Route 66 Reunions

 

About The Book:  Travel America’s Main Street, Route 66, in three contemporary romances. . . . Tessa falls for the man of her dreams—for the second time. Sarah meets the son she gave up for adoption—and unexpectedly reunites with the boy’s father, too. Amanda returns to her hometown, never dreaming she’d be caught in the aftermath of a devastating tornado—and so near the man who broke her heart. As past and present collide, there’s no telling what lies ahead.

About the Author: Mildred Colvin has been writing sweet inspirational romance since 2001, and is an award-winning author of eighteen novels in both historical and contemporary themes. She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers, and is active in two very special critique groups. She is also active in her church and enjoys special times with her husband, children, and grandchildren. Her hobbies, when she has time, include quilting, photography, and gardening. Of course, reading is more than a hobby. It’s a way of life. Mother of Jonathan Colvin.  colvin also writes under the name M.J. Conner.

My Thoughts About The Book:  As a huge fan of Route 66, a hopeless romantic,  an avid traveler, and as someone who has the dream of one day traveling the complete Mother Road I was delighted to review Route 66 Reunions by Mildren Colvin.  Colvin's book was three very entertaining stories of boy meets girl, boy gets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl back with all the characters knitted together in a cohesive story.  I loved all the characters and the stories made you mad, made you laugh, made you cry throughout.  There were times when I felt such sorrow for the women only to find myself laughing at them minutes later.  This is a fun and easy rainy day read.  If you feel a draw to Route 66 then this book is for you.

Statement of Disclosure: I received an paperback copy of this title from Netgalley Publishing Group and Barbour Publishing, Inc. as part of their blogger review program . I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC 16 CFR, Part 255 'Guides concerning the use of endorsements and testimonials in advertising. I was not asked to write a positive review and all opinions expressed are entirely my own. Thanks guys for letting me read this and participate!

Sweet Olive

About The Book: 
Camille Gardner came to small town Louisiana in the name of big business. But will the town of Samford change her before she can change it?  A talented businesswoman in the oil and gas business, Camille Gardner agrees to take on one last assignment for her uncle at the J&S Production Co. She would rather be anywhere than Samford, Louisiana, the small southern town where she once spent the worst month of her life. Most of all, she wants to move on to the art gallery job that is waiting for her in Denver.  To fulfill the obligation she feels to her uncle and get on with the life she dreams of, Camille needs to entice a group of rural landowners to sell their mineral rights—and allow use of their precious water for the drilling of natural gas. Instead, she finds herself drawn to the local folk art created by those same landowners, and attracted to Marsh Cameron, the attorney representing them.
Camille must decide whether family obligation—and her own plans for her future—are more important than the lives and tradition of this small community.

About The Author: 
Judy Christie is an author and consultant who lives
in Northwest Louisiana.  She writes inspirational fiction and nonfiction.
Her popular Green series chronicles the goings-on in the small Louisiana town of Green and is part of Abingdon Press’s new inspirational fiction line. Judy is also the author
of the popular Hurry Less, Worry Less nonfiction series, published by Abingdon Press.

Wreath, published in October 2011, is Judy’s first young adult book. Look for it and a free download on her books page! Judy was a journalist for many years and is a frequent speaker at retreats and workshops.

My Thoughts About The Book:

I  thought this was a really enjoyable book. It was not one that provoked thinking, there was no big mystery to solve, but it was a fun read. This was one of those books you can pick up and read when you want to unwind and not have to think. The characters were believable and life like.   They were well-rounded and before the book was finished they felt like family.  Once I began reading it the book caught my attention and would not let me go until it was over.  This book was a great way to spend the weekend.

 

STATEMENT OF DISCLOSURE: 

I received an paperback copy of this title from Book Sneeze as part of their blogger review program . I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC 16 CFR, Part 255 'Guides concerning the use of endorsements and testimonials in advertising. I was not asked to write a positive review and all opinions expressed are entirely my own. Thanks guys for letting me read this and participate!

Delectable

 

 

About the Book:  Montana real estate agent Quint McCoy will tell you that the most important thing is location, location, location. It's a lesson he learns all too well when he goes incommunicado for a four-week fishing trip to Alaska. While he's away, his mother Molly turns his office into the pie shop she has always dreamed of, Big Sky Pie. But that's not the only surprise in store for him.  On her way out of town, Callee McCoy only wants to say a fond farewell to her beloved mother-in-law. But Molly soon persuades Callee to stay and lend a hand at the new shop, even if it means heating up the kitchen with her soon-to-be ex. As Callee and Quint rediscover their recipe for love, they realize that some couples are so sinfully good together that one delectable taste is never enough . . .

