary surgeon. Through Penny Haw’s meticulous research, riveting storytelling, and elegant prose, Aleen’s story of ambition, determination, family, friendship, and passion comes to life. It is a story that, even today, women will recognize, of battling patriarchy and an unequal society to realize one’s dreams and pave the way for other women in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds.
MY THOUGHTS
Based on fact this is a fictional story. I learned a lot from it and could not tell when the facts ended, and the fiction began. The book was so seamlessly written, it blended into a most fascinating story.
Aleen Cust was born into an aristocratic family in 1868 in Ireland. She knows at a young age she is destined to work with animals, she has a love for the outdoors, horses and dogs. At this time in history women are certainly forced to keep up appearances, especially daughters of the aristocrats.
When the only one who understands her, her shining star, her father passes away the family returns to England and her mother and siblings do not accept her, what they call foolish whim to study and become the first woman veterinarian surgeon. She becomes estranged from her family though she doesn’t stop trying to stay in touch, but she will never be accepted by them again.
The book had my emotions on a roller coaster, so many good and positive things happening but this was a very forward thinking and determined woman when women were not to be this way according to society. There were dark times for her as well, so much discrimination and so many with sexist attitudes. She was able to do hands on training with a male veterinarian surgeon and learn a lot.
The book covers a long period of time, there is the ups and downs of the terrors of the war. I was really impressed with Miss Cust and for her standing her ground and all she put up with to become the first female veterinarian surgeon.
I found it quite interesting reading about her studies and hands on training she did. Nothing and no one held her back. Despite what seemed like unsurmountable odds she did it and gave the encouragement to other woman to realize their dreams as well.
Pub Date 04 Oct 2022 I was given a complimentary copy of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.
THE AUTHOR
Penny Haw is the author of The Invincible Miss Cust, a work of historical fiction based on the life of Britain and Ireland’s first woman veterinary surgeon; The Wilderness Between Us, winner of the WFWA 2022 Star Award in the general category; and a children’s book called Nicko, The Tale of a Vervet Monkey on an African Farm. Her second work of historical fiction, The Woman at the Wheel is inspired by the life of Bertha Benz, the wife of “father of the automobile”, Carl Benz. It will be published by Landmark Sourcebooks in October 2023. Before turning to fiction, Penny was a journalist and columnist with bylines in many of South Africa’s leading newspapers and magazines. She lives near Cape Town, South Africa.
It’s delightful seeing you here today. Thank you for stopping in.
Today’s Theme for Top Ten Tuesday is to feature books in (you choose the setting) My setting I’m choosing is cottages, delightful cottages I’d love to visit. This meme is hosted at That Artsy Reder Girl, give it a try yourself.
COTTAGE SETTINGS
Up in the attic, with views across the sparkling bay, she opens the lid of the carved trunk. Carefully moving aside the delicate linen wedding dress once worn by her great-aunt, she unpacks all the smaller boxes inside until she finds the leather-bound diary. She knows this will change everything…
The perfect Christmas read to touch the heart’ Bestselling author Christie Barlow
The countdown to Christmas is usually a magical time, but Elana James is fed up with living on a building site! The renovations on her beautiful cottage – like her heart – have been frozen in limbo ever since she was unexpectedly widowed.
Elana calls in a professional, Luke Stevenson, to help finish the cottage, so her little girl can send letters to Santa up the newly-repaired chimney. Luke’s kind, capable and sexy – but he’s also ten years younger than Elana. So why has her heart decided it’s finally time for a thaw?
They thought their love story was over. They thought their divorce was final. They were wrong.
Following his divorce, Noah gave up his dream job and settled at a remote horse ranch in the Blue Ridge Mountains of northern Georgia, putting much-needed distance between himself and the former love of his life. But then Noah gets a letter from the IRS claiming he and Josephine are still married. When he confronts Josephine, they discover that she missed the final step in filing the paperwork and they are, in fact, still married.
Josephine is no happier about the news than Noah. Maybe the failed marriage—and botched divorce—was her fault, but her heart was shattered right alongside his, more than he would ever believe. The sooner they put this marriage behind them, the better for both of their sakes.
