The Bright Spot by Jill Shalvis (Sunrise Cove #5) (2024)

 

The Bright Spot takes place in a town called Sunrise Cove near Lake Tahoe but the story itself is a ray of sunshine.  The heroine, Luna Wright, knows nothing about her biological family and never really fit in with her adopted family but she feels totally at home at the Apple Ridge Farm which she runs with her motley crew.  The future of her family and her home is threatened when the owner Silas dies suddenly and Luna discovers a large balloon payment is due to investors in two months.  Although Silas leaves 50% of the farm to Luna, the other half is left to investment manager, Jameson Hayes.

Of course, the two couldn’t be more different.  Luna leads with her heart and Jameson is guided by his spreadsheets but the two must work together to save the farm and the livelihood of the people they have grown to love.

The romance between Luna and Jameson follows the standard formula but the story is also about learning to trust and accepting who you really are.  Comic relief is provided by the abandoned farm animals housed at the farm, particularly Dammit Ziggy, or DZ, a baby goat with a pajama wardrobe and mother issues.

4.2 stars on Goodreads, 4.6 on Amazon

 

The Wishing Game by Meg Shaffer (2023)

 

Debut author Meg Shaffer has written a truly entertaining book about the power of reading and hope. Lucy Hart, a teacher’s aide, knows what it is like to grow up with parents who don’t love her. She sought and found solace in the Clock Island books authored by Jack Masterson, excerpts of which appear throughout her story. Adult Lucy wishes more than anything to have the finances necessary to foster and adopt seven-year-old orphan Christopher Lamb, a student she has taken under her wing and shared the gift of reading. Together they’ve read all of the Clock Tower books and one of their favorite things to do is play the wishing game introduced in the Clock Island books.

Jack Masterson lives on the actual Clock Island in Maine, along with his grumpy but handsome illustrator Hugo Reese. When Jack writes his first book in five years, he decides to hold a contest on Clock Island with the prize being the one and only copy of the manuscript. Lucy is thrilled to be one of the four chosen contestants; if she could win the manuscript, life for her and Christopher would change dramatically.

The book, reminiscent of Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and Harry Porter, will make you laugh, cry, and jump for joy. The characters are complex, yet loveable. The description of the island, the riddles and games in the story show off the powerful imagination of the author. This is one of the best books I have read in a good while.

 4.28 stars on Goodreads, 4.5 on Amazon

Wyoming Wild (Savage Wells #3) by Sarah M. Eden (2023)

 

When reading Wyoming Wild, I experienced the same warm feelings I did when watching TV westerns back in the day.  Good triumphing over evil; the white hat always wins. In Wyoming Wild, the U.S. Marshall is a young John Hawkings (“Hawk”) but I pictured him as James Arness appeared in Gunsmoke.

When Marshall Hawkings receives an anonymous telegraph warning him of a plot against his life, he immediately begins to investigate. After Hawk traces the telegraph to Sand Creek, Wyoming he and female deputy Paisley take up residence on an area farm posing as brother (John) and sister (Mary). It isn’t long before the two meet the sheriff’s daughter, Liesl Hodges, who they discover is doing everything she can to protect the townspeople from its violent and corrupt sheriff. Everyone in the town is afraid of Sheriff Hodges and his cronies. But when Liesl discovers John is completely unfazed by the sheriff’s attempts at intimidation, she thinks she finally has found an ally in her struggle.

All is good until Liesl learns that John has been lying to her about who he is; another in a long list of men who have betrayed her. Although Liesl continues to distrust Hawk, she goes along with his plan to end the sheriff’s reign of terror. Of course, planning is one thing and execution is something else entirely.

There are other mysteries along the way; identifying the person stealing land deeds from under the town’s landowners who must now pay an exorbitant tax for the right to stay on their own land and a corrupt deputy on Hawk’s payroll. Wyoming Wild reads like the westerns of yore; is well written, wholesome, and a quick read. I enjoyed every minute of the adventure.

