One Big Happy Family

 

SUSAN MALLERY

Stats: Trade paperback, Canary Street Press, 2024

How acquired: Harlequin Reader Service subscription.

First line: “But you’re a woman.”

(Goodreads synopsis below.)

My thoughts: I've only previously read one book by Susan Mallery (The Vineyard at Painted Moon), which I very much enjoyed. So when this book arrived as part of my Harlequin Reader Service subscription, and a Christmas book to boot, I was excited to read it. That was in October and it took me until after Christmas to actually get to it, but it was worth the wait. I'd always thought of Ms. Mallery as a romance author (which I have no problem with as I read a lot of romance), but this book was more than that.

There's a large cast of characters, from Julie Parker, the main focus, to her adult children, the 12 years younger man she's been seeing and his young children, and various other partners, exes, friends and family, all coming together for the holiday at Julie's cabin. At it's heart, the story is about relationships. Good ones, bad ones, strained ones, messy ones. One of my favorite characters is Blair, Julie's daughter-in-law, with whom I felt a bit of a kinship.

In her next life she wouldn't know the location of every "safe" bathroom between work and home or home and the grocery store. Her activities wouldn't be defined by whether or not she was going to have a "good" day or if she would be suffering.

Blair has IBS, and if the author's description of that are realistic then it does not sound quite like what I have, but I do have issues for which I'm currently seeing doctors and trying to get a diagnosis and treatment. And if that's TMI for you, I apologize.

A heartwarming read, with lots of great dialogue, lots of moments that made me smile and some that made me laugh, a couple that made me tear up, and of course lots of Christmas spirit. I'm definitely a Susan Mallery fan.

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Julie Parker’s kids are her greatest gift. Still, she’s not exactly heartbroken when they ask to skip a big Christmas. Her son, Nick, is taking a belated honeymoon with his bride, Blair, while her daughter, Dana, will purge every reminder of the guy who dumped her. Again. Julie feels practically giddy for one-on-one holiday time with Heath, the (much) younger man she’s secretly dating. 

But her plans go from cozy to chaotic when Nick and Dana plead for Christmas at the family cabin in memory of their late father, Julie’s ex. She can’t refuse, even though she dreads their reactions to her new man when they realize she’s been hiding him for months. 

As the guest list grows in surprising ways, from Blair’s estranged mom to Heath’s precocious children, Julie’s secret is one of many to be unwrapped. Over this delightfully complicated and very funny Christmas, she’ll discover that more really is merrier, and that a big, happy family can become bigger and happier, if they let go of old hurts and open their hearts to love.

Honor Bound

 

SANDRA BROWN, as ERIN ST. CLAIRE

Stats: Mass market paperback, Silhouette, 1993

How acquired: Bought.

First line: The refrigerator door was open, projecting a pale, blue-white wedge of light into the dark kitchen.

(Goodreads synopsis below.)

My thoughts: Ms. Brown has come a long way since writing this drivel. Oh, the writing is decent enough. But the story.

First off, when I read the back cover synopsis, I thought this was going to be an historical romance. I mean, Indian (in the days before the term Native American was the norm) kidnaps white woman and takes her to his reservation. But then the first line of the first chapter talks about a refrigerator door being open, and I was a little jolted. Lucas constantly says things like "I'm sure an Anglo virgin like you can't imagine anything worse than having an Indian between her lily white thighs" and "...you'd want to die before having your pure Anglo body tainted by an Indian", and so on and so on, me big bad Indian, you rich white privileged Anglo woman. Was there really so much prejudice and racism towards Native Americans in 1986? I don't remember that, nor do I remember ever actually hearing a white person referred to as an Anglo. But then, I was only twenty-three then and living in my own little world. I do remember hearing stories of the racism my half Choctaw grandmother experienced when she was young - how she and her siblings had to go to another town for school because the whites didn't want them at the local school and the Indians didn't want them at the Indian school - but that would have been in the 30's/40's. 

Then when Lucas discovered Aislynn had given birth to his baby while he was in prison there was the whole I'm taking my son to live on the reservation with me cuz I won't have him brought up in the Anglo world and you either marry me and come along or say goodbye to your son. I like the marriage of convenience trope, and I even often like the forced marriage trope, but this one left bad taste in my mouth.

Of course everything comes out roses in the end, but it wasn't always a pleasant journey getting there.