About The Author:  Adianne Lee lives with her husband of many, many years on the beautiful Olympic Peninsula in Washington State in a pole barn building her husband transformed into an upstairs apartment with a shop below for his hot rods.  Adrianne creates her stories on her laptop, in her recliner with her adopted cat, Spooky, curled between her calves, snoozing.  over thirty years of summer vacationing in the Flathead Lake are near Kalispell and Glacier Park has given her a love for all things Montana.

My Thoughts About The Book:  I liked this book.  The story about a couple who were struggling in their marriage, who knew little about each other, who still loved each other, and the establishment of the Big Sky Pie Company was fun.  It was a light and easy read.  If you want something to read in one sitting that does not require a lot of effort than this is the book for you. 

STATEMENT OF DISCLOSURE: I received an paperback copy of this title from net Galley Publicity Group  as part of their blogger review program . I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC 16 CFR, Part 255 'Guides concerning the use of endorsements and testimonials in advertising. I was not asked to write a positive review and all opinions expressed are entirely my own. Thanks guys for letting me read this and participate!

The Rocky Mountain Heiress Collection

About The Books:  Take a trip back to the nineteenth-century Wild West in these three inspirational romance novels, attractively priced and packaged as an eBook omnibus. Kathleen Y'Barbo's The Rocky Mountain Heiress Collection includes the rollicking romances of three amazing young women; an adventure-seeking heiress pretending to be a governess to go west, a feisty well-to-do society girl longing to become a journalist and chase the story of a lifetime, and the millionaire's daughter who is being asked to marry for the good of the family business . Fans of westerns will find themselves transported to frontier Colorado, and into stories with independent heroines, adventure, love, and ambition.
In the first novel, The Confidential Life of Eugenia Cooper New York socialite Eugenia Cooper longs to enjoy one last escapade before she marries banker Chandler Dodd. Opportunity knocks, and she heads for rough-and-tumble Colorado. When she takes the job as governess for silver baron Daniel Beck’s daughter, she wonders where her future lies. With Chandler—or with Daniel?

The second novel, Anna Finch and the Hired Gun gives us Anna Finch, who despite her father’s attempts to marry her off, dreams of becoming a reporter. A chance encounter with legendary gunslinger Doc Holliday gives her the opportunity of a lifetime, but Pinkerton agent Jeb Sanders is about to ruin everything. Though her father hired Jeb to keep her out of mischief, Anna’s inconvenient attraction to her hired gun only multiplies her troubles. She doesn’t realize Jeb has a score to settle with Doc Holliday, or that her association with the famous outlaw will affect more than just her marriage prospects.
Between her father’s desperation to see her wed and Jeb shadowing her every move, getting the story and fulfilling her journalistic ambition just got far more complicated than she ever imagined.

The final novel, The Inconvenient Marriage of Charlotte Beck is the story of an unlikely romance that sometimes just an inconvenient marriage away.  Charlotte Beck may be entering adulthood, but she can’t seem to keep to her stubborn, independent spirit from bucking social protocol. Fed up with her behavior, Charlotte’s father Daniel pressures her to settle into a nice marriage despite knowing she is set on going to college. Then Daniel sees Charlotte with the handsome but annoying English astronomer Alex Hambly, and everything changes.  Though Alex and Charlotte can barely stand one another, Daniel offers them a deal they can’t refuse: if they agree to marry, he will save Alex’s family from financial ruin and grant Charlotte the freedom to go to college. Reluctantly the couple agrees, but in private they plot to annul the marriage as soon as possible.  But when Alex’s feelings change and he refuses to dissolve their contract, will Charlotte find a way out of her vows? Or will
she discover that maybe this marriage isn’t so inconvenient after all?

About The Author: RITA and Carol award nominee Kathleen Y’Barbo is the best-selling, award-winning author of more than forty novels, novellas, and young adult books. In all, more than one million copies of her books are currently in print in the US and abroad, and her books have been translated into Dutch, German, and Spanish, to name a few.
Kathleen is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers and Romance Writers of America. She holds a BBA from Texas A&M University’s Mays Business School and a certification in Paralegal Studies, and is a former member of the Texas Bar Association’s Paralegal Division.  A tenth-generation Texan, Kathleen Y’Barbo has four children of her own as well as seven bonus kids she gladly inherited when she married her own hero in combat boots (read about their real-life romance here!). Kathleen is proud to be a military wife, even if it did mean giving up her Texas drivers license.
My Thoughts About The Books:  When I began The Confidential Life of Eugenia Cooper I was afraid this story might be just another predictable historical romance. I am really glad I did not judge this book.  The story from beginning to end was delightful and completely captivated me. Gennie’s adventurous spirit is infectious and Daniel very interesting and when you added the sparks between the two this was the kind of read you don't want to put down.  The second book, Anna Finch and the Hired Gun was just as delightful as the first.  The main character was feisty and her spunk, coupled with Doc Holliday and Jeb Sanders makes this an engaging historical novel.  A must read.  The Inconvenient Marriage of Charlotte Beck is filled with delightful humor, vivid characers, a little tad of mystery, and a ton of romantic flair.  If you are looking for entertainment and an absolutely engaging read then these three ladies in the Rocky Mountain Heiress Collection are for you.  Kathleen Y'Barbo bats it out of the park. 

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Waterbrook Multnomah Blogging for Books Program. I was not required to write a positive review. All they asked for was an honest review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255.

Moon Over Edisto

 

About The Book:  The past has come knocking on Julia's door. Can she summon the courage to answer betrayal with love?  Julia’s best friend, Marney, broke up her parents' marriage years ago. Now Marney shows up at her Manhattan apartment, asking the impossible—come home to Edisto Island to care for the half-sisters and half-brother she has never known. Marney, recently widowed, has lung cancer. There's no other family to care for the children while she’s in the hospital following surgery.  Julia loathes Marney. But if she doesn’t step in, her own mother—who has never gotten over the divorce—will be called upon to take care of the children. So she heads to South Carolina to keep the peace.  On Edisto, she begins to reconnect with the place and the people and she’s been running from her whole adult life. There’s the local doctor who once stole a kiss from her on that very beach, and the siblings she’s never known—especially the sister with selective mutism named Etta who’s the keeper of nearly every family secret . . . including the very one that just might bind-up Julia’s long-since shattered heart.

About The Author:  Beth Webb Hart, a Southy Carolina native, is the best-selling author of Grace at Low Tide and The Wedding Machine.  She serves as a speaker and creative writing instructor at schools, libraries, and churches throughout the region, and she has received two national teaching awards from Scholastic, Inc.  Hart lives with her husband and their family in Charleston.





My Thoughts On The Book:  I have traveled many times throughout the Charleston region and it tugs at my heart every time I am there.  As a child I used to dream I was a true Charlestonian, but alas.  Edisto Island has always been one of my favorite get-aways.  There is something extremely magical there.  The story line drew you right in as Beth Webb Hart's books usually do.  From the beginning of the book I found myself emotionally attached to the characters.  I loved the way this story unfolded as a tale of forgiveness and letting go of the past.  God is portrayed as the omnipotent one he is giving Julia what her heart desires even though she is not really aware that she wants it. At one point in the story Julia thinks Marney is destroying her life  for a second time only to realize she is about to make a huge mistake in marrying Simon and that Marney is actually giving  her what she truly desires and needs in her life...children and Edisto.  I could not put this book down and as the story drew to a close I found myself hoping this would be a series.  There was so much I still needed to know about Etta, Meg, Mary Ellen, Charlie, Jed and their lives on Edisto Island.  What an amazing book by a truly wonderful wordsmith!
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishing Booksneeze Program for bloggers. I was not required to write a positive review. All they asked for was an honest review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255.

Sons of Jude

About The Book:  Saint Jude is the patron saint of lost causes and police officers.  When Chicago detectives Frank Campello and Andy Polanski are assigned to investigate the murder of Trina Martinez it seems like an ordinary homicide.  An unfortunate young girl in the wrong place a the wrong time has been brutally murdered.  But their investigation is halted by a wall of silence, a wall formed by powerful interests that will render their inquiry a lost cause.  Then they enlist the support of reporter Christy Lee - and come under immediate fire.  Polanski is arrested, Campello is threatened, and Christy is attacked. It's the case that every cop ets.  The one that changes his life.  The one where justice is elusive and the hunter becomes the hunted.  Frank Campello and Andy Polanski are The Sons of Jude.

About The Author:  Brandt Dodson comes from a long line of police officers, and was employed by the Indianapolis office of the FBI.  he has lived in Chicago and travels to the city regularly.  He is the creator of the Colton Parker series and author of several stand-alone thrillers.  You can find him at:  www.brandtdodson.com.

My Thoughts On The Book:   This book is all that and more.  I am not a huge cop book kind of reader but this one was gritty, real, amazing, and addicting.  I have had friends and family in law enforcement and know better than to base my reaction on the television cop stories.   The whole book just felt amazingly real.  I began reading this book early in the evening during primetime television and could not put it down. I read the whole book in one night and sat there disturbed during the reading when sounds came from outside my house.  I am glad it was a Friday night and I did not have to go to work the next day. This book is a must read and I hope to read more by Brandt Dodson in the future.

Disclaimer:  I received this book free from the Kregel Publications blog tour. I was not required to write a positive review. All they asked for was an honest review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255.

 

Twice A Bride

About The Book: Love lost doesn’t mean love lost forever. Can unexpected romance deliver a second chance for two deserving widows? Full of resolve, young widow Willow Peterson decides to pursue her dreams to be an artist as she settles into a new life in the growing mountain town of Cripple Creek. When she lands a job working as a portrait painter with handsome entrepreneur and photographer Trenton Van Der Veer, the road before Willow seems to be taking a better-than-anticipated turn. With questions tugging at several hearts in town, including the Sinclair Sisters’ beloved Miss Hattie, change is traveling down the tracks as several unexpected visitors make their way out West. Will the new arrivals threaten the deep family bonds of the Sinclair sisters and the roots of love that are just taking hold for Willow? Filled with the resonating questions that all women face, this romance awakens hope against grief, love against loss, and dreams against life’s unexpected turns.

About The Author: Over the last twenty-five years, Mona Hodgson’s publishing credits have grown to include nearly thirty children's books, contributions to more than ten books for adults, and four historical novels, including her debut, Two Brides Too Many in The Sinclair Sisters of Cripple Creek Series. Mona is a popular speaker for women's groups, schools, and educators’ and writers’ conferences. She lives in Arizona with her husband and has two daughters and several grandchildren.

My Thoughts: This was a beautiful tale and so inspiring for women in a man's world. Widow, Willow Peterson is such a strong character and overcomes many obstacles in her life to find love again. This book was a lovely romance with a healthy dose of 1800's history. When I began the book I did not realize that it was part of a series.  Once I began reading Hodgson's characters all came to life and I felt as if I had known them forever.  All of the characters become part of you and I did not want to put the book down once I started reading it.  This is a great read!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Waterbrook Multnomah, s Blogging for Books program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Highland Crossings

About the Book:  An heirloom brooch unites the lives and loves of four women in historic North Carolina. Seona flees Scotland with the brooch in tow hoping to find peace before her past is revealed. Fiona tries to recover the heirloom but ends up on the whipping block—with her rescuer a man she’s not sure she can trust. Seren sells the brooch but soon regrets giving up something so precious for what could be a hopeless dream. Brynna seeks to reclaim the stolen brooch but risks losing something even more valuable in the process. Will God’s path become clear in a new world? 

My Thoughts:  All four of the novellas were wonderful.  I loved traveling with the heirloom brooch down amongst several generations.  I loved the the Gaelic flair and the Scottish and Early American charm of each story.

In the novella Healer of My Heart by Pamela Griffin - we meet Seona, accused of being a thief.  Our first heroine is a medical healer and vows to protect a priceless family heirloom and she stowaway about the "Thistle" enroute to America.  It is there that she encounters Colin Campbell. When they reach the colonies, Colin and Evan's cousin Isabel invites Seona to stay with them and Isabel quickly feels a bonding with her. Seona who is on run for her life feels she cannot trust anyone. But can she trust Colin with her life and her heart?  You be the judge of that.
The second novella Printed on My Heart by Laurie Alice Eakes  is about Fiona, who has been unable to secure her keep. She finds herself an indentured servent to kindhearted town printer and his family.  Owain and his sister, Bronwen offer Fiona a job to save her from further punishment. Fiona is in search of the brooch and her sister Murday.  Will God help her find the brooch and her sister?
My favorite of the four novellas, if I had to chose one would be Sugarplum Hearts by Gina Welborn.  Our heroine here is  Seren Cardew, who is trying to sell her candies and confections. Finley Sinclair, a broker, is looking for clients and hoping for a position with Overton Shippers.  Seren Cardew, creator of luscious candies and confectionaries is searching for a way to market them. Finley offers her a business proposal that will benefit the both of them. When someone sabotages her wares they are left with little clues. In wake of the discovery the community comes together before. But what is lost can it be found again?
The last book is Hearts Inheritance by Jennifer Hudson Taylor.  This novella introduces us to Bynna Sinclair lover, of historical things and a lady who does not take to change lightly. Niall Cameron has come upon an inheritance left to him by his uncle, and is insistant upon change for the better. The two always seem to share a difference of opinion. Sometimes misunderstandings bring about bitterness. Even in the most desparate of lives the Lord can bring repair and healing to any situation of the heart.
Each author added her own personal touch to four well woven progressive story lines. These can be read in one sitting or broken up into more. I personally did not want to put the book down.   I found the overall message inspiring and would recommend this book to others

Disclaimer:  I received this book as part of a blogger review program.  The opinions are 100% my own and I was not paid to read or review this book.  I would love to than Barbour Publishing and Netgalley for allowing me to do this.