4.17 stars on Goodreads, 4.6 on Amazon

The Christmas Hummingbird by Davis Bunn (Miramar Bay, #7) (2022)

 

Fighting an out-of-season wildfire in Miramar Bay, California is not the way any one wants to celebrate the Christmas season but that is the backdrop for The Christmas Hummingbird.

Ryan Eames is a policewoman and single mother to an artistically gifted son who doesn’t communicate with the rest of the world, Liam. Exhausted by the double shifts required by the fire, Ryan is responsible for getting people out of their homes before the fire reaches them. One of whom is Ethan Lange who now has only the clothes on his back.

Ethan is a bank Vice-President and creates concept sets in miniature for a movie producer in his spare time. At the time of the fire, Ethan had just been commissioned to come up with a set idea for the movie adaption of book one of the Elvin Child series, a favorite of his childhood novel  Before the story ends he is also a volunteer fire fighter, working with the police.

With the police force already stretched to its limits, Ethan is deputized and assigned to help Ryan protect the belongings in the destroyed homes with wealthy, absentee owners from the professional thieves operating in the area.  As the two get to know each other, Ethan is introduced to Liam.  Much to Ryan’s surprise, Liam opens up to Liam and even shares his drawings which even his mother isn’t allowed to see.  Together they forge a plan to save the hummingbirds whose habitat is being destroyed by the fire.

Although this is a love story, the real star of the book is the hummingbird and the lessons we can learn from them. They figure prominently throughout the story.

The story moves very quickly but is a little too sweet for my taste.  I also felt the author went overboard with all of Ethan’s great ideas for the town and his almost instant connection to Liam. However, if there ever is a time for a story tied up in a perfect bright red bow, it is Christmas.

4.02 stars on Goodreads, 4.7 on Amazon

Remember Love by Mary Balogh (Ravenswood #1) (2022)

 

Mary Balogh is my favorite Regency author and Remember Love is just another reason why. It is the love story of Devlin Ware, the heir to the Earl of Stratton, and Gwyneth Rhys but the road to their happy ever after is not an easy one.  Both have loved each other from afar while thinking the other despised them. They have one beautiful day together when they confess their love for each other and look forward to a beautiful future.  That evening a scandal rips the Ware family apart and Devlin is banished from his family home forever.

Feeling betrayed by what he always believed to be true and the mother and woman he loved, Devlin enlists in the fight against Napoleon and didn’t look back for six years. He thrusts his family and Gwyneth behind a mental wall, behind which he never visits. His only contact with his old world is his half-brother Ben who travels with him.

When Devlin returns two years after the death of his father, he is a changed man. His face bears a nasty scar, he has lost the ability to feel, and his family and friends are virtual strangers. Everyone has been scarred by the scandal Devlin unknowingly unleashed.

After the shock of seeing what Devlin has become, Gwyneth is convinced the Devlin she knew and loved is still in there, buried deep but struggling to come out. And she feels it will be her love for Devlin that will help him learn to love and trust again and heal all their fractured lives.

The book starts slowly as the reader is introduced to all the members of the Ware family and their relationship to one another. No one paints a character or a place as thoroughly as Mary Balogh and it can be a bit tedious. After learning all about the idyllic world of the Wares and their Ravenswood home, the rug is thorn out for under everyone.

The next book in the series, Remember Me, is due out the end of June 2023.  Mary Balogh has written a number of different series and you really can’t go wrong with any of them but I highly recommend her Survivor’s Club series.

4.06 stars on Goodreads, 4.5 on Amazon

Coming Home for Christmas (Haven Point #10) by RaeAnne Thayne (2019)

 

Luke Hamilton’s wife Elizabeth disappeared without a word seven years before the story begins, leaving Luke to care for their two young children. Luke has known for several months now that Elizabeth is indeed alive and living in Oregon but he wanted nothing to do with the woman who had deserted him. That is until Luke learns he is to be arrested for her murder. Determined to prove his innocence, Luke knows he has to bring Elizabeth home and present her to the district attorney.

