Reviews April - June: Full House Link up

Oh my! The first quarter of the year has ended. 

  

The winner of the $12 Amazon voucher for the first quarter of the challenge was Laura over at Can I Do 52  with her review Every Day by David Levithan.  It fitted the square: heard about it online.

Here is the link up for the next quarter.  You will still be able to access the link up for the first quarter in the main challenge post in case you need to check what you have already linked.

There is a $12 Amazon gift voucher or a book to that value from the Book Depository if you are in their free posting zone, for the second quarter. If you forget to link this quarter, books can always be linked in the following link ups later in the year.

Looking Back at Books 2014: Authors

Looking Back at Books 2014: Covers

The Best Book Covers

Seldom Come By. Sherryl Caulfield

Seldom Come By
Sherryl Caulfield
Publisher: Cedar Pocket Publishing
Date: December 2013
Format: Kindle ebook
Pages: 511
Genre: Historical fiction
Source: Own ebook.

Two years after the sinking of the Titanic, Rebecca Crowe’s fascination with icebergs leads her to save a shipwrecked survivor, Samuel Dalton. Love sparks in the crystal cave of an iceberg but is thwarted by an unreasonable father and the Great War that drags Samuel and his brother, Matthew, to the Western Front as medical officers.

Knowing Rebecca is home safe in Newfoundland brings Samuel great comfort. But as the war moves towards its final harrowing days they both discover that tragedy and terror can strike anywhere. Only when Samuel and Rebecca can fully come to terms with such devastating loss and their impossible choices can their love soar.

Seldom Come By is written by Sherryl Caulfield, an Australian author.  It is the first book in her Iceberg trilogy.  I first heard of this book when I was reading a post by The Electic Reader reviewing the second one in the trilogy, Come What May.  Sheree was very convincing and I was hooked!

Seldom Come by was on special over at Amazon and I went straight across and bought it.  I was even more blessed when I won a copy for the second one - Come What May at The Eclectic Reader blog.  So of course with that excitement I needed to set myself down to read the first.  All I can say is - oh wow! Fabulous read. Loved it.

This book as it begins is set in Newfoundland, on an island where at times icebergs pass by.  It is a bleak place but fishermen eek out a living there.  Later on the book is set in Toronto and in Europe during the war of 1914 - 1918.  Living on Second Chance Island is Rebecca - the heroine of this story, and her sister Rachel and her parents Silas and Esther.  Rebecca is a strong young woman, she is like the son her parents never had.  One day Samuel - the hero arrives at the island.  At the time Rebecca is just about to be 15 years and Sam is about 19.

The characters are very real, I was hooked into their lives and all of them mattered to me.  Silas  was the one I found it hard to find compassion for - he is quite superstitious and uses religion and scripture in a way I am sure it was never intended.   The settings are very real, obviously Sherryl Caulfield has done her research and every part of the book was evocative of that time and place.  If I didn't ever want to go to Newfoundland before, I do now.

When I had finished this book I felt emotionally wrung out.  There are highs and lows that just demand of the reader that you experience some of what the characters are living through.  At times it was hard to read, at times I wondered whether characters would reach some kind of closure with integrity.  

I am not mentioning any details about the plot, it is best that you read it with no spoilers.  Just be prepared for an epic journey within and outside the characters' lives. 

Well written, beautiful, haunting.  I need just awhile to let this book settle before I reach for the next, Come What May, but I do know I am in for another treat.

If there is one book to take a risk on this year - make it this one.  I did, and I have been richly rewarded.

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It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

Sheila at Book Journey runs It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

Happy Easter break to everyone.  It is so nice to pause in the year and be for awhile.  And time to read!

This past week I read:

All I Ever Wanted.  No review but thoroughly enjoyed it.

Finally finished listening to 11.22. 63

The Collector

At present I am reading:

Once in a Lifetime by Jill Shalvis

Carolina Man by Virginia Kantra -audiobook.  Third in a trilogy

An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon - will reread this before June 5th when #8 in the series is published - I need to refresh my brain!

Up Next:

February Forever by Juliet Madison

Harvest by Tess Gerritsen

11/22/63 Stephen King

11/22/63  Stephen King
Publisher: Simon and Shuster
Published: 2011
Format: Audiobook
Length: 30 hrs 43min
Narrator: Craig Wasson
Genre: Alternate History Fiction
Source: Own audiobook.

