Quote

“So please, oh please, we beg, we pray,

Go throw your TV set away,

And in its place you can install

A lovely bookshelf on the wall.

Then fill the shelves with lots of books.” 

― Roald Dahl, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

New Release - The Second Half - Lauraine Snelling

The Second Half - Lauraine Snelling 

Mona and Ken Sorenson are approaching the best years of their lives. Mona's greatest concern is that Ken will learn of the surprise party she's planning for his retirement from his job as Dean of Students at Stone University. They've already been making plans to travel, spend limitless hours in the garden, and Ken is looking forward to working on his woodworking and fishing with his grandchildren. It's what they deserve after years of careful planning. 

But things begin to unravel when Ken learns that office politics are about to destroy his department. Can he really just leave, abandoning the work he spent a lifetime achieving? Mona is eager to build her event planning business with Ken's help, but rather than supporting her, he expresses concern that the stress of the work will send her back into the depression she struggles with. Then, just days before Ken's last official day of work, their son, a Special Forces officer in the Army, learns he's being immediately deployed on a six-month mission in Pakistan. Since his wife left him, the only people he trusts to care for his two young children are his parents. 

In an instant, everything Ken and Mona spent their lives planning changes, and they will need to find strength, both physical and mental, to become parents once more. This is not the second half they wanted, and when their son fails to contact them as planned, they struggle to trust that it is God's plan, not theirs, that matters most.

Mike Dellosso

Dear  Readers,

I am always on the lookout for good military books.  Joel Rosenberg is always a good go-to, but many have read his books and I needed more ideas to give out.  I have finally found one I can share, Mike Dellosso.  His books are action packed, fast paced and fun to read.  Centralia is book #1 with Kill Devil book #2.  Kill Devil picks up a couple months after Centralia ends.  

*If you have not read book#1 yet, you may want to skip a couple of paragraphs as this may have a couple spoilers. *

Jed Patrick believes he and his family are safe.  They have survived the torture and experiments that Centralia had done to Jed.  He has regained his memory and rejoined his family, ready to live a quiet life.  Except, he has something that Centralia wants and they are willing to kill to get it.  

Not knowing who he can trust and believing the whole government is corrupt, Jed decides he has to take down the project, even at the risk to his own life.  It is a risk he is willing to take to make sure that his wife and daughter will be safe.  

* It is safe to rejoin if you were avoiding spoiler* There is loads of intrigue to follow.  You are never quite sure who the good guys are.  With shadow government agencies and millions spent without the citizens knowing it, you begin to wonder if this book is based on more truth than you want it to be.  But I guess that is what makes a fiction book good, that you begin to believe it.  

I recommend these in order and I am looking forward to the next installment in the Jed Patrick series.  

Happy Reading, 

New Release - Esther - Rebecca Kanner

Esther - Rebecca Kanner

A glittering Persian king has a vast empire that reaches farther than where the sun meets the horizon. He is bathed in riches and commands a frightening military force. He possesses power beyond any other mortal man and rules his kingdom as a god. Anything he desires, he has. Any woman he wants, he possesses. Thousands of them. Young virgins from all across his many lands.

A Jewish girl is ripped from her hut by the king’s brutish warriors and forced to march across blistering, scorched earth to the capital city. Trapped for months in the splendid cage of the king’s palace, she must avoid the ire of the king’s concubines and eunuchs all while preparing for her one night with the king. Soon the fated night arrives, and she does everything in her power to captivate the king and become his queen.

But wearing the crown brings with it a new set of dangers. When a ruthless man plies the king’s ear with whispers of genocide, it is up to the young queen to prevent the extermination of the Jews. She must find the strength within to violate the king’s law, risk her life, and save her people.

This is a story of finding hidden depths of courage within one’s self. Of risking it all to stand up for what is right.

This is the story of Queen Esther.

New Releases - July 18 - 23

Dear Readers,

It is summer time and life is suppose to be easy, right?  Well with all the new titles arriving and soon to arrive, I am not sure that is correct.  I guess I need to take the next month off and just read.

Happy Reading,

Esther - Rebecca Kanner - (backcover) This is a story of finding hidden depths of courage within one's self.  Of risking it all to stand up for what is right.  This is the story of a Queen.