What Luke finds in Oregon is not what he expected. The woman who says she is Elizabeth has her eyes and voice but looks totally different, has a visible limp, and goes by the name Sonia Davis. Luke has no interest in finding out why Elizabeth never contacted him and the reader doesn’t learn the entire backstory until Elizabeth meets with the DA. A car accident had left her disfigured and with a traumatic brain injury (“TBI”) that stole her memory but that’s only part of the story.

Neither Luke nor Elizabeth really understand what the other has been through during the past seven years. As they get reacquainted – Elizabeth and Luke, and Elizabeth and the children – things are not always easy but Christmas is the time of miracles.

This is not your typical Christmas romance. Elizabeth’s TBI plays a large part in the story, as well as the depression that caused her to run in the first place.

4.17 stars on Goodreads, 4.7 on Amazon

This book is not available at EPL. Ask any of the reference librarians to get it for you from an area library.

Gabriel’s Angel by Nora Roberts (1989)

 

Though this looks and sounds like a Christmas title, it is not. However, if you are looking for a wholesome, easy to read romance, Gabriel’s Angel is for you. The story follows the age-old formula – girl on the run, saved by the boy, and they both get snowed in and fall in love but with a Roberts twist. Laura is the girl on the run, trying to escape the family of her abusive, now deceased husband who want to take her soon-to-be-born child away from her. Gabriel (“Gabe”) is a famous painter who has sought refuge in an isolated mountain cabin following the death of his younger brother. As one would expect, the sparks fly, and Gabe proposes marriage to protect Laura and the unborn child.

As the snow clears, the new family returns to Gabe’s home in San Francisco. Although Gabe knows Laura’s whole story, he has yet to tell Laura what drove him to the mountains where she met him. Both know that the fight for the child is not over, and Laura works to gain the strength and confidence she will need to be successful against her in-laws when they finally catch up with her.

Roberts, who now has written more than 225 romance novels is known for creating   well rounded characters. In Gabriel’s Angel the reader can almost feel the love, gratitude and strength of the characters and the evil in the family Laura is attempting to escape.  Roberts also writes mysteries and fantasy books under the pseudonym J.D. Robb.

3.90 stars on Goodreads, 4.5 on Amazon

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna (2022)

 

Mika Moon is a 31 year-old witch in England. Orphaned at a young age, she was raised by fellow witch Primrose Everly. As a child, all Mika’s basic needs were provided for her but her time with Primrose was limited and none of the household was allowed to stay if they got a hint of Mika’s magical powers. Between Primrose’s absence and that fact the governesses never stayed long, Mika is convinced she is unlovable.

Mika has been taught to hide her magical abilities and stay away from other witches for fear of drawing attention to their powers. Being a bit of a rebel, Mika uploads a series of videos to the Internet of herself pretending to be a witch making potions. Elderly actor Ian Kubo-Hawthorn is convinced Mika is the real deal and asks her to interview for a job at Nowhere House. Nowhere House is the home of three young witches whom Ian wants Mika to teach to control their magical powers. Mika learns that the youngsters have been adopted by a witch who, much like Primrose is absent the majority of the year.

Taking the job breaks all the rules but Mika accepts the position. She arrives in her yellow hatchback named The Broomstick out of which she retrieves her potions, greenhouse, coy pond, and a golden retriever.

As Mika settles in at Nowhere House, she begins to think she might have found a place where she belongs after all but that is threatened when she discovers the real reason she was invited to Nowhere House and the secret all the adults have been hiding. With that knowledge comes danger and Mika must decide what she is willing to risk to protect Nowhere House and the inhabitants who have become like family.

Mika has a great personality and sense of humor and her sense of loneliness and lack of connection to others really comes through. The book’s other characters, the children, Ian, two long-suffering caretakers, and Jamie, the handsome and prickly librarian are all full of life as well and they all add to the story. Each has a distinct personality and readers are clued into their feelings as well as their unspoken thoughts.

Ultimately this is a story about recognizing what you need and then going after it. It's about finding people you love who love you back and making a home and a life with them even if it’s not the one you expected or how you were told it should be.