What if you could go back in time and change the course of history? What if the watershed moment you could change was the JFK assassination? 11.22.63, the date that Kennedy was shot - unless....

King takes his protagonist Jake Epping, a high school English teacher from Lisbon Falls, Maine, 2011, on a fascinating journey back to 1958 - from a world of mobile phones and iPods to a new world of Elvis and JFK, of Plymouth Fury cars and Lindy Hopping, of a troubled loner named Lee Harvey Oswald and a beautiful high school librarian named Sadie Dunhill, who becomes the love of Jake's life - a life that transgresses all the normal rules of time.

With extraordinary imaginative power, King weaves the social, political and popular culture of his baby-boom American generation into a devastating exercise in escalating suspense.

I would never have listened to or read this book without The Eclectic Reader challenge.  I am very pleased that it enticed me into reading such a book.  I listened to the audio version, and while I found it somewhat long, it was very interesting and held me every step of the way.  The narrator Craig Wasson did a fantastic job  - I ended up thinking he was Jake Epping!

I was drawn into this book because even though I don't live in the USA I still remember as a young teenager the day President Kennedy was shot.  It was one of those tragedies that circled the world with dismay and horror.  While I didn't understand politics, he had charisma.

This is a time travel book, and Jake Epping learns he can go back in time and spend months in the past, yet come back two minutes later into his own time.  He is given this knowledge by his friend Al who wants him to go back and prevent Kennedy being shot.  

It was fascinating to be taken back into the sixties, a time that doesn't seem foreign, but a time before technology.  Jake lives in that time and must adapt to it.  At times the book moved slowly for me, but all the details are there, and while slow it was still compelling reading.  Jake meets an amazing array of people as he tracks Oswald until the day of the shooting.  My favourite person was Sadie, what a woman.  She was delightful.

There is one major hitch with the time travel and this provides some of the horror of the book - although it isn't a horror novel.  Can Jake control the events of the past - what effect might that have in the future?  If one thing is changed what difference will that make?  Not a lot you would think!  Well Stephen King tells it differently - and I was left thinking that where we interfere its not always for the best.

The way the book ends is bittersweet, but perfect in its own right.  

Four Friends. Robyn Carr

Delighted today to be part of Little Bird Publicity for:
Four Friends                                             
Robyn Carr
Published: Harlequin Mira
Date: March 25th 2014
Format: e-ARC
Pages:384
Source: Publisher via NetGalley

Gerri can't decide what's more devastating: learning her rock-solid marriage has big cracks, or the anger she feels as she tries to repair them. Always the anchor for friends and her three angst-ridden teenagers, it's time to look carefully at herself. The journey is more than revealing—it's transforming.

Andy doesn't have a great track record with men, and she's come to believe that a lasting love is out of reach. When she finds herself attracted to her down-to-earth contractor—a man without any of the qualities that usually appeal to her—she questions everything she thought she wanted in life.

Sonja's lifelong pursuit of balance is shattered when her husband declares he's through with her New Age nonsense and walks out. There's no herbal tonic or cleansing ritual that can restore her serenity—or her sanity.

Miraculously, it's BJ, the reserved newcomer to Mill Valley, who steps into their circle and changes everything. The woman with dark secrets opens up to her neighbors, and together they get each other back on track, stronger as individuals and unfaltering as friends.

In Four Friends Robyn Carr has explored many of the issues that women - and men - face after the wedding.  I am forever a romantic - and love the happy ending, however I recognise that just doesn't just "happen".  The challenges of life, mistakes, reality, children factor in; our past may catch up with us, and what we have denied may now demand to be recognised.  If we are fortunate we have good friends who walk with us, we courageously choose what will help us, and we grow.  Love deepens or love dies.

Four Friends explores big issues: abuse, infidelity, loss, depression, the menopause, mental breakdown, the challenge of raising teenagers, sexual orientation and the challenge of busy lives.  Also the need for and often lack of good communication between husband and wife, which can lead to needs unmet. This book would be excellent for book groups, I am sure it would engender lively discussion. While its intended audience perhaps is women, I would love to think that men might read it too. 