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Lucas Greywolf was her forbidden fantasy, wild, rebellious, a Navajo -- and an escaped convict. Aislinn had been terrified when he first grabbed her, but now she was intrigued. Why had he taken her hostage -- and where were they heading? 

Every moment of their mad dash across Arizona drew Aislinn closer to this unyielding man who seemed to drive himself beyond human limits. And they they reached his reservation, and Aislinn learned why they had come....

A Heartfelt Christmas Promise

NANCY NAIGLE

Stats: Mass market paperback, St. Martin’s Paperbacks, 9/28/21.

How acquired: Bought.

First line: Vanessa slid her hand along the slick wooden banister as she climbed the stairs.

(Goodreads synopsis below.)

My thoughts: My third Naigle book and I loved it as much as the first two.

A bit of the stereotypical girl from the big city forced to go to a small town where she doesn't fit in but falls in love with the town and one of the locals, but not gonna lie, I'm a sucker for that trope, if you can call it a trope. In this instance, Vanessa works for a large company in Chicago, the company bought a fruitcake factory in Fraser Hills, North Carolina, and now Vanessa has been sent to the town to shut down the factory in preparation for the warehouse space to used for an athletic company. I've been grabbing her books whenever I come across them so I have six more in my TBR. A job that has never bothered her before, but this time she finds herself getting friendly with the locals, including Buck, an older man who gives her some business advice and provides his guesthouse for Vanessa and her cousin over the Christmas holiday, Misty, a sixteen year old who works in the fruitcake factory's retail store and has lots of ideas to improve the business, and Mike, who breeds and trains Percheron horses. Oh, and Scooter, an adorable Lab puppy. The ending is of course predictable for the most part, but it's the journey to that ending that matters, and it was a wonderful journey.

I've been collecting Naigle books whenever I come across them, and have six more in my TBR, and I anticipate several more wonderful journeys!

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Vanessa Larkin was supposed to be spending Christmas in Paris, France on a business trip. Instead, she’s been assigned to Fraser Hills, North Carolina—home of the Best Fruitcake in the USA—to convert her company’s property into warehouse space and shut down Porter’s, the fruitcake factory. 

Mike Marshall’s family founded Porter’s. For decades, the factory served as the lifeblood of the community until his grandfather sold the business to a Chicago corporation. The sale cost the town its independence—and the Marshalls their family ties. A horse farmer, Mike was never involved with his grandfather’s company, but news of the factory’s closing means losing another piece of the town’s legacy. And as a widower raising a teenage daughter, he’s suffered enough losses in one lifetime. 

Far from the skyscrapers and rapid pace of the city, Vanessa finds herself enjoying the easygoing rhythms of rural living. With Mike as her guide, she learns to appreciate the simple pleasures found in shared holiday festivities among friends. Fraser Hills is a town she is growing to love—and Mike is someone she is falling in love with. Can a Christmas miracle give her newfound friends and home a gift they’ll cherish for many New Years to come?

Between the Sound and the Sea

 

AMANDA COX

Stats: Trade paperback, Revell, 2024

How acquired: Revell Reads Blogger Program

First line: The old woman observed the young boy kicked back in the adjacent recliner, his face practically glued to that tiny screen, as it had been since his visit began.

(Goodreads synopsis below.)

My thoughts: This was a slow moving, sometimes slightly meandering story filled with regrets and haunted pasts and desires to make amends for things that happened despite not being responsible. Walt regrets the way he left his best friend when he joined a merchant ship during the war. Joey has become a pariah in her hometown and desperately wants to restore her family’s good name. Finn still carries the pain of a youthful failed marriage.

Beautifully written, the story is mainly set in 2007 in North Carolina, where Joey takes a job overseeing the restoration of an old lighthouse on an island recently purchased by Walt, with occasional forays back to the early 1940’s, when German U-boats attacked and sunk merchant ships along the coast during Operation Drumbeat. Years ago I went through a phase where I read a lot of books set during the Holocaust and World War II, but I was still unfamiliar with Operation Drumbeat, so this was also an interesting history lesson.

This was my second time reading Amanda Cox (and I highly recommend HE SHOULD HAVE TOLD THE BEES). She’s a good storyteller, with writing that flows and wonderful characterization. A riveting read, with a slightly bittersweet but satisfying ending.

*Received via Revell Reads Blogger Program and voluntarily reviewed* 

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Every family has its secrets. Josephina Harris wouldn't mind if her family still had a few of their own after a lawsuit tarnishes their name. When an opportunity opens to become a temporary keeper of a decommissioned lighthouse on a North Carolina island, she jumps at the chance to escape her small town to oversee its restoration. 

