What to read next...?

I just finished The Scent of Lilacs by Ann Gabhart, what a great book! This is the second I've read by this author and I'm hooked. I see that there are two more in this series so I'm off to Amazon to download book two.

Before I can read it, I have one to review.

Five Miles South of Peculiar by Angela Hunt

Three sisters with opposing temperaments have a fiery reunion at the family estate in an unexpected journey of the heart in the latest novel from bestselling author Angela Hunt.

Darlene Caldwell, reigning matriarch of Sycamores, a spacious Southern estate in northern Florida, is having a birthday—her fiftieth. Her younger sister, Nolie, is helping Darlene’s boyfriend, Henry, plan a huge celebration that will involve almost everyone in the small town of Peculiar. But Darlene doesn’t know the party planners have invited her twin sister, Carlene, to come from New York for the festivities—after all, it’s Carlene’s birthday, too, and before Carlene went off to become a famous singer on Broadway she was toasted as Peculiar’s Buttercup Squash Festival Queen.

So Nolie and Henry send off the invitation...and are stunned when Carlene actually shows up, dragging luggage and a load of family baggage in her wake. Can these sisters reach an understanding and learn to live together in peace?

My thoughts...

What a fun story, I love this town and I love these sisters. A great cast of characters! Each sister has something hidden deep inside that eventually works its way out and things get rough. Darlene is a pillar in the community, a perfect hostess, and has a hand in every committee possible.

Youngest sister, Nolie, lives in a world of her own and is thought of as a little strange but actually is a very wise woman.

Darlene's twin, Carlene, has a medical issue that ends her singing career and she decides to move back home to Peculiar which is very upsetting to Darlene, these two have deep rooted issues.
Bring in the townspeople and you have a fantastic read! I enjoyed every moment of this book and give it 5 stars!

I received an ecopy of this book free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.


About the author:
Christy-Award winner Angela Hunt writes for readers who have learned to expect the unexpected in novels from this versatile author. With nearly four million copies of her books sold worldwide, she is the best-selling author of more than 100 works ranging from picture books (The Tale of Three Trees) to nonfiction books, to novels.

Now that her two children have reached their twenties, Angie and her husband live in Florida with Very Big Dogs (a direct result of watching Turner and Hooch and Sandlot too many times). This affinity for mastiffs has not been without its rewards--one of their dogs was featured on Live with Regis and Kelly as the second-largest canine in America. Their dog received this dubious honor after an all-expenses-paid trip to Manhattan for the dog and the Hunts, complete with VIP air travel and a stretch limo in which they toured New York City.

Afterward, the dog gave out pawtographs at the airport.

Angela admits to being fascinated by animals, medicine, psychology, unexplained phenomena, and “just about everything” except sports. Books, she says, have always shaped her life— in the fifth grade she learned how to flirt from reading Gone with the Wind.

Her books have won the coveted Christy Award, several Angel Awards from Excellence in Media, and the Gold and Silver Medallions from Foreword Magazine’s Book of the Year Award. In 2007, her novel The Note was featured as a Christmas movie on the Hallmark channel. Romantic Times Book Club presented her with a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006.

Also in 2006, Angela completed her Master of Biblical Studies in Theology degree. She completed her doctorate in 2008 and was accepted into a Th.D. program in 2009. When she’s not home reading or writing, Angie often travels to teach writing workshops at schools and writers’ conferences. And to talk about her dogs, of course.

Trying to get well

Last week I had the flu which turned into bronchitis this week. It has been rough and hopefully I'm on my way back! Haven't read anything and I'm anxious to open a book!

Shelter by Frances Greenslade

About the book:

For sisters Maggie and Jenny growing up in the Pacific mountains in the early 1970s, life felt nearly perfect. Seasons in their tiny rustic home were peppered with wilderness hikes, building shelters from pine boughs and telling stories by the fire with their doting father and beautiful, adventurous mother. But at night, Maggie—a born worrier—would count the freckles on her father’s weathered arms, listening for the peal of her mother’s laughter in the kitchen, and never stop praying to keep them all safe from harm. Then her worst fears come true: Not long after Maggie’s tenth birthday, their father is killed in a logging accident, and a few months later, their mother abruptly drops the girls at a neighbor’s house, promising to return. She never does.

With deep compassion and sparkling prose, Frances Greenslade’s mesmerizing debut takes us inside the devastation and extraordinary strength of these two girls as they are propelled from the quiet, natural freedom in which they were raised to a world they can’t begin to fathom. Even as the sisters struggle to understand how their mother could abandon them, they keep alive the hope that she is fighting her way back to the daughters who adore her and who need her so desperately.

Heartbreaking and lushly imagined, Shelter celebrates the love between two sisters and the complicated bonds of family. It is an exquisitely written ode to sisters, mothers, daughters, and to a woman’s responsibility to herself and those she loves.

My thoughts:

This is an amazing story of two sisters as different as night and day, who drift apart for a short while as Jenny explores the things a 15 yr old does and Maggie who is younger and more mature gets a job to keep her out of the way of their caregiver, though the sisters need each other more than they realize what they need most is to find their mother, she dropped them off with strangers while she went to look for work and never came back.
After a few years and much talk Maggie and her best friend, Vern, set out to find her. They don't get far though, Vern's Uncle Lewis picks them up on the highway during a thunderstorm and takes them home. Maggie doesn't give up and when Jenny is sent away by the woman their mother left them with she takes off on her search again.

Eventually Maggie solves the mystery. That's all I'll say about that as I don't want to spoil it. I thoroughly enjoyed this story, it was unpredictable and intense. I could imagine the places and the scenery Maggie describes. The array of characters were very interesting!

Greenslade has an amazing talent, Shelter is about love and loss, family and human strength. I give it 5 stars!

I received a copy of this book free from Simon and Schuster in exchange for an honest review.

Title: Shelter: A Novel
Author: Frances Greenslade
Genre: Literary Fiction, Women’s Fiction
Publisher: Free Press
Format: Paperback
Release date: May 15, 2012
Provided by: Free Press (C/O)

Beloved Enemy by Al Lacy

About the book:

Jenny's allegiance lay with the Confederate Army. But her heart belonged to the enemy. Faithful to her family and the land of her birth, young Jenny Jordan covers for her father's Confederate spy missions. But as she grows closer to handsome Union soldier Buck Brownell. Jenny finds herself torn between devotion to the South and her feelings for the man she is forbidden to love. Overwhelmed by pressure to assist the South, Jenny agrees to carry critical information over enemy lines. But when she is caught in Buck Brownell's territory, will he follow orders to execute the beautiful spy or find a way to save his Beloved Enemy?


My thoughts:

A great book for fans of the Civil War, plenty of fighting and an overall good story about a soldier from the north falling in love with a woman (who just happens to be a spy) from the south, not only is there love but also suspense so there is something for all.

This was the first book by Lacy I've read and it was pretty good.

Al Lacy is a good storyteller and I rate Beloved Enemy 4 stars. This book was generously provided by Waterbrook Press in exchange for a review.

Currently Reading

I plan on reading these two this week. This one is for review.

I love Ann Tatlock's books and am looking forward to this one as well!

Currently Reading

Shelter arrived yesterday and I started it last night, I'm liking it a lot. Watch for my review soon!