I loved the four women and the way they supported each other, the way they were there for each other, at times one then another leading the way. Each had their strengths and weaknesses.  Gerri is very organised and gutsy.  She has a job she loves and is good at, three children and a husband.  She also has time for friendships - and as well has a very healthy relationship with her mother-in-law.  If there was one thing I didn't like about Gerri in the beginning is that she was just a tad smug! However life can knock those edges off us, and Gerri is no exception - she works through her challenges and comes out on the other side with renewed energy.

Andy is a school Principal who has tended to choose the wrong man for her life, however I like that she has the courage to throw the scumbags out of her life. They deserve it.  She finds a man in a million in a guise she didn't expect, her values just change up a little and suddenly new life opens up for her.  

Sonja - well I could understand how she was tolerated in the beginning by her friends but not really valued. She would have irritated me!  However her story is powerful and I really liked how she had the courage to face herself, and her pain.  I loved the way she comes out the other side, true to herself.

BJ is the dark horse of the group and the one we see the least.  We don't see so much from her point of view.  Yet she has a profound effect on the other three and they all bond so strongly.  BJ's life has already changed before the story opens, her new path just beginning.  

I really appreciated the way Robyn Carr portrays the men in this book, sure some were unredeemable and were readily dispatched as deserved.  However Phil, George and Bob were men that I liked.  Phil's story was written well, my heart went out to him, and while Gerri gave him some serious boundaries, I liked that a couple of times he quietly drew his line in the sand.  George was a bit of a surprise, more caring than at first it seemed.  Bob was the man of wisdom - I have copious notes of all the wisdom that he shared especially with Noel - Andy's son.

This is a book for my keeper's shelf, my paperback copy is on its way to me as I write.  

She can be found at her: Website Facebook Twitter

Just Destiny. Theresa Rizzo

Just Destiny
Theresa Rizzo
Published: Theresa Rizzo
Date: 31st March 2014
Format: e-ARC
Genre: Women's Fiction
Source: Copy from author.

Jenny Harrison made some poor choices in the past, but marrying Gabe was the best thing she’d ever done. They had the perfect marriage, until a tragic accident leaves Gabe brain dead and her world in ruins.Devastated by grief, she decides to preserve the best of their love by conceiving his child, but Gabe’s family is adamantly opposed, even willing to chance exposing long-held family secrets to stop her.

Caught in a web of twisted motives and contentious legal issues, Jenny turns to best friend and attorney, Steve Grant. Steve wants to help Jenny, but he has reservations and secrets of his own.When something so private and simple turns public and complicated, will Jenny relent? What is Steve willing to sacrifice to help Jenny?

I was immediately engaged by this book.  It is my first time reading this author, it won't be my last! The writing is excellent, the characters were both lovable and imperfect.  The plot held me the whole way through. Above all else with this book, it was the issues that it explored that left me mesmerized.  

Jenny is an interesting character, in her marriage to Gabe she has found love and a new sense of herself.  Yet was there marriage perfect? I think it had a couple of flaws - but it was still the right marriage at the right time for both of them.  When the accident that happens takes it all away from them, the issues that arrive, had my brain ticking over.  I wasn't so much emotionally invested as open to seeing where this story would go next.  I wondered had this dilemma ever actually happened in real life? I imagine it would be quite controversial.

Steve is a very good friend to Jenny, he really goes the extra mile to help her out - yet he has his limits.  Also factored in is Gabe's first wife, who seems to be a well adjusted person, and Gabe's two children by this previous marriage.  As well throw into the mix - George, the uncle who raised Gabe when his parents died. He appears as a grouchy old man and does he have some laws to lay down!  

This book explores to some extent the problems people find themselves in when they either lie or keep secrets.  Are the lies and secrets in this story justified? I don't really think so, but read the book and decide for yourself.  I just don't want to say too much, or give away anything about the choices made, as each choice is a vital part of the plot.

On the 14th of April, I have the privilege of a Q&A with Theresa Rizzo here on Book Date.   

Waiting On You. Kristan Higgins.

