2005 Books


70. A Wizard in a Feud (Christopher Stasheff)

Rating: * * *
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 206
Three stars because it's Christopher Stasheff, but I have to admit this series is getting old. Magnus lands on a planet, fixes whatever's wrong, and takes off again. This time he and his companion Alea land on a neo-Scottish planet complete with feuds that everybody's sick of. They need to find some ruling body with the clout to stop the fighting. I will continue to read this series because I absolutely loved the Warlock series, and it feels like I'm keeping up with what family is up to, but it's not serious reading. You can't just pick up this book and get the  story. You need to start at the beginning with Escape Velocity (prequel) and Warlock in Spite of Himself. Expect your sides to ache from laughing if you read that one, though! This book... eh. The original series... Highly recommended!
12/31/05

69. Sounds of Silence (Elizabeth White, Love Inspired Suspense)

Rating: * * *
Genre: Inspirational Romance
Pages: 250
A deaf-mute child is found wandering outside a Mexican orphanage--holding a bloodstained knife. Border Patrol agent Eli Carmichael brings her to Isabel Valenzuela, the widow of his coworker who was killed in the line of duty--by Eli's father. The two work together to try to figure out who Mercedes is, and what happened to her. Very interesting book.
12/28/05

68. Finding Christmas (Gail Gaymer Martin)

Rating: * * *
Genre: Inspirational Suspense
Pages: 344
Joanne lost her husband and three-year-old daughter Mandy three years ago this Christmas. Suddenly, she gets a feeling that somehow Mandy is still alive. Then she starts receiving mysterious phone calls and e-mails. Could Mandy possibly still be alive? With the assistance of her husband's best friend Benjamin, she searches for her daughter.
12/23/05

67. Epiphany (Rita Herron, Debra Webb, Mallory Kane, Harlequin Intrigue)
Rating: * * *
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Pages: 250

An Angel for Christmas (Rita Herron) * * 1/2
Detective Max Malone is assigned to protect his former lover Angela North and her nephew after he witnesses his mother's murder. Loses half a star for the kid's cutesy letters to Santa.
Undercover Santa (Debra Webb) * * *
Trey Murphy is in disgrace in the department, and is assigned to protect Rebecca Saxon, a rich jewelry store owner. The clashes in personality and lifestyle are fun.
Merry's Christmas (Mallory Kane) * * 1/2
Trevor Adkins is assigned to protect Merry Randolph, the only survivor of a serial killer. Half a star for a truly evil bad guy. Loses half a star because the story was simply too short. There was no room for the interaction between the characters that makes a story interesting.
12/21/05
66. Final Gifts (Maggie Callanan and Patricia Kelly)
Rating: * * *
Genre: Nonfiction
Pages: 239
A book written by two hospice nurses about what they call Nearing Death Experience. They talk about the process of dying, how the dying communicate, how to keep them comfortable and peaceful. Recommended reading for people who might be dealing with the dying.
12/19/05
65. Yuletide Peril (Irene Brand, Love Inspired Suspense)
Rating: * * *
Genre: Inspirational Romance
Pages: 249
Janice Reid has spent the past several years holding down a job to prove herself capable of being her sister Brooke's guardian when she turns 21. She has inherited Mountjoy, the family home, and goes to check it out, only to discover it's in shambles. With the help of Lance, Brooke's principal, she is determined to turn it into a home for Brooke and herself. However, somebody does not want them in there. Is it her shiftless relatives, or somebody else? Three stars because I had to admire her courage.
12/17/05
64. Sugar Plums for Dry Creek (Janet Tronstad, Love Inspired)

Rating: * * *
Genre: Inspirational Romance
Pages: 251
This book is cute, if only for the amusing visuals produced as Lizette attempts to stage a production of The Nutcracker with half a dozen kids and a few cowboys and church ladies. Lizette moves to Dry Creek to establish a ballet school and is eagerly welcomed until they realize that Baker is her name, and she is not planning to start a bakery. However, she uses her baking skills to lure the locals into participating in her production. Judd is a cowboy caring for his young cousins, trying to keep them from their abusive father. His niece Amanda falls in love with the ballet, and he is roped into joining as well.
12/13/05