4.27 stars Goodreads, 4.5 on Amazon

Comfort & Joy: A Fable by Kristin Hannah (2005)

 

I first came across this book when compiling a list of the Christmas fiction in the library’s collection. The title certainly sounds Christmassy but the first subject heading in the catalog is “Survival after airplane accident”. You might ask, as I did, what that has to do with Christmas.  As it turns out, quite a bit.

Joy Candellaro has always loved Christmas but as the holiday approaches, she finds herself divorced and alone, and doesn’t feel like celebrating. So without telling anyone, she buys a last-minute ticket and boards a private plane headed for the Pacific Northwest. Unfortunately the plane crashes in the Olympic rainforest. With no one knowing where she is Joy decides to just walk away from her ordinary life and thus begins an adventure unlike any she could have imagined.

Joy ends up in the small town of Rain Valley where six-year-old Bobby O’Shea is facing his first Christmas without his mother. Unable to handle the loss, Bobby has closed himself off from the world and his father Daniel who is desperate to help his son cope. Yet when the little boy meets Joy, they form a deep and powerful bond. In helping Bobby and Daniel heal, Joy finds herself again.

Not everything is as it seems in quiet Rain Valley, and in an instant, Joy’s world is ripped apart and her heart is broken. On a magical Christmas Eve, a night of impossible dreams and unexpected chances, Joy must find the courage to believe in a love—and a family—that can’t possibly exist and go in search of what she wants and the new life only she can find.

Hannah shows us once again the power of love and that dreams can come true at Christmas and all year round.

3.57 stars on Goodreads, 4.3 stars on Amazon

Pack Up the Moon by Kristan Higgins (2021)

 

Kristan Higgins is well known for her feel good novels so Pack Up the Moon is somewhat a departure for her.  The book follows two journeys, one from diagnosis to death of a young wife and her husband’s from profound grief to living again. At times heartbreaking and sometimes laugh out loud funny, you won’t be able to put this one down.

Lauren and Joshua Park are very much in love and newly married when Lauren is diagnosed with a terminal illness. Lauren knows that Joshua, who is on the autism spectrum, will be devastated once she is gone and not know how to handle things without her.  So she sets out to write a series of letters to Joshua, to be delivered one a month for the first year after her death. In each Lauren gives Joshua very explicit instructions about a tack she wants him to perform. It is by performing these tasks that Joshua meets new people and learns to open up and live again.

Lauren is a letter writer. She also has written a series of letters to her deceased father to keep him up to date on what he is missing. It is through these letters the reader learns how Lauren is dealing with her diagnosis, how she and Joshua met and about their life together. Each chapter centers around one of her letters.

The characters in the book are fully developed, having both flaws and eccentricities. Although the book begins with Lauren’s funeral and her story is told in past tense, she comes alive on the pages.  The secondary characters are just as complex and quirky.

4.34 stars on Goodreads, 4.7 on Amazon

Portrait of a Scotsman (#3 in A League of Extraordinary Women) by Evie Dunmore (2021)

 

Evie Dunmore’s League of Extraordinary Woman is made up of four Oxford students who have banned together in 1880 over their belief that changes needed to be made to the Married Women’s Property Act which gave husbands financial and legal control over their wives along with control of all property owned by the now married woman and that woman deserved the right to vote.

Hattie Greenfield is the heroine of Portrait of a Scotsman, who after being caught kissing her father’s business rival, financier Lucian Blackstone, is forced to marry him. Hattie only knows Lucien by his reputation for being ruthless in business and fears he will be the end of her dream of becoming a recognized artist.

Lucien is a self-made man driven by political ambitions and a need for revenge. He has wealth but no power and marriage to Hattie is his entry into polite society where the power is held.

As in so many romances Lucian has no time for his new bride but things start to change when he takes Hattie to Scotland with him to check out a mine he just purchased. Although the two discover they really do care for one another, Hattie asks for a divorce when they return to England. Divorce was a scandalous thing in 1880 and had to be allowed by the husband. Hattie was not willing to stay with a husband whom she felt had bought and paid for her, she wants to be wooed.