As the work begins, "Joey" discovers strange notes tucked deep in the crevices of the old stone walls--pages torn from a lighthouse keeper's log signed by someone named Mae who recounts harrowing rescues at sea. Fascinated by a woman lighthouse keeper, Joey digs into the past only to discover there's never been a record of a lighthouse keeper by that name. 

When things start to go amiss on the island, locals are convinced that it is the ghost of the lighthouse keeper and his daughter who were lost at sea during World War II. As Joey sifts through decades of rumors and legends and puts together the pieces of the past, what emerges is a love story--one that's not over yet.

Fall Inn Love (Cozy Nights in Vermont, Book One)

 

ELISE KENNEDY

Stats: Kindle, Elise Kennedy Books, 2024

How acquired: BookSirens

First line: Iris Bertone snuggled into her train car seat, picturing the next two blissful weeks to calm the nervous butterflies somersaulting in her stomach.

(Goodreads synopsis below.)

My thoughts: This was an absolutely delightful little novella! One of my favorite tropes is enemies to lovers. This wasn’t quite that, as Iris and Sam weren’t really enemies, but rather had been antagonistic rivals in high school and all through college, competing for everything from debate team captain to class president. Iris is now a journalist for a leisure magazine, and excited for a two week assignment visiting seven different Vermont inns to write an article about the three most romantic places to stay. She and Jo, the photographer, the female photographer, were supposed to travel incognito, pretending to be a couple, but at the last minute Jo can’t make it, and sends Sam in her place. Sam, the very male, very hot, photographer. Who she will now have to share a bed with every night, unless she wants to sleep on the floor.

Both characters are so well written. Iris is not your typical slender svelte heroine. In high school she was a little self-conscious about her size, but as an adult she’s learned to embrace herself and she’s confident and comfortable in her own body, which was refreshing. She’s smart, she’s funny, and she’s passionate about her work. And Sam! I loved Sam from the get go. At one of the inns the proprieter offers Iris one of her chicory root or bark-infused teas, commenting that they’re great appetite suppressants, and Sam’s furious and immediate reaction was glorious.

And the inns! As they left each inn, I couldn’t wait to learn about the next one. Each one was unique in it’s own way, and I loved the author’s imagination and descriptions of each one, and of the staff working there.

This was an engaging and enjoyable read, with lots of humor, and plenty smexy tension thanks to the bed sharing, eventually leading up to some very hot scenes. I can’t wait for the next entry in the series!

*Received via BookSirens and voluntarily reviewed*

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Iris Bertone finally landed her dream reporting assignment: reviewing the most romantic Vermont inns for a prestigious travel site. She'll travel incognito as part of a couple, but when her photographer BFF can't join, Iris's new partner greets her at the train station. It's her worst nightmare: Sam Nilsson, Iris's overly competitive, irritatingly handsome decade-long journalism rival. 

They'll hayride, they'll brunch, they'll sip tea in fussy dining rooms and eat bonfire s'mores after leaf-peeping hikes. It would be a pumpkin-spice infused dream if they didn't have to come back to the same issue night after night: Only one bed to share. 

Can these rivals keep their hands to themselves for three weeks? Or will close quarters finally break down the walls they put up a long time ago?

Hidden in the Night (Missing in Alaska, Book 3)

 

ELIZABETH GODDARD

Stats: Trade paperback, Revell, 2024.

How acquired: Revell Reads Blogger Program

(Goodreads synopsis below.)

My thoughts: This third book in the Missing in Alaska series didn’t capture me quite the way the first two books did, and I’m still not really sure why that is. I think that I just wasn’t really drawn to Nolan, the hero. Compared to the heroes of the first two books, he was just a little...bland.

Ivy has traveled from Florida to Alaska in search of a long lost Jack London manuscript. Ivy is a former FBI agent who left the FBI to work in the family business after her mother was diagnosed with cancer. She has been blackmailed into locating the manuscript by her deceased father’s old business partner, who has threatened to reveal a secret about her father to her mother. Ivy is desperate to find the manuscript, desperate to keep her mother from learning this secret and I struggled a little with this aspect of the story. Her mother doesn’t have a lot of time left, and instead of spending that time with her Ivy is racing around the Alaskan wilderness. Of course we, the reader, don’t learn the secret until the very end of the book, but a former FBI agent allowing herself to be blackmailed? It just didn’t sit right with me.