63. Deck the Halls (Arlene James, Love Inspired)

Rating: * * *
Genre: Inspirational Romance
Pages: 252
Maybe it's the Christmas spirit, but even the token precocious child didn't ruin this light-hearted Christmas romance. Vince forgets to forward his mail, and gets an irate call on his answering machine from the new tenant, Jolie. When he comes to retrieve it, he is blown away by the changes she's made in the apartment, and he talks her into decorating his new house to save him from the efforts of his four chintz-loving sisters. He is drawn to Jolie, despite her prickly, feisty personality. Jolie is heartbroken because her brother and sister have taken away her sister's child, whom she raised from birth, and she cannot believe that a former prison inmate could be a better mother than she, who is the only mother little Russell ever knew. A sweet, sometimes funny, story of heartache and redemption, and, of course, love!
12/3/05

62. The Moon Key (J.R. Stampfl)

Rating: * * * *
Genre: Teen Fiction
Pages: 250
I had almost forgotten how much I enjoy teen fiction. And the very best teen fiction leaves adults with food for thought, as well. This book has a simple, obvious message, "You have the ability and the responsibility to become the very best you can be." As a sub-message, "When you believe in yourself, you can do amazing things." Wendy is an orphan girl who was abandoned as a baby with only a note, "Take good care of her. We'll be back." On her 13th birthday, she decides to make her own birthday celebration, since she has never had one before. And that is the start of an incredible, magical year. She is invited to join LATCH, the Lunar Arena of Transformation, Concentration, and Hope. As she passes tests and gains in confidence, it begins to spill over into her everyday life, which begins to transform her entire world. The only reason this little book doesn't get five stars is there are too many unanswered questions. I want a sequel!!!
11/30/05

61. Chicken Soup for the Writer's Soul (Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Bud Gardner)

Rating: * * * *
Genre: Nonfiction
Pages: 406
Must-have inspiration for every writer's bookshelf. Sometimes the stories made me more discouraged than inspired, but they kept me aware of the writing life and that I am not alone. Highly recommended as a book to have lying around to pick up as needed for moral support. If you know a writer who does not own this book, please, please buy it for them for Christmas!
11/29/05

60. How to Write Fast (While Writing Well) (David Fryxell)

Rating: * * *
Genre: Nonfiction
Pages: 198
This book is mostly geared for nonfiction writers, but has good advice for fiction writers as well. Fryxell takes a no-nonsense, no excuses approach to efficient writing. Be prepared. Make your first draft as close to the final draft as possible. Well worth reading, although you'll get a chuckle out of the obsolete computer information. This one lives on my bookshelf and periodically gets reread when I need a kick in the rear.
11/22/05

59. House of Secrets (Tracy Montoya, Harlequin Intrigue)

Rating: * * *
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Pages: 248
Joe Lopez has no idea why he keeps being drawn back to the house where Emma lives. Soon they figure out why, and then they have to figure out who killed his parents... And why is somebody still trying to kill Joe? Or is the killer after Emma? And what happened to his siblings? Bonus for a awesome feisty (but entirely believable) heroine. This is the first in a series, and I'm eagerly awaiting the rest.
11/22/05

58. Gabriel's Discovery (Felicia Mason, Love Inspired)

Rating: * * *
Genre: Inspirational Romance
Pages: 252
Written by a friend of mine. Susan is a single mom of twin daughters, a former battered wife who runs a shelter for battered women. There seems to be a dramatic increase in battered women in Gabriel's congregation, and she attempts to enlist his help to reach these women. Gains a star for bringing up the spousal abuse issue.
11/17/05

57. Joy in His Heart (Kate Welsh, Love Inspired)

Rating: * * *
Genre: Inspirational Romance
Pages: 249
The most recent Laurel Glen book. Joy and Brian grew up together and eventually fell in love. Then Joy discovered that Brian's idea of a proper doctor's wife was not a hotshot pilot like Joy. Unwilling to become something she wasn't, she broke off the engagement. Twelve years later, Joy substitutes for an Angel Flight pilot and Brian substitutes for the doctor who was scheduled to be on the flight. On the way back, they are called to search for some missing children. They get caught in a storm and lighning strikes and downs Joy's plane. Trapped in the wilderness, Joy and Brian try to work through their differences as they search for the missing children and try to make their way to the downed plane. A story of how childhood taunting can last a lifetime and  misunderstandings can be blown into something overwhelming. Very good book.
11/14/05