Delighted today to be part of the publicity by Little Bird Publicity for:

Waiting On You
Kristan Higgins
Published: Harlequin
Date: March 25th 2014
Format: e-ARC
Pages: 464
Genre: Contemporary romance
Source: Publisher via NetGalley

Colleen O'Rourke is in love with love... just not when it comes to herself. Most nights, she can be found behind the bar at the Manningsport, New York, tavern she owns with her twin brother, doling out romantic advice to the lovelorn, mixing martinis and staying more or less happily single. See, ten years ago, Lucas Campbell, her first love, broke her heart... an experience Colleen doesn't want to have again, thanks. Since then, she's been happy with a fling here and there, some elite-level flirting and playing matchmaker to her friends.

But a family emergency has brought Lucas back to town, handsome as ever and still the only man who's ever been able to crack her defenses. Seems like maybe they've got some unfinished business waiting for them—but to find out, Colleen has to let her guard down, or risk losing a second chance with the only man she's ever loved.

This is the third book in the Blue Heron series by Kristan Higgins.  It was one of those books that carried me away, right into the magical world of story.  I loved it.  It had a plot that always had something happening, I found no part that was ho hum.  Waiting on You has loads of humor, dangerous to have your mouth full of tea, and click over a page to read the laugh out loud moment! I really enjoyed those unexpected touches of fun.  

While this book may have tickled my funny bone, there is so much about it that touched my heart. Lucas, the dark gorgeous guy from the south side of Chicago, may seem to have everything, but he hankers after the one thing he doesn't have - that sense of truly belonging and home. If you have ever  been elbowed to the side, showing that you don't quite belong to this group, then you will have some understanding for him.  Even if you haven't, I believe you will feel some deep compassion for him.

Colleen is beautiful, kind, loving and compassionate.  She is the town matchmaker, notching up a number of successful romantic matches to her belt.  Yet while appearing ever wise, she actually has still to marry the love of her life.  She had one great love while in high school, and dated that love for four years until things went terribly wrong.  Lucas and Colleen, while everyone can see just how attracted they are to each other, just seem to be always out of sync.  Heartbreakingly so.  

While this book  has as its centre Lucas and Colleen, it is the cast of characters that surround them that made this book for me.  There is Bryce - Lucas' cousin, who is the doted upon son of Joe and Didi.  Bryce has never really grown up and he is now thirty something.  Joe wants Lucas to help him grow up!  I would have put my money on that being impossible - however forces worked together to provide some telling moments for Bryce.  The relationship between Joe and Lucas was another relationship that greatly held my interest.  Colleen has a twin Connor - surely he'll get his own story sometime, there is the twin's menopausal mother, and as well there is their Dad who is remarried to a woman only a few years older than the twins.  Mix in a ten year old half sister and life is never boring in Manningsport when the O'Rourkes and Campbells are around.

Waiting on You is a very apt title for this story - talk about waiting!  Just when I thought things were finally sorted out, oh no a little bomb is dropped and I wondered whether Colleen would ever hear those three little words she had been waiting on for so long.

Blue Heron Series

The Best Man   #1

The Perfect Match  #2

Waiting On You  #3

Author Kristan Higgins

Connect with Kristan 

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Witness in Death J.D.Robb

Witness in Death
J. D. Robb
Published: Berkley 2000
Format: Paperback
Pages: 338
Genre: Suspense
Source: own book

It is 2059, and New York City homicide lieutenant Eve Dallas's husband, Roarke, is producing a revival of Agatha Christie's thriller Witness for the Prosecution. On opening night, when the villainous character Leonard Vole gets his just deserts, someone substitutes a kitchen knife for the prop knife, and the actor, Richard Draco, is stabbed through the heart. Trouble is, in time-tested British mystery fashion, everyone in the cast had good reason to despise Richard, a misogynist who seduced and discarded beautiful young women, including one whom he knew to be his daughter.

It's up to Eve to solve the case, an emotionally difficult task as she is no stranger to incest herself: she was beaten and raped by her father before she managed to escape him. As Eve fights to keep her head above water, she tries to bond at a deeper level with Roarke, so that her future will heal the pain of her past.

Witness in Death is #10 in the In Death series.  I am very pleased to make it so far, as now I am into the 2000 publications, I felt so far behind while reading the nineties books!

As usual I enjoyed this story, it didn't feel as gory as some of the past murders, it was more about the motives and psychology of the 'players'.  As usual I never picked the murderer, although I kept thinking it must be obvious!  However I am not a good murder solver, so just as well I am not a detective!  To be fair there was a small surprise towards the end that I didn't see coming, and that quite changed the stakes.