The Second Half - Lauraine Snelling - Mona and Keith Sorenson are looking forward to a quieter slower paced life.  Keith is retiring from his position as Dean of Students, Mona is building a business of her own and they plan on traveling.  One phone call from their son changes it all and they find themselves taking in their two young grandchildren.

Claiming Noah - Amanda Ortlepp - Catriona and James struggle to have a baby, when Catriona finally through in-vitro, carries a baby to term they decide to donate their frozen embryo.  Diana and Liam receive the gift of one of the embryo and also have a son.  But when one of the boys is kidnapped, the two families find themselves tied together in more ways than they ever dreamed of.

Fetching Sweetness - Dana Mentink - What should have been an easy trip retrieving a manuscript turns into a hunt for the reclusive author's dog, Sweetness.  Stephanie just want to get the job done and get promoted, but when Sweetness makes a break for it, Stephanie's dream of being a literary agent disappear along with the dog.  Will she be able to get Sweetness back?

To Follow her Heart - Rebecca Demarino - The Southold Chronicles - #3 - 1664 and Captain Jeremy Horton's shipwrecks on the coast of Barbados.  No survivors.  Patience Terry is devastated as she had hoped that Jeremy would give up the sea for her someday soon.  But Jeremy is unaware of the news of his death and is secretly sailing to New Amsterdam to claim it for Britain.

The Things We Knew - Catherine West - Can the Carlisle family survive the past?  12 years ago after their mother's death all but Lynette left town.  Now with their father's failing health and financial concerns, they are returning.  Secrets are beginning to surface, will they be able to forgive each other?

New Release - No Way Up - Mary Connealy

No Way Up - Mary Conneally - #1 The Cimarron Legacy

The Fight for the Cimarron Ranch Has Just Begun!
When Cimarron Ranch patriarch Chance Boden is caught in an avalanche, only the quick actions of hired hand Heath Kincaid save him. Before leaving by train to receive treatment to save his leg--and possibly his life--Chance demands that Heath read the patriarch's will and see its conditions enforced immediately. If Chance's three bickering adult children, Justin, Sadie, and Cole, don't live and work at the ranch for an entire year, ownership of the ranch will pass to a despised distant relative. 

Before long, however, Heath discovers that the avalanche may have been intentionally set--and that more danger lurks ominously. Finding his own future--and a desired future with Sadie--locked up in saving the Cimarron Ranch, Heath and the Boden siblings must work together against outside forces that threaten them all.

Kristin Hannah

Dear Readers,

This review has a couple different things about it.  First it is for a book I wouldn't normally carry here in the store, but just might now.  Secondly it is an older book.   The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah released back in 2015 but I have just begun to hear about it now.  The reviews I was getting from readers I know were overwhelming. When I had 3 people ask me about it in one day I decided to check it out.  All I can say is wow!

I have read more WWII books than I can remember this past couple of years.  I really didn't think there would be much difference in this one.  I was very wrong.  If I can say it once, I will repeat myself a couple times, read this book.  If you are interested in WWII this is a good read, if you just like a good story, READ THIS BOOK.  

I became emotionally attached to the characters, not so much that it made me cry, but I did find myself arguing with them and talking to them as if they were sitting beside me.  I am sure that is why I found this book so good.  The characters could easily been my family and friends.  

Vianne lives in the quiet little town of Carriveau, France.  When WWII arrives at France's doorstep Vianne's beloved husband goes to battle for their country.  Instead of the expected quick finish to the war, he is imprisoned along with many of the soldiers and Vianne is left to survive the war herself.  

Isabelle, Vianne's rebellious sister, is a different matter.  She is ready to fight herself.  Though only 18 at the start of the war, she quickly grows up and is willing to do whatever it takes to get the Germans out of France.  Even at the risk of her own life.  

That is a short look at what is the basis of this book, but the story is so much more than that.  I don't want to say more as you should discover it for yourself, just as I did.  Maybe that is what I loved about this book is how much stayed hidden until found by reading it.  The Nightingale was not at all what I expected, but so much more.  Do yourself a favor and go find a copy and go fight a few battles in France. 

Happy Reading,