The Married Women’s Property Act was finally changed in 1882. The new law allowed women to own/buy/sell property, keep any income from the property or an occupation, and keep any inheritance. The law also made both parents equally responsible for their children. Under the former law woman had no rights to their children. The women of Britain were granted the same voting rights as men in 1928.

Although it is not necessary to read the books in order, the characters and events from previous novels are mentioned in the books that follow.

Bringing Down the Duke (2019)

A Rogue of One's Own (2020)

The fourth title has not yet been announced

3.96 stars on Goodreads, 4.4 on Amazon

This series is not available at EPL. Ask any of the reference librarians to get it for you from an area library.

If the Shoe Fits (Meant to Be #1) by Julie Murphy (2021)

 

Written with permission from Disney, If the Shoe Fits is the retelling of the classic Cinderella story with a modern-day twist.  Cindy is not the perfectly proportioned princess we all remember from the Disney movies but is a plus-size girl with a stepmother (Erica) and stepsisters (Anna and Drew) who are a bit shallow but have Cindy’s best interests at heart.

After graduating design school in New York with a degree in shoe design Cindy returns to her stepmother’s house in California until she finds employment in her chosen field.  Cindy agrees to be temporary employed by her stepmother as nanny to her two half siblings.  Erica is the executive producer of America’s favorite reality show, Before Midnight, a fictional version of The Bachelor. On the flight home, Cindy feels an instant connection with her handsome seatmate and spends her time flirting with him, imagining she’ll never see her Prince Charming again after they land. But this is a fairy tale where dreams come true right?

When Erica needs a last-minute replacement to fill a slot on Before Midnight, Cindy volunteers, hoping the media attention might help jump-start her fashion career. As the first plus-sized contestant in the history of the show, Cindy expects her show tenure will be short. That is until the eligible bachelor on the show turns out to be none other than Prince Charming from the plane, the heir to a fashion empire. Cindy is now all in.

Soon Cindy is encountering backstabbing contestants and a show wardrobe that doesn’t include her size. Cindy faces each challenge with spunk and courage and becomes an instant inspiration for other women that look like her. Princesses everywhere will love her!

A great beginning for a series that promises to entertain. I can’t wait for the next one!

4.18 stars on Goodreads, 4.5 on Amazon

The Invisible Life of Addie Larue by VE Schwab

 

A young woman in France, during the 1700s, fears how short a lifetime can be and how little can be accomplished. Addie is unwilling to settle down and accept small-town life in the 1700s. Instead she discovers what happens when you pray to the gods at night, and why you never make deals with them. In exchange for never ending life, Addie will have to live a life where no one can remember her. Everyone who knew Addie up until this point in her life has now completely forgotten her existence. Also, anyone new Addie  meets will forget her after she leaves their presence. Until 300 years later, when Addie encounters a boy in a bookstore who doesn’t forget.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it. While this novel can easily be labeled as Fantasy, I would say it is light on those elements, and can easily be enjoyed by those who don’t want to be bogged down in fantasy worlds. The book also has elements of historical fiction and recounts moments of Addie’s life over the 300 year span. If you enjoy this book, and want something with more fantasy elements I’d suggest checking out VE Schwab’s Shades of Magic Trilogy.

4.39 stars on Goodreads, 4.6 on Amazon

Winter Garden by Kristen Hannah (2010)

 

“Mesmerizing from the first page to the last, Kristin Hannah's Winter Garden is one woman’s sweeping, heartbreaking story of love, loss, and redemption. At once an epic love story set in World War II Russia and an intimate portrait of contemporary mothers and daughters poised at the crossroads of their lives, it explores the heartbreak of war, the cost of survival and the ultimate triumph of the human spirit. It is a novel that will haunt the reader long after the last page is turned.” So starts the Amazon review and I couldn’t agree more.

Meredith and Nina Whitson are as different as sisters can be. One stayed at home to raise her children and manage the family business while the other followed her dream and traveled the world becoming a famous photojournalist. The sisters find themselves reunited when their beloved father turns ill. They are also reunited with their cold, disapproving mother, Anya, who even now, offers no comfort to her daughters. As children, the only connection with their mother was the Russian fairy tale she sometimes told them at bedtime about a beautiful Russian girl who lived in Leningrad a lifetime ago….