As always, in each book relationships develop a little further.  This murder is difficult for Eve as it brings her relationship with her father into focus, and also her pain at the absence of a mother.  Roake is ever there to watch over her and be there for her.  I had a short discussion with another blogger on twitter that made me take another look at their relationship.  It hasn't changed my view but it gave me something more to look at in their relationship.  They certainly both have their faults and each has a past that impinges, but I have no doubt of their love.  I am certain they will grow as time goes by.... in book terms!

Peabody and her two relationships add further grist to the mill and it will be interesting to see how it all pans out.  Peabody is now at the stage where she gives some cheek to Eve uninvited, which adds some humour.  I am wondering about the young constable Trueheart who was injured in a take down scene - will he take on the innocent subordinate role that Peabody once was?

I liked the ending especially, which showed that Eve has a very compassionate side to her - not that I doubted that, but this time she was especially so.

Archangel's Legion. Nalini Singh

Archangel's Legion
Nalini Singh
Published: Gollancz 2013
Format: Paperback
Pages: 374
Genre: Paranormal/Urban fantasy
Source: Local public library

Guild hunter Elena Deveraux and the Archangel Raphael must discover the source of the wave of death before it engulfs their city and their people, leaving New York a ruin and Raphael's Tower under siege by enemy archangels.

Yet even as they fight desperately to save the city, an even darker force is stirring, its chill eyes trained on New York...and on Raphael. Rivers of crimson and nightmares given flesh, the world will never again be the same...

Archangel's Legion is #6 in the Guild Hunter series.  The main characters of this book bring us back to Elena and Raphael.  As a couple they work so well together, so it was a pleasure to link up with them again.

In this story there is a major battle between an archangel who is trying to rule the world with an evil power, and Raphael and his troops.  Of course his feisty consort is there to add her weight to the battle as she fights side by side with the troops.  

The shifting of power amongst the archangels of the world brings different strengths for each.  Raphael is developing new ability, thanks to his relationship with Elena it is a power for good.  Elena, while human and newly an angel. is vulnerable and she feels she may be a weakness that Raphael has to contend with.  However in this book, Elena proves to be  a wonderful consort, reaching out to support Raphael and all those who need it at this horrendous time.  As the book ends, we find out just how important Elena is to Raphael, as they prepare to battle to the death.  Raphael has  a surprise coming and it is just in the nick of time.

Some of the minor characters have their story progressed, there is Elena's sister Eve, who is also a hunter born - much to their father's distress.  In this book Elena is given the back story of what happened to her father when he was young, which goes a long way to explain his antipathy for hunters and Elena in particular.  I really look forward to this aspect having further development in books to come, and to see if the relationship of Elena and her father improve in any way.  

This was another excellent book in this series.  I am now up to date with it and will just have to wait until the next one comes out later this year.

Guild Hunter Series.

1.  Angel's Blood                                              

2.  Archangel's Kiss

3.  Archangel's Consort

4.  Archangel's Blade

5.  Archangel's Storm

6.  Archangel's Legion

7.  Archangel's Shadows - November 2014

It's Always Been You. Jessica Scott.

It's Always Been You
Jessica Scott
Published: Forever (Grand Central Publishing)
Date: 4th March
Format: e-ARC
Pages: 304
Genre: Military romance
Source: Publisher via NetGalley

She plays by the rules . . .

Captain Ben Teague is many things: a tough soldier, a loyal friend, and a bona fide smart-ass. He doesn't have much tolerance for BS, which is why he's mad as hell when a trusted colleague and mentor is brought up on charges that can't possibly be true. He's even more frustrated with by-the-book lawyer Major Olivia Hale. But there's something simmering beneath her icy reserve--and Ben just can't resist turning up the heat . . .

and he's determined to break them.

The only thing riskier than mixing business with pleasure is enjoying it . .  and Olivia can't resist locking horns--and lips--with Ben. He's got more compassion in his little finger than any commander she's ever met, a fact that makes him a better leader than he realizes. But when the case that brought them together awakens demons from Olivia's past, she will have to choose between following orders--or her heart . . .