But when Josephine delivers the final paperwork to his ranch, the two become stranded in his cottage during the worst spring snowstorm in a decade. Being trapped with Josephine is a test of Noah’s endurance. He wrestles with resentment and an unmistakable pull to his wife—still beautiful, still brave, and still more intriguing than any woman he’s ever known.
As they find themselves confronted with each other and their shared past, old wounds surface and tempers flare. But when they are forced out into the storm, they must rely on each other in a way they never have before. Josephine finally opens up about her tragic past, and Noah realizes she’s never been loved unconditionally by anyone—including him. Will Noah accept the challenge to pursue Josephine’s heart? And can she finally find the courage to trust Noah?
A new start can come from the most unexpected places…
It’s been years since Lizzie Lockhart spoke to her parents. But she was safe in the knowledge she knew everything about them. Once upon a time, they were as close as could be. Until they weren’t.
After receiving the earth-shattering news of their passing, Lizzie decides it’s time to unearth some family secrets and find out just who her parents really were… starting with Streamside Cottage. A cottage Lizzie never knew existed, in a place she’s never heard of: the beautiful English village of Leafton.
Leaving behind London, and the tattoo parlour she called home, Lizzie finds herself moving to the countryside. Faced with a tight-lipped community, who have secrets of their own, Lizzie is at a loss for what to do, until her rather handsome neighbour, Ben, steps in to help.
Connected through time to her great-grandmother by a shared English countryside home, an American nurse tries to piece together her family’s tangled history in this new historical novel from the acclaimed author of At Summer’s End.
England, 2014: Audrey Collins knows only two things about her beloved grandmother’s past: She was born into nobility and she immigrated to America at seventeen years old. So when Audrey inherits her gran’s home in North Yorkshire, she arrives expecting a sprawling country estate fit for lords and ladies. Instead, she finds an abandoned stone cottage perfectly preserved as Gran left it when she fled in 1941—ration book and all—and begins to uncover what secrets her family has been keeping.
France, 1915: Lady Emilie Dawes is working as a nurse on the Western Front, grateful to have escaped the restraints of her restrictive, privileged home life. But the independence she fought hard to earn is suddenly jeopardized when a familiar man shows up in one of her hospital beds. Facing him means facing her past, and the decisions she had made in fear. As the war rages around her, Emilie realizes she cannot continue running from who she is until she decides who she truly wants to be.
Over a hundred years apart, Audrey and Emilie each struggle to find purpose, love, and a place to call home in this enchanting family saga celebrating the courage of underestimated women—and the power a secret can hold across generations.
A gripping story of family secrets as the heartbreaking consequences of one woman’s manipulation spill across three generations.
1967. Thunder booms as the ocean threatens to drown the jetty where Martha Ryan stands defiant, heart-broken from what she saw through a window a few moments earlier. Her fiancé begs her to listen, to trust him but a wave drags her into the sea…
Fifty years later. Christie Ryan inherits a dilapidated cottage in a seaside town she’s never heard of. The brief visit for her grandmother’s funeral extends when she discovers unopened, fifty-year-old love letters from a young man she suspects painted a damaged seascape left behind in the cottage.
Determined to solve the mystery behind the letters, Christie seeks help from reclusive artist Martin Blake, but he has reasons to protect the past. As Christie falls in love with the cottage and the town, her own relationship falls apart and she goes home to mend it.
But River’s End and its mystery call her back, as does Martin, in spite of their differences. As the secrets unravel, and time runs out to repair the past, will the happiness Christie longs for finally be hers, or will the Ryan family heartache be her future?
Love Heart Lane – where friends are there for you no matter what
A new start…
When Jinny Birdwhistle is pushed over the edge one time too many times and quits her job as a tabloid journalist, an impromptu – and rather unconventional – job search leads her to a new house, car, and career making honey and chutney in the small Scottish village of Heartcross. And with handsome beekeeper Gabe Warner to help her learn the ropes, she’s ready to embrace ‘country girl life’ and leave the past behind her.