56. Her Brother's Keeper (Valerie Hansen, Love Inspired Suspense)

Rating: * * 1/2
Genre: Inspirational Romance
Pages: 251
Becky was raised by her beloved "Aunt Effie" after  her mother died and her father vanished. Logan is a private investigator posing as associate pastor, hired by Becky's father to find her. The idea is good, but she just doesn't "work" it. 1/2 star for the handling of Aunt Effie's dementia and the "sweet" romance between Aunt Effie and Brother Fred.
11/8/05

55. Shadow Bones (Colleen Roads, Love Inspired Suspense)

Rating: * * *
Genre: Inspirational Romance
Pages: 250
Skye Blackbird is determined to search for diamonds in their family's ruby mine, to fulfull the dream of her father who vanished. Jake Baxter is a paleontologist who is also chasing a dream, looking for a major find to redeem himself. If he finds something, that will be the end of the mining for a long time. However, somebody appears to be out to cause trouble for both Skye and Jake.
11/6/05

54. Storm Clouds (Cheryl Wolverton, Love Inspired Suspense)

Rating: * * *
Genre: Inspirational Romance
Pages: 249
Sequel to Shelter from the Storm. Angelina gets a phone call from her brother in Australia, whom she hasn't seen or spoken to in 20  years. He asks for her help, so she comes to his rescue, only to discover he has vanished. She gets kidnapped at the airport, shanghais Jake and his vehicle when she escapes, and the action escalates from there. Oh, and it's also a good story about love and forgiveness. Very fast reading.
11/2/05

53. Hearts in Harmony (Gail Sattler, Love Inspired)

Rating: * * 1/2
Genre: Inspirational Romance
Pages: 252
Celeste is a brand-new Christian with a "past" of playing keyboard with a rough bar band. Adam plays guitar with a worship team. Can both of them allow her past to be forgiven and remain in the past? Then her abusive ex-boyfriend Zac comes into the picture...
10/31/05

52. A Bride Most Begrudging (Deeanne Gist)

Rating: * * *
Genre: Historical Romance
Pages: 347
I have a feel for a book I think I'll really like, and I've been wanting to read this one for awhile. It was worth the wait. Constance is a wealthy young lady from England who has been educated (horrors!) and has a hobby of doing mathematical puzzles (this in an era when women were assumed to not possess a brain). She escapes her maid to say goodbye to her beloved uncle who has been sentenced to indenture in the Colonies, and she is kidnapped while she is on the ship, and brought to the Colonies as a tobacco bride. Drew wants a maid to care for his little sister, not a bride, but the locals force him to marry her. The book is a merry romp of the Lady Constance battling a mean rooster, learning to milk a goat, learning to cook, and all the other things she needs to know, with a serious undertone of the conflict between the white men and the Indians. I loved it.
10/26/05

51. An Accidental Mom (Loree Lough, Love Inspired)

Rating: * *
Genre: Inspirational Romance
Pages: 249
Lily's childhood sweetheart Max left to marry somebody else because he thought she was too young. Now he is back in town to help his mom run her restaurant, only he is a widower with a four-year-old son, Nate. Loses half a star for the  adorable precocious kid with the cute mispronunciations.
10/24/05

50. A Mother for Cindy (Margaret Daley, Love Inspired)

Rating: * *
Genre: Inspirational Romance
Pages: 250
Widow Jesse is the matchmaker of their small town and is determined to find a match for Nick, her next door neighbor, because she feels his daughter Cindy needs a mother. However, Jesse's son Nate and Cindy decide to do their own matchmaking. Typical "adorable precocious darlings" book.
10/20/05

49. Crossroads (Irene Hannon, Love Inspired)

Rating: * * *
Genre: Inspirational Romance
Pages: 250
Single mom Tess moves to the big city where her teenage son Bruce soon falls in with the wrong crowd. Ex-cop-turned-principal Mitch takes a special interest in helping troubled boys because of his past. Three stars for the commonsense mentoring of Tess, Uncle Ray, and Mitch. It paints an upbeat portrait of a mother and son trying to work through hard times.
10/13/05