On his deathbed, their father extracts a promise from the women: the fairy tale will be told one last time— and all the way to the end. Alternating between the past and present, Meredith and Nina hear the harrowing story of their mother’s life, beginning in World War II Leningrad and spanning more than sixty years to modern day Alaska. The story will shake the very foundation of their family and change who they believe they are.

Kristin Hannah, the author of more than twenty books, started out writing romances but has since changed her focus to stories of women's lives and relationships, particularly in families. Her character-driven novels wrestle with universal issues surrounding parenthood, marriage, infidelity, and loss. Many of Hannah’s books can be found on the libraries’ shelves.

4.18 stars on Goodreads, 4.6 on Amazon

Troublemaker AND The Woman Left Behind (GO-Team 1 & 2) by Linda Howard (2016 & 2018)

 

The GO-Team is an elite paramilitary group. In Troublemaker, Morgan Yancy, an operative and team leader is ambushed and almost killed, and his supervisor, Axel McNamara, wants to know why and by whom. To keep Morgan safe, Axel sends him to his ex-stepsister Isabeau “Bo” Maran. Bo is the part-time police chief of a small West Virginia mountain town where Morgan is expected to lay low and stay vigilant. As to be expected, sparks fly between the two but when Morgan’s cover is blown, he will do whatever he has to to keep Bo safe. Bo’s dog Tricks serves as the comic relief.

3.8 stars on Goodreads, 4.2 on Amazon

Jina Modell works in Communications for the GO-Team and she is happy there. She likes the money and being able to kick terrorist butts without ever leaving the climate-controlled comfort of the control room. That changes when she is reassigned to work as an on-site drone operator in the field with the all-male teams. Jina, who hates to sweat, must learn how to run and swim for miles, jump out of a plane, and shoot a gun or else it’s the unemployment line.

Levi is the leader of Jina’s new team and is responsible for turning her into one of them. Much to everyone’s surprise Jina survives the training and the team heads to Syria on a mission. While the men are out in the field, Jina is left operating the drone from the base. The team is betrayed, and the base is destroyed. Jina must rely on her training to find her way to the exfiltration site on her own. Her team thinks she is dead, but Levi is determined to bring Jina home dead or alive.

4.10 stars on Goodreads, 4.6 on Amazon

The Girl You Left Behind by JoJo Moyes (2014)

 

Although I read this book several months ago, I can’t stop thinking about it. This is the story of Sophie Lefevre who lives in occupied France during World War I and Liv Halston in modern day London. The two women are connected by a painting of Sophie done by husband Edouard. The painting is called "The Girl You Left Behind".

While Édouard is fighting at the front the town is occupied by the Germans whom Sophie must serve every evening at her hotel. When the German Kommandant sees Sophie’s portrait he becomes obsessed with Sophie and determined to have both her and the painting for himself.

Fast forward to 2006 and the portrait hangs in the home of Liv Halston, a wedding gift from her young husband before his sudden death. After a chance encounter reveals the portrait’s true worth, a battle begins over its troubled history and Liv’s world is turned upside all over again. To whom does the painting truly belong?

3.99 stars on Goodreads, 4.6 on Amazon

The Sight of You by Holly Miller (2020)

 

Would you stay with someone you love knowing how they will die but not when?  Our hero, Joel. has the unwelcome gift of dreaming about the people he loves, and these dreams, sometimes good and sometimes bad, always come true. As a result, he backs away from all relationships but can’t resist the pull of Callie.  When Joel dreams of Callie’s death each must decide. Can Callie stay, knowing her fate? And if her days must be numbered, is this the life she is meant to live? Can Joel let Callie go? A host of secondary characters surround Joel and Callie and you will find yourself caring about all of them.

The Sight of You is Miller’s first novel. A second novel is expected in 2021 and is being billed as The Sight of You #2.

4.32 stars Goodreads, 4.6 on Amazon