…uncovers an old secret
Yet there’s more to strong and silent Gabe than meets the eye and though Jinny planned to leave her journalistic instincts in London, she can’t help doing a little digging. Now, as she uncovers a mystery that links to her own history, Jinny realises that you can’t outrun the truth and the only way to move forward is to face the past. But now that she’s at home in Heartcross, she won’t have to do it alone…
This summer, they’ll learn that home is where the heart is.
Somerset Lake is the perfect place for Trisha Langly and her son to start over. As the new manager for the Somerset Cottages, Trisha is instantly charmed by the property’s elderly residents and her firecracker of a new boss, Vi Fletcher. But Trisha is less enchanted by Vi’s protective grandson Jake. No matter how tempting she finds the handsome lawyer, Trisha knows that if Jake discovers the truth about her past, she’ll lose the new life she’s worked so hard to build.
Jake Fletcher left Somerset Lake after a tragic loss, but he’s returning for the summer to care for his beloved grandmother, hoping Vi will sell the run-down cottages and finally slow down. There’s just one problem: Trisha, Vi’s new employee. She’s smart, beautiful, and kind, but Jake’s job is to protect his grandmother’s interests, and his gut is telling him Trisha’s hiding something that could jeopardize Vi’s future. However, as they spend summer days renovating the property and bonding over their love for the town, Jake realizes that Trisha is a risk worth taking—if only she can trust him with her secrets . . . and her heart.
n this perfect beach read, a recent divorcee and a woman independent to a fault form a spectacular bond as they move forward and help each other through love, loss, and big life changes—perfect for fans of Jill Shalvis and Susan Mallery.
Dr. Becca Weiland had the perfect life—or so she thought, until she learned her husband cheated on her after a decade of marriage. With divorce papers signed, Becca throws her trademark caution to the wind and agrees to an impromptu monthlong vacation at a beach house with Sadie, a woman she’s known all her life but really doesn’t know at all.
Free-spirit Sadie Bloom is Becca’s opposite in every way, living in the moment and wasting zero energy on what comes next. But the pastry chef’s nothing-bothers-me exterior hides a fear she’s not ready to face—one that may jeopardize a future she never realized she wanted.
At first, Sadie’s go-big-or-go-home style bumps up against Becca’s perfectionism, but soon they’re bonding over too much Schnapps, a leaky roof, a bikini wax gone awry, and awkward meet-cutes with two of the hottest men in town. Best of all, in getting to know each other, they’ve gotten to know themselves, and together they find the courage to discover what it really means to live.
Christi Reece is desperate. The one-time golden girl’s life has tarnished, and a cascade of setbacks has left her reeling. She needs help, and she’s certain Jack Colby is in a position to provide it.
When she shows up in Hope Harbor, however, Jack wants nothing to do with the woman who betrayed him. He’s built a new life on the Oregon coast–and there’s no room in it for Christi, even after she takes refuge in a charming but mysterious cottage nearby. Yet it soon becomes apparent his opinion of her may need revising . . . especially when he ends up needing her help.
Can these two hurting souls make peace with their past and open their hearts to a new beginning?
Come home to Hope Harbor–where hearts heal . . . and love blooms.
t’s beginning to look a lot like murder in Agatha-awarding winning author Maddie Day’s latest Cozy Capers Book Group Mystery, as Cape Cod bike shop owner Mackenzie “Mac” Almeida and her book club sleuths must solve a murder before Mac and her fiancée’s New Years Eve wedding…
‘Tis the day after Christmas, following a wicked-busy time of year for Mac’s bike shop. It’s just as well her Cozy Capers Book Group’s new pick is a nerve-soothing coloring book mystery, especially when she has last-minute wedding planning to do. But all pre-wedding jitters fade into the background when Mac and her fiancé, Tim, begin a cottage renovation project and open up a wall to find a skeleton—sitting on a stool, dressed in an old-fashioned bridal gown . . .
As Mac delves into the decades-old mystery with the help of librarian Flo and her book group, she discovers a story of star-crossed lovers and feuding families worthy of the bard himself. Yet this tale has a modern-day villain still lurking in Mac’s quaint seaside town, ready to make this a murderous New Year’s Eve . . .
Will any of these books be going on your to read list? Have you read any of them yet, did you enjoy them?
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