Well, I guess I do actually know why the book didn’t quite capture me the way the first two did! Despite all of the above, the narrative is wonderfully written, as Ms. Goddard’s writing always is, and her descriptions of the Alaskan wilderness are evocative. And of course I did get very caught up in the story, while also a little worried about Nolan and Ivy getting their happily ever after. I don’t know if there will be a fourth book, but if so I will definitely want to read it.

*Received via the Revell Reads Blogger Program and voluntarily reviewed*

Synopsis from Goodreads:

At the behest of her ailing mother, former FBI special agent turned rare-book collector Ivy Elliott arrives in Alaska to secure an unpublished Jack London manuscript kept secreted away for decades. But when she arrives, she learns the manuscript is gone--taken by the granddaughter of the woman who possessed it. Ivy sets off in pursuit, not just to save the manuscript but to save the vulnerable girl, who was previously trafficked and has no idea what she's getting herself into. 

Joining forces with Alaska State Trooper Nolan Long, Ivy must battle a blizzard, sabotage, and the worst of an Alaskan winter as the search goes on. But every answer they find only raises more questions--and the danger to their lives and to the missing girl may only be the tip of the iceberg.

The Road Before Us

 

JANINE ROSCHE

Stats: Trade paperback, Revell, 2024.

How acquired: Revell Reads Blogger Program

First line: Miles from any high-rise, the generations-old asphalt crumbles beneath the soles of my borrowed boots, and I wish my story would fall through the hot cracks along with it.

(Goodreads synopsis below.)

My thoughts: I’ve never felt any desire to travel the old Route 66. I have traveled a very small portion of it, though not in many many years. But traveling along with Jade, Bridger, and Bernie made it sound like a worthwhile journey to take.

The trio are traversing Route 66 while shooting a documentary about Benny, who traveled the same route in 1956, headed to Hollywood to become a star. Along the way, they visit landmarks, both well known, and personal to Benny, such as motels where she and Paul, the love of her life, stayed on their journey, or other places they stopped to visit. But the journey is also personal for Jade, who has bittersweet memories of traveling with her father in the summer of 2003. The narrative bounces between those two times and the present day, with each section told in first person POV. I enjoyed Benny’s sections the most, as she and Paul fall in love on the way. I probably would have been happy with a book just about the two of them.

In 2003, Jade is eight years old, and I struggled a little with her narration. If I hadn’t known she was eight I might have thought she was only five or six. But I’m not sure if her narration really came off that way, or if I just don’t remember what an eight year old is like, not having been around one since my now adult daughters were that age.

Adult Jade, however, along with Benny, both her younger self and her current day elderly self, and Bridger, her foster son, were all beautifully written. Bridger is a very quirky character who often made me laugh. In her Author’s Note, Ms. Rosche tells us that she traveled all 2,448 miles of Historic Route 66, and it shows in her writing. She packs in so much interesting and descriptive detail about the road and the towns along the way that THE ROAD BEFORE US could serve as a travel guide.

I very much enjoyed traveling along with this trio, and was sorry to part company with them. Bridger and Jade were about to embark on a new journey when I turned the last page, and I desperately wanted to accompany them.

*Received via the Revell Reads Blogger Program and voluntarily reviewed*

Synopsis from Goodreads:

How far would you go to fix the mistakes you've made and regain the trust you lost? For Jade Jessup, the answer is 2,448 miles. Once one of Chicago's significant financial advisors, Jade lost her credibility when her fiancé (and coworker) stole millions of dollars from their clients in a Ponzi scheme. Now she's agreed to help one of them--an aging 1960s Hollywood starlet named Berenice "Benny" Alderidge--seek financial restoration. 

Jade sets off along Route 66 with Benny and her handsome adult foster son, Bridger, who is filming a documentary retracing the 1956 trip that started the love story between Benny and her recently deceased husband, Paul. Listening to Benny recount her story draws Jade into memories of her own darker association with Route 66, when she was kidnapped as a child by a man the media labeled a monster--but she remembers only as daddy. 

Together, all three of these pilgrims will learn about family, forgiveness, and what it means to live free of the past. But not before Jade faces a second staggering betrayal that changes everything.

Disorderly Lady

 

CLAUDY CONN

(Goodreads synopsis below.)

My thoughts: When I left my book at home one day and had nothing to read on my lunch hour, I opened the Kindle app on my phone and went to the book that had been sitting there the longest, which turned out to be this one (since 2015!).