It's Always Been You is #5 in the Coming Home series by Jessica Scott.  I have read these in rather quick succession, and as I picked up this one, I wondered had I read myself out of these books. However I was rapidly engaged by the story involving Ben Teague and Olivia Hale.

Ben is asked to take command of a company, up until now he has avoided taking responsibility. He doesn't care for 'playing the game' to climb the ladder.  Nor does he care for much of the leadership that he has witnessed, where power and the rule of the army is paramount.  Yet can Ben model a different type of leadership - one where care for his men takes priority, where doing the right thing for them rather than the law of the army thing can work?  If he takes on the role of leadership can he make a difference  for the men who have fought and returned wounded in mind and heart and are about to be discarded from the army?  Through some serious challenges, and shouldering the responsibility and weight of leadership Ben is able to answer his questions.  He has an interesting sergeant, Soren, who turns out to be someone that Ben is able to go toe to toe with and shoulder to shoulder with.

Olivia is the lawyer for the company Ben is in, and so needs to work closely with him.  She has her own secrets, scars and fears from her past that haunt her to this present day and the work she is involved in.  When one of Ben's company are in trouble is it her intuition that is right or is it Ben's loyalty and trust that is right?  It was a mystery that I was not sure how it was going to turn out. Who would be right? Was one of them making a mistake that would impact on a whole family? This part of the story kept me reading, the final answer made sense, yet was heartbreaking.  

There is plenty of sizzle and passion between Olivia and Ben - great love story, and I enjoyed that very much.  Another excellent story in the Coming Home series.  

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

Sheila at Book Journey runs It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

An ordinary week! Got behind with reading during the week, but managed a book each day over the weekend.

In the last week I read:

Walking on Air.  Good but not my favorite Catherine Anderson novel.

Frantic. A new author to me - going to need to read the series!

Just finished and really liked it.

At present I am reading:

Its Always Been You by Jessica Scott.  Coming Home #5

Up next:

Lila's Choice  by Laura Brown

Nobody But Him  Victoria Purman

Walking on Air. Catherine Anderson

Walking on Air
Catherine Anderson
Publisher: Signet
Date: February 2014
Format: Paperback
Genre: Historical
Source: Own book

Random, Colorado, is just another stop on the road for solitary gunslinger Gabriel Valance. Known for his drinking, gambling, and womanizing, he prefers to remain a stranger to anyone who crosses his path. But when an upstart gunslinger catches Gabe off guard and shoots him down, he regrets his empty, lonely life with his dying breath....

Golden-haired beauty Nancy Hoffman settled in Random after fleeing an abusive past. Caring for her younger sister and working in a hat shop help her to forge ahead, though she remains fearful and mistrustful of men—and marriage....

Their paths will cross when Gabe gets a second chance at life and a divine mission: to sweep Nancy off her feet, gain her trust, and convince her to believe in his love. And in doing so, the once-hardened cowboy may save himself....

Walking on Air is the first book in what may be a series as it is labelled A Valance Family novel.  It is a historical novel - with the addition of a little fantasy added in.  I generally enjoy a Catherine Anderson book, I am not quite sure what it is, but her books have a distinct voice.  I find them a satisfyingly comfort read most of the time.  A time to get lost in a story and be carried away, with not too much required as a reader to follow heaps of clues!

Sometimes her books have a Christian flavor to them, with this book it is more pronounced, and readers who avoid such books would be best to leave this one alone.  I can tolerate them when they are well written.  I like them to be subtle rather than very overt.  This book does go a little beyond what I like, however its Catherine Anderson and I am willing to let that go!

Gabe finds himself face to face with his life that lacks love and family in it, helped along somewhat by a couple of angels who send him back from the pearly gates to relive the last month of his life. His mission is to 'save' Nan, who is in danger of missing out on love and life, and also riddled by guilt because she believes she killed a man.  Gabe can have the choice of saving her, or an old man or a young boy.  He chooses the woman - naturally!

Nan has a 'daughter' Laney, she quickly takes to Gabe and they soon are firm friends.  As the story develops there is a dog who is rescued, as well as a young boy and an old man.  All very heartwarming and it ends with everything perfectly working out as love rules the day - in a very wide sense.

I didn't fall for this book as much as I wanted to, however it was a great 'feel good' book.