48. The Preacher's Daughter (Lyn Cote, Love Inspired)

Rating: * * *
Genre: Inspirational Romance
Pages: 250
Tanner is pastor of his first church. Lucie comes to town to help her cousin. She notices how the whites and Mexican-Americans are segregated, and decides to do something about it. In the process, she turns Tanner's life upside down with her impulsive ways. Cute.
10/7/05

47. A Love Beyond (Kate Welsh, Love Inspired)

Rating: * * *
Genre: Inspirational Romance
Pages: 252
This is a book I missed reading in the Laurel Glen series, a series I highly recommend. Detective Jim Lovell, goes undercover to the Circle A to find out who Jackson Alton really is. He meets Jackson's sister Crystal Alton, who is being stalked. When the stalking escalates into attempts on her life, her father asks Jim to protect her. A good story, as are all the books in this series, though not as hysterically funny as some of them.
10/5/05

46. Take My Hand (Ruth Scofield, Love Inspired)

Rating: * *
Genre: Inspirational Romance
Pages: 250
Alexis is a special needs teacher. James is the father of a special needs son who has been raised by his mother until her death, and he has no clue how to raise a child. This could have had three stars, but... It loses half a star for poor storytelling. Basic rule of writing: If you show a gun in the beginning of the story, it had better go off by the end. In a nutshell, too many guns didn't go off in this story. It's brought up over and over again that the school superintendent does not want teachers fraternizing with the parents of their students. It's also spelled out that the school secretary tells him "everything," yet she sees them together and nothing ever comes of it. I thought this was going to be a main point of conflict. And there is the hint of possible arson that never goes anywhere. And it loses another half a star for the "aw shucks" vernacular this author seems to assume is used by blue collar workers. It's not quite as bad as a so-called cowboy calling a female a "little lady" or a "filly," but it's close. Spare me. I've spent my entire life around cowboys and blue collar workers, and, trust me, they sound just like anybody else.
9/29/05

45. Die Before Nightfall (Shirlee McCoy, Love Inspired Suspense)

Rating: * * *
Genre: Inspirational Romance
Pages: 251
After losing her abusive husband and her premature infant, Raven seeks out her brother Ben, searching for a family. As well as Ben, she meets Abby, an elderly lady suffering from dementia, and her loving nephew Shane. Abby can't get  her mind off something that happened many years ago, and somebody is trying to keep her from telling the truth. I much prefer a real story in a romance novel, so this was a nice change.
9/27/05

44. Loving Libby (formerly Liberty Blue, Robin Lee Hatcher)

Rating: * * *
Genre: Inspirational Romance
Pages: 301
In Idaho Libby Blue finds refuge from her former life as eastern socialite Olivia Vanderhoff, and her abusive father. Remington Walker has been sent to find her and does, and, of course, they fall in love, but Libby doesn't know who he really is. The ending ties up loose ends with "Let's all get married and live happily ever after," but the story itself is pretty good.
9/23/05

43. Kansas Brides (Denise Hunter)

Rating: * * 1/2
Genre: Inspirational Romance
Pages: 462
An omnibus of romances in the frontier town of Cedar Springs, Kansas.

Stranger's Bride * * *
Nathan has to marry to fulfill the requirements of his father's will. His mail order bride, Sara, is fleeing an abusive stepfather. Sara slowly grows to trust him, and they fall in love.
Never a Bride * * *
Plain Jane's beautiful sister Cassy marries Luke's brother, and Jane agrees to stay with Luke and his little sister Elizabeth while they are gone. While she is there, she discovers that Luke has secretly been in love with Cassy. Worth three stars because Jane is a feisty heroine.
Bittersweet Bride * *  Beautiful Mara has plenty of men falling at her feet, but she decides she wants Clay. When she discovers he is desperate for a housekeeper to care for his young sister Abbey, she cooks up an elaborate deception to get the job.
His Brother's Bride *  Emily is ordered by her Uncle Stewart to marry her friend Thomas, so she can search for a map for a stolen treasure her grandfather and his hid somewhere on the property. If she doesn't, he threatens to put her senile grandmother in an asylum. When she arrives she discovers Thomas has been killed, but his widowed brother Cade asks her to marry him to be a mother to his son. Only one star because she is so totally stupid about keeping it to herself and not confiding in Cade.
9/17/05

42. Long Hot Summoning (Tanya Huff, the Keeper's Chronicles #3)

Rating: * * *
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Pages: 413
This one's better, and I hope there will be more. Diana has finally finished high school, and the moment she walks out the door for the last time, she gets her first Summoning as a full-fledged Keeper. She is Summoned to keep Darkness from the Otherside from taking over a shopping mall. It's too much for even her abilities as the most powerful Keeper ever, so Claire is also summoned. Add Dean's nonchalence at the...unusual guests at the guesthouse he is running for Claire, Austin's ever-present attitude, and Sam, who is still learning what it means to be a cat, and we're back to the hilarity. Definitely worth reading.
9/10/05

41. The Second Summoning (Tanya Huff, The Keeper's Chronicles #2)

Rating: * * *
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Pages: 416
That a letdown after the first book in the series. It only gets a third star because of the first book, actually. Claire and her 17-year-old sister Diana are Keepers. Due to Diana's know-it-all meddling, both an angel and a demon have been created, and Claire is Summoned to deal with them. Diana finds the angel Samuel and is determined to protect him. (Actually, how she does is also worth that third star.) The cliches worked and were funny in the first book, but they don't work here. Definitely not up to Huff's usual standard, but still worth reading.
9/6/05

40. Summon the Keeper (Tanya Huff, The Keeper's Chronicles #1)

Rating: * * * *
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Pages: 331
Claire is a Keeper, and her job is to keep the universe in one piece. She is called to this rather unusual guesthouse to close an opening to Hell. She is assisted (more or less) by Dean, a too-nice-to-be-true handyman; Jacques, a lusty ghost; Diana, her sister who has a dangerous combination of teenage attitude and more power than any other Keeper; and Austin, an elderly talking cat who has even more of an attitude and keeps everybody under control, never allowing them to forget their #1 priority: "Feed the cat!" It was entertaining and hysterically funny. There were groaner puns as well as the type of hyper-realism that uses exaggeration to make a statement about the human condition. I will most definitely read this book again!
9/4/05

39. Samantha's Gift (Valerie Hansen, Love Inspired)

Rating: * * 1/2
Genre: Inspirational Romance
Pages: 251
Rachel is a kindergarten teacher and Sean is the school counselor. They befriend the orphaned Samantha, a little girl who sees angels. Cutesly, but not much story there. Rachel and Sean research the accident to figure out why Samantha is so adamant about seeing angels. They learn she is supposed to go to live with distant relatives soon, so they take her to the zoo. Her foster mother is sick and can't go along, and when they get home her relatives have shown up. The husband sees how  his wife reacts to Samantha and changes his mind about taking her. Meanwhile Samantha runs off and gets hit by a car, and so does Rachel while she is trying to rescue her, and the emergency room thinks Rachel is Samantha's mother and Rachel and Sean decide to get married and adopt Samantha. And that is the entire story, in one paragraph. The author could have put a lot more into it.
9/1/05

38. All She Ever Wanted (Barbara Freethy)

Rating: * * *
Genre: Mystery
Pages: 402
There were four college suitemates, best friends. "Perfect" Emily died in a mysterious manner. Now, ten years later, somebody has written their story, thinly disguised as fiction, and they have decided Natalie is the murderer. Natalie and Emily's brother Cole and her friends Laura and Madison are trying to figure out who wrote this book, and why. And did somebody really murder Emily? Everybody is a suspect by turns, including Laura's husband Drew and Cole's best friend Dylan. A fascinating read.
8/27/05

37. Queen Bee of Mimosa Branch (Haywood Smith)

Rating: * * *
Genre: Women's Fiction
Pages: 405
Linwood Breedlove Scott has lost everything and is forced to return home to live with her dysfunctional family. Her father the General and Uncle Bedford both have mental problems. Her brother Tommy is an alcoholic. Her mother Miss Mamie and Aunt Gloria are somehow holding everything together. Three stars for half of the plot that was wonderful. The rest of it--her relationships with her best girlfriends and her neighbor and would-be love interest Grant... Eh. Or ugh. It's southern chick lit about a woman finding herself. It could have been fantastic. It wasn't.
8/22/05

36. Wedding Ring (Emilie Richards)

Rating: * * * *
Genre: Women's Fiction
Pages: 538
Tessa and her mother Nancy spend the summer with her grandmother Helen, helping her clean out the farmhouse she can no longer care for properly. Tessa finds an old wedding ring pattern quilt that her grandmother pieced and her mother quilted, and she decides to restore it. As the women work together and squabble together and befriend Cissy, an unwed pregnant neighbor girl, they get to really know each other for the first time and work through a past family tragedy. It's not a dramatic story, but the interaction between the characters is wonderful.
8/16/05

35. The Court of Three Sisters (Marianne Willman)

Rating: * * *
Genre: Historical Fiction
Pages: 466
Summer Fairchild is crippled from a childhood accident she can't remember--she can't remember anything from before that time. Thea, her older sister, is ostensibly home to care for Summer and Fanny, their youngest sister, but is actually secretly separated from her husband. Fanny is young and dreaming of her coming out and eager for romance. They join their father on an archeological dig on the island of Ellysia. Col is searching for a fantastic find that his murdered friend hinted at, and also wants to avenge his brother, who committed suicide after being wrongly accused of theft. Interesting read, has a few surprises.
8/13/05

34. Hadassah: One Night With the King (Tommy Tenney with Mark Andrew Olsen)

Rating: * * * *
Genre: Inspirational
Pages: 350
I'll admit, I had to read this book the moment I laid eyes on it. I have a weakness for fiction about Biblical characters, and Esther is my favorite Biblical character. While taking the liberties of fiction and placing the story within a modern framework, the author has stayed true to the Book of Esther. There is the clever Mordecai, the scheming Haman, and, of course, Hadassah (Esther), the beautiful Jewish girl who catches the eye of the King of Persia after he disposes of disobedient Queen Vashti. The story is written as a letter from Esther to her descendants, to future Queen Candidates, and it is being read by a modern-day descendant on the eve of her own wedding. It brings the story to life, and I enjoyed it as much as I thought I would.
8/3/05

33. An Accidental Hero ( Loree Lough, Love Inspired)

Rating: * *
Genre: Inspirational Romance
Pages: 252
This story is not improved by the cowboy lingo. I've lived around cowboys my entire life, and I have yet to hear one say "li'l lady." (If he did, the referred-to "li'l lady" would probably flatten him, but that's besides the point.) It's one thing to use a specific jargon in a specific genre. The supposed cowboy jargon would be fine in a western novel, because that's what's expected. But this isn't a western, it's a romance, and, besides which, it's simply bad writing to emphasize any accent. We all know Texans have a drawl, but if every sentence out of a Texan character's mouth is written that way, it's distracting and ruins the story. The occasional "y'all" is enough to help the reader remember how he or she speaks.

Anyway, that was the case here. I couldn't get past the distracting "cowboyspeak" of the hero. The story itself was a flop, too. Pregnant, widowed, failed actress Cammi returns home in disgrace and meets up with has-been rodeo star Reid Alexander. There is no real conflict. Cammi feels she is a disappointment to her father, but you soon find out that's not actually the case. Reid is afraid to tell Cammi that he was the one who killed her mother when her mother ran a red light, but she's known from the start. It isn't till they get serious that it suddenly apparently begins to cause flashbacks or whatever, and it just doesn't work. This book was a waste  of time, I'm sorry to say.
8/1/05

32. Finding Hope (Brenda Coulter, Love Inspired)

Rating: * * *
Genre: Inspirational Romance
Pages: 251
This is a first novel, and I will definitely look for more books by this author. I'll be the first to admit that "light" romances, inspirational or otherwise, are pure fluff, brain candy, but some are definitely better-tasting brain candy than others. This book was fun from beginning to end. Dr. Charles Hartman is a crabby, overworked, stressed-out trauma surgeon who insists he does not possess a heart. Hope Evans is a bubbly college student who insists she can never marry, but when she runs into Dr. Hartman's car, she decides to make it her project to bring out the "Charlie" she knows is inside the hard shell. Charles' brother Tom, just as nutty as Hope, adds a great deal as a secondary character.

He must be losing his touch. He tried again, this time employing the deadly quiet voice that could reduce thick-skinned surgery residents to quivering blobs of jelly. "You make a habit of this?"

... "Last time I got a Jaguar," she said proudly. "You're a Mercedes, aren't you? I have an unerring eye for quality, don't you think?"
7/30/05

31. Toward Home (Carolyne Aarsen, Love Inspired)

Rating: * * 1/2
Genre: Inspirational Romance
Pages: 252
Melanie is a home health nurse who has fallen in love with a house. Along the way she also falls in love with its owner, the widower Adam, and his three-year-old daughter Tiffany. The 1/2 is because Tiffany is not a precocious matchmaker but a realistic three-year-old who becomes attached to "Mellalie."
7/26/05

30. Fortress of Dragons (C.J. Cherryh,)

Rating: * * * *
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 567
Book 4 in the Fortress series. This is supposed to be the last book in the series, but there is room for more. Tristen and Cefwyn have gone their separate ways to prepare for war. Messages stop getting through between them, and Tristen discovers that Cefwyn has an enemy among his most trusted allies, only he can't tell who it is.  Twins Orien and Tarien, sisters of Cefwyn's first enemy and his former lovers, make one last bid for power. Orien is determined that Tarien's baby will be born to become a new vessel for Hasufin Heltain, but she doesn't count on a mother's love or unexpected opposition from none other than Ninevrise, Regent of Elwyth and also-expectant bride of King Cefwyn.  Tristen comes to understand much more about who he is and what he is to do. And he discovers that the enemy is more powerful than anybody realized--except for possibly Mauryl. Things come full circle--but in a very satisfying way.
7/24/05

29. A Veiled Reflection (Tracie Peterson, Westward Chronicles #3)

Rating: * * *
Genre: Inspirational
Pages: 285
Jillian Danvers is coaxed by her twin sister Judith to fill out the last three months of her term as Harvey Girl so she can elope with her childhood sweetheart. Timid Jillian is nothing like bold Judith, but she muddles through, and, in the process, falls in love with Arizona, and Mac, the local doctor. She becomes involved in the distrust between the Indians and the whites, and helps care for an orphaned Navajo infant, and discovers she can do more than be a decorative accessory. Meanwhile, her parents are still determined to find her an appropriate match for as soon as her time is up. In an attempt to maintain her independence, Jillian ends up piling deception on top of deception. Three stars for the entertainment value of this cultured young lady learning to become a Harvey Girl, and, in the process, learning to stand up to her parents.
7/14/05

28. Hidden in a Whisper (Tracie Peterson, Westward Chronicles #2)

Rating: * * 1/2
Genre: Inspirational
Pages: 284
Rachel Taylor chose to believe gossip and not listen to her then-fiance Braeden's reasons, and ended their relationship. Years later, she is house manager at a Harvey House, and Braeden becomes hotel manager. They work to get along and maybe solve their misunderstandings. Meanwhile, Ivy, the spoiled granddaughter of the woman who owns most of the town is not happy with her lowly position as the newest and least-experienced Harvey Girl and decides to make trouble for Rachel--and acquire Braeden for her own. And there is also some other underhanded stuff going on... OK, but the relationship is the key element, and their initial and ongoing misunderstandings are just too lame to be believable.
7/11/05

27. A Shelter of Hope (Tracie Peterson, Westward Chronicles #1)

Rating: * * *
Genre: Inspirational
Pages: 299
Simone Dumas was raised by an abusive father who murdered her mother and infant brother when they tried to run away when she was ten. Finally, he sells the farm and her when she is 17. She runs away and ends up becoming a Harvey Girl in Topeka. Meanwhile, her father is searching for her, and so is the law, to question her about a murder...
6/30/05

26. Fortress of Owls (C.J. Cherryh)

Rating: * * * *
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 550
Book 3 in the Fortress series. The Quinalts refuse to sanction the marriage of King Cefwyn and Ninevrise, the Regent of Elwyth, as long as Tristen will be there under the banner of the Sihhe, the long-vanished Althalen. Therefore Cefwyn also makes him Lord of Amafel, the province of an enemy Tristen helped him defeat, and sends him there. Tristen shows up just in time to stop a revolt. Meanwhile, Elwyth has been attacked by a would-be King claiming a touch of Sihhe blood. But is Tristen the true prophesied King of Elwyth, the rebirth of the Sihhe? Aided by his friend Lord Crissand, son of the lord who engineered the revolt and with a touch of Sihhe blood himself, Tristen prepares to unite the south to defend Elwyth while Cefwyn deals with the politics of the north and get their assistance. And then somebody assassinates the Quinaltine patriarch on the day of a crucial wedding...
6/28/05

25. Wild Hearts (Cherie Bennett)

Rating: * * *
Genre: Teen
Pages: 199
I got caught by this book as I was sorting my sale books for an upcoming craft sale. Jane is happy living in New York City and being drummer in her boyfriend's band. Then her parents drop a bombshell--they are moving to Nashville, of all places. Her "perfect" little sister Jill is delighted, and proceeds to turn herself into a southern belle. Meanwhile, Jane emphasizes her New York style, to the scorn of her classmates and the embarrassment of her little sister. However, she discovers some musical friends, and finds a place for herself with her music. This is the start of a series about the rockabilly band Wild Hearts that Jane and her friends start, and I would actually enjoy reading the rest of the books in the series. It's a book any misfit could relate to and enjoy.
6/27/05

24. Fortress of Eagles (C.J. Cherryh)

Rating: * * * *
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 478
Book 2 in the Fortress series. Once you get used to the writing style, these books are page-turners. King Cefywn is set to marry Ninevrise, the Regent of Elwyth, but other forces are set against the marriage. The Quinalt, the official religion of the royalty, despises Cefwyn's best friend, Tristen, the Sihhe shaping, and puts every objection in the way of the marriage to get him out of the picture. Meanwhile, forces are at work to take over Elwyth, but he cannot do a thing to help until the wedding is accomplished. And then there is a freak storm and lightning strikes the roof of the Quinaltine...
6/15/05

23. Prairie Storm (Catherine Palmer)

Rating: * * *
Genre: Inspirational Romance
Pages: 251
Elijah Book is a cowboy turned preacher who found an orphaned baby along the trail. Lily Nolan is a performer who recently lost her own baby. Together they work to set aside their differences and care for baby Samuel. A cute story, but no real connection to the first two in the series.
6/3/05

22. Prairie Fire (Catherine Palmer)

Ratingi: * * *
Genre: Inspirational Romance
Pages: 271
Caitrin Murphy is a fiery Irish lass with a mind of her own. Jack Cornwall has turned his life around and is seeking a new start for himself and his mother and mentally disturbed sister. In most romances I've read, the conflict would come from the heroine believing all the bad things about the hero while he wins over the townsfolk. This book is just the opposite, and it's a refreshing change. Caitrin alone believes in Jack and wants to give him a chance. Rosie and Seth (from the first book) are also willing to give him a chance, but with reservations. Caitrin's own sister and brother-in-law, Sheena and Jimmy O'Toole, despise Jack the most, and are totally blind to any good in him. I would have liked it better if he had earned their respect on his own merits, instead of a dramatic heroic gesture, but it's still a good book.
6/1/05

21. Prairie Rose (Catherine Palmer)

Rating: * * *
Genre: Inspirational Romance
Pages: 262
I love pioneer stories. Settlers on the prairie had to overcome so much, and this history isn't too far removed. My grandparents were homesteaders, even if they came by train and not by wagon, and my grandmother wrote about what it was like.

Rosie Mills is a foundling, raised in an orphanage. She is praying up in a tree (you'll have to read the book to understand) when there is a confrontation beneath her, as a man and child pass by and another man tries to take the child. She whacks the "bad guy" with a tree branch, overbalances and falls by the "good guy." He says he owes her, and, as her reward, she asks to go with him to his home on the prairie so she can finally have a place to call her own. Seth Hunter has just returned from the Civil War to learn that his beloved wife is dead and her family has no intention of letting him take the son he has never seen. He basically kidnaps young Chipper, and Chipper's Uncle Jack Cornwall is determined to bring him back to the family.

The three of them settle down into life on the prairie, and Chipper comes to love the father he never got to know. But Jack is still searching for him...

Cute story, with a bit of humor and a bit of suspense and a lot of