I've struggled with whether to give it 2 or 3 stars. The writing isn't great and didn't really flow smoothly, and there were soooo many words, and strings of words, italicized, for no reason that I could discern. I mean, italics are meant to add emphasis, but if you read the italicized words with emphasis...well, it rarely worked. I did like this line:

She hadn’t meant to lose her heart, but if she looked for it now, she would find it in his hands.

But then there was this:

He pulled back from his kiss and licked her upper lip even as nibbled with his teeth at her bottom lip...

I spent a ridiculous amount of time trying to imagine how he could do both at the same time.

I did like the characters, though Shaun was a bit dense in persisting in believing that Bella was another man's mistress, or a "lightskirt", even as he marveled at how refined she was. And I did manage to get caught up in the story enough that I never considered not finishing it.

And then. The entire book was narrated in third person POV. Until the epilogue, which was narrated by Bella in first person POV. Why? I was so confused. At first I thought maybe she was writing a letter to someone while on her honeymoon, but no. It was just an arbitrary switch.

I think 2.5 stars, rounded up to 3.

Synopsis from Goodreads:

She tried to best him at his own game! Arabella Cullingham’s latest flirtation leaves her blue-deviled when the handsome colonel leaves without saying good-bye. Her brother determines that a London Season is what his pretty sister needs to mend her broken heart. Enter the dashing Earl of Magdalen, a confirmed bachelor whose female acquaintances run to women of dubious reputation. They meet quite by accident and circumstances allow him to deduce she is a light-skirt! Bella, for her own reasons, decides to play along, never thinking that the game might cost her the man she truly loves!

A Gamble of the Heart (Ragin' Moon Refuge, Book One)

 

K.T. RAINE

Stats: Expected pub date 5/1/24, Independently published

How acquired: Via BookSirens

First line: Becca’s eyes flew open with the hiss of the hydraulic door, the sound unnaturally loud in the serene atmosphere.

(Goodreads synopsis below.)

My thoughts: I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve read from Ms. Raine, so when I saw this was available to request on BookSirens I snapped it up. I’ve previously described Ms. Raine’s books as breezy, fun, and heartwarming, with well written characters, and A GAMBLE OF THE HEART delivered on those expectations. But when I say breezy I don’t mean frivolous, as her books also touch on deeper subjects, and there is usually an element of danger to the heroine, with the hero being a protector (one of my personal catnips). Here we have Becca and her young son traveling across the state seeking refuge, after a loan shark appears at her door, demanding money to pay off her ex-husband’s gambling debt. From there, the physical danger is minimal, and the story is more about Becca finding herself again, finding friends and acceptance in her new home, and of course, since this is a romance, finding love again.

That’s not to say her ex isn’t involved in the story, and we even get some sections told from his point of view. It would have been easy for the author to write him off in the end, but she gave him some character development and a chance at redemption instead.

This is a quick read, with some tense moments towards the end, and a happy, satisfying resolution. It’s the first in a new series, and with four more brothers besides Tony I’m already looking forward to more of the Ragin’ Moon Refuge! And I highly recommend Ms. Raine’s Huckleberry Ridge series, as well as the first book of hers that I read, HOLDING OUT FOR SPECIAL.

*Received via BookSirens and voluntarily reviewed*

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Becca Pierson takes her vows seriously. So even when her husband’s secret gambling addiction shakes her world, she soldiers on, sure they can work things out. But reality soon proves otherwise, and she knows she must put their ten-year-old son David first and file for divorce. When a loan shark barges into her apartment and demands the little cash she has left, she takes David and flees 400 miles across Montana to the only place that will accept them—Ragin’ Moon Refuge. 

Tony Lascari’s family owns the Ragin’ Moon Refuge, and he has seen many a broken woman pass through. He’s never once been tempted, for he knows the baggage they carry. Life is so much easier when you only have to consider yourself. But when he picks up Becca from the bus depot, he’s immediately drawn to the frightened young mother who brings out his instinct to protect. But with Becca’s future so uncertain, he knows their relationship must stay platonic.

Becca also feels the attraction but knows she needs to focus on protecting her son, which may entail fleeing again. There’s simply too much at stake to be distracted by Tony’s charm and rugged good looks. No matter how kind he is. No matter how safe he makes her feel.

Will she overcome her past and find a brighter future with Tony’s help? Or will fears and regrets keep her forever chained to the past?