Author: Debbie Macomber
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: Random House Publishing, 2016
Pages: 352
Rating: Recommend
Synopsis: Summer is a busy season at the inn, so proprietor Jo Marie Rose and handyman Mark Taylor have spent a lot of time together keeping the property running. Despite some folks' good-natured claims to the contrary, Jo Marie insists that Mark is only a friend. However, she seems to be thinking about this particular friend a great deal lately. Jo Marie knows surprisingly little about Mark's life, due in no small part to his refusal to discuss it. She's determined to learn more about his past, but first she must face her own-and welcome three visitors who, like her, are setting out on new paths.
Twenty-three-year-old Ellie Reynolds is taking a leap of faith. She's come to Cedar Cove to meet Tom, a man she's been corresponding with for months, and with whom she might even be falling in love. Ellie's overprotective mothers disapproves of her trip, but Ellie is determined to spread her wings.
Maggie and Roy Porter are next to arrive at the inn. They are taking their first vacation alone since their children were born. In the wake of past mistakes, they hope to rekindle the spark in their marriage-and to win back each other's trust. But Maggie must make one last confession that could forever tear them apart.
Review: I didn't identify as easily with their guests or their stories as much as I have in some of Macomber's other novels. However, I still found this enjoyable, and of course everyone gets their happy endings.
Rose Harbor Series:
Book 1: The Inn at Rose Harbor
Book 2: Rose Harbor in Bloom
Book 3: Love Letters
Book 4: Silver Linings
Book 5: Sweet Tomorrows
Author: Kimberley Woodhouse
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: Barbour Publishing Group, 2018
Pages: 256
Rating: Do Not Recommend
Synopsis: Mary Elizabeth Chapman boards the Speedwell in 1620 as a Separatist seeking a better life in the New World. William Lytton embarks on the Mayflower as a carpenter looking for opportunities to succeed - and he may have found one when a man from the Virginia Company offers William a hefty sum to keep a stealth eye on company interests in the new colony. The season is far too late for good sailing and storms rage, but reaching land is not better as food is scarce and people are weak. Will Mary Elizabeth survive to face the spring plan
ting and unknown natives? Will William be branded a traitor and expelled?
Review: In a word, disappointing. This series sounded promising, essentially a family saga through all the key points in American History starting with Mary Elizabeth Chapman who sails on the Mayflower.
The writing in this novel is basic. At one point, an 8yo male character asks what a cooper does. In 1620 coopers would have been ubiquitous and certainly by 8, a boy would know a cooper is a barrel maker.
I don't mind some "fluff" reads, but this novel would have been more appropriate as an introduction to historical fiction for middle grade level reading.
Each novel in this series is written by a different author so I'm going to give the second book a chance before bailing.
Author: Stephen W. Sears
Genre: Non-fiction
Publisher: Blackstone Audio, 2005
Pages: 12 discs, 431 pages
Rating: Recommend
Synopsis: The Civil War battle waged on September 17, 1862, at Antietam Creek, Maryland, was one of the bloodiest in the nation's history: on this single day, the war claimed nearly 23,000 casualties. Here renowned historian Stephen Sears draws on a remarkable cache of diaries, dispatches, and letters to recreate the vivid drama of Antietam as experienced not only by its leaders but also by its soldiers, both Union and Confederate, to produce what the New York Times Book Review has called "the best account of the Battle of Antietam."
Review: I've been reading, and learning as much as I can, about the Civil War for as long as I can remember. It captured my imagination and I was fascinated with the stories even when I was in elementary school. I even majored in history in college.
What just recently struck me is how awful and how pointless this war was. Not pointless in the sense of what it ultimately did, freeing the slaves, reuniting the country, those were not pointless, but it's a shame that it came to such a bloody and destructive war.
Fortunately, we visited Antietam this past summer because without having seen some of the landmarks and their relationship with each other, I would have been lost listening to this book. The Dunker Church, Burnside Bridge, and the Sunken Road, as well as the various farms, those were all places we visited so I could picture what the author was describing.
The Landscape Turned Red is also information overload. The months and days leading up to the battle are discussed early on, and the conclusion, epilogue and appendix go into even greater detail on specific pieces unique to the battle.
It's a lot.
I recommend this novel only if you have a serious interest in this battle.
Author: Debbie Macomber
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group, 2013
Pages: 336
Rating: Recommend
Synopsis: Since moving to Cedar Cove, Jo Marie Rose has truly started to feel at home, and her neighbors have become her closest friends. Now it's springtime, and Jo Marie is eager to finish the most recent addition to her inn. In memory of her late husband, Paul, she has designed a beautiful rose garden for the property and enlisted handyman Mark Taylor to help realize it. She and Mark don't always see eye-to-eye - and at times he seems far removed - yet deep down, Jo Marie finds great comfort in his company. And while she still seeks a sense of closure, she welcomes her latest guests, who are on their own healing journeys.
Annie Newton arrives in town to orchestrate her grandparents' fiftieth wedding anniversary celebration. While Anne is excited for the festivities, she's struggling to move on from her broken engagement, and her grandparents themselves seem to be having trouble getting along. Worse, Annie is forced to see Oliver Sutton, with whom she grew up and who has always mercilessly teased her. But the best parties end with a surprise, and Annie is in for the biggest one of all.
High-powered businesswoman Mary Smith, another Rose Harbor Inn guest, has achieved incredible success in her field, yet serious illness has led her to face her sole, lingering regret. Almost nineteen years ago, she ended her relationship with her true love, George Hudson, and now she's returned to Cedar Cove to make amends.
Review: Another cute story, and the continuation of the Cedar Cover series. If you need happy endings in your life, and I do right now, then this book is a good option.
Rose Harbor Series:
Book 1: The Inn at Rose Harbor
Book 2: Rose Harbor in Bloom
Book 3: Love Letters
Book 4: Silver Linings
Book 5: Sweet Tomorrows
Author: Debbie Macomber
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: Random House Publishing, 2012
Pages: 352
Rating: Recommend
Synopsis: Jo Marie Rose first arrives in Cedar Cove seeking a fresh start. A young widow coping with the death of her husband, she purchases a local bed-and-breakfast - the newly christened Rose Harbor Inn - ready to being her life anew.
Her first guest is Joshua Weaver, who has come home to car for his ailing stepfather. The two have never seen eye to eye, and Joshua has little hope they can reconcile their differences. Jo Marie's other guest is Abby Kincaid, who has returned to Cedar Cove to attend her brother's wedding. Back for the first time in twenty years, she almost wishes she hadn't come, the picturesque town harboring painful memories. And as Abby and Joshua try to heal from their pasts, and Jo Marie dreams of the possibilities before her, they all realize that life moves in only one direction - forward.
Review: This is typical Debbie Macomber, and a great set-up to a new series. Set in the Pacific Northwest, it's an area of the country I haven't visited so it's fun to read for that reason too. There's a lot going on in our personal lives, health issues etc, and I need light, fun, happy-ending stories right now.
Rose Harbor Series:
Book 1: The Inn at Rose Harbor
Book 2: Rose Harbor in Bloom
Book 3: Love Letters
Book 4: Silver Linings
Book 5: Sweet Tomorrows
Author: Christian White
Genre: Psychological Thriller
Publisher: St. Martin's Publishing Group, 2020
Pages: 352
Rating: Highly Recommend
Synopsis: Set agains the backdrop of an eerie island town in the deal of winter, The Wife and The Widow is an unsettling thriller told from two perspectives: Kate, a widow whose grief is compounded by what she learns about her dead husband's secret life; and Abby, an island local whose world is turned upside down when she's forced to confront the evidence of her husband's guilt. But nothing on the island is quite as it seems, and only when these women come together can they discover the whole story about the men in their lives. Brilliant and beguiling, The Wife and The Widow takes you to a cliff edge and asks the question: how well do we really know the people we love.
Review: An excellent thriller, it's impossible to review this book without giving away what makes it so brilliant. Just read it; you won't regret it. I read this in about 4 hours, and it truly was "unputdownable."
It's early in the year, but this could be my favorite book of 2020. For sure it will be my favorite thriller.
Author: Mark Obmascik
Genre: Non-fiction
Publisher: Atria Books, 2019
Pages: 256
Rating: Highly Recommend
Synopsis: Mark Obamscik rediscovered a long-lost document from World War II: the diary of a Japanese surgeon, recovered from his body by the soldier who killed him. The Storm on Our Shores reveals the layered and moving story of two men bound together by a nineteen-page diary-and how it's words eventually captivated American troops and changed our war-torn society.
Written as one desperate man's final testament, Paul Nubuo Tatsuguchi's journal revealed the medic's studies in American and his love for the US. It sent shock waves through American troops of the 1940s, shattering racist preconceptions and opening eyes to the common humanity of soldiers on both sides of the battle lines. Year later, it was sent to Laura Tatsuguchi Davis, the dead medic's daughter, on an intense search for the truth behind her father's life and legacy. And it drove Dick Laird-the sergeant who found the diary-to undertake a forty-year quest on two continents to find Laura, whose kindness and forgiveness offered redemption for his own tortured soul.
Review: My dad bought this book because his father, my grandfather, served in the Aleutian Islands during World War II (but after the time these events took place). I don't know if my grandfather talked much about his service in Alaska when my dad was a kid, but by the time I was growing up, we knew my grandmother worked at a Boeing factory in Seattle while my grandfather served in Alaska. Details of their lives during this time weren't discussed.
Truth be told, Alaska isn't what I learned about in WWII history in school and I was always kind of bummed by grandfather didn't serve in what had seemed like more "exciting," or noteworthy, places. What a fascinating battle to learn about - this was incredible. Attu was a brutal, miserable place.
Author: Amy Bourret
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: St. Martin's Publishing Group, 2010
Pages: 320
Rating: Highly Recommend
Synopsis: Ten years ago, Ruby Leander was a drifting nineteen-year-old who made a split-second decision at an Oklahoma rest stop. Fast forward nine years: Ruby and her daughter Lark live in New Mexico. Lark is a precocious, animal loving imp, and Ruby has built a family for them with a wonderful community of friends and her boyfriend of three years. Life is good. Until the day Ruby reads a magazine article about parents searching for an infant kidnapped by car-jackers. Then Ruby faces a choice no mother should have to make. A choice that will change both her and Lark's lives forever.
Review: In my quest to read a book set in every state this year, I am finding out just how many are set in New England or along the East and West Coasts. I was happy to find one set in New Mexico.
Interesting premise, and in these kinds of books I often find I put myself in the mother's role. What would I do in this situation? What outcome would have I expected? And so on. This novel raises so many ethical questions, and I felt for every single one of these characters. The only reason I didn't give this a full 5 stars on Goodreads was because some of the details were a little too convenient; still highly recommended though.
Author: Diane Chamberlain
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: St. Martin's Publishing Group, 2020
Pages: 400
Rating:
Synopsis: North Carolina, 2018: Morgan Christopher's life has been derailed. Taking the fall for a crime she did not commit, she finds herself serving a three-year stint in the North Carolina Women's Correctional Center. Her dream of a career in art is put on hold - until a mysterious visitor makes her an offer that will see her released immediately. Her assignment: restore an old post office mural in a sleepy southern town. Morgan knows nothing about art restoration, but desperate to leave prison, she accepts. What she finds under the layers of grime is a painting that tells the story of madness, violence, and a conspiracy of small town secrets.
North Carolina, 1940: Anna Dale, an artist from New Jersey, wins a national contest to paint a mural for the post office in Edenton, North Carolina. Alone in the world and desperate for work, she accepts. But what she doesn't expect is to find herself immersed in a town where prejudices run deep, where people are hiding secrets behind closed doors, and where the price of being different might just end in murder.
What happened to Anna Dale? Are the clues hidden in the decrepit mural? Can Morgan overcome her own demons to discover what exists between the layers of lies?
Review: Diane Chamberlain is one of my favorite authors. She consistently writes novels in which I can lose myself. This was no different. A bit of a slower start than what I'm used to with Chamberlain's novels, but oh.my.goodness. So twisty. So sweet. So good. Such talent.
Synopsis: Summer is a busy season at the inn, so proprietor Jo Marie Rose and handyman Mark Taylor have spent a lot of time together keeping the property running. Despite some folks' good-natured claims to the contrary, Jo Marie insists that Mark is only a friend. However, she seems to be thinking about this particular friend a great deal lately. Jo Marie knows surprisingly little about Mark's life, due in no small part to his refusal to discuss it. She's determined to learn more about his past, but first she must face her own-and welcome three visitors who, like her, are setting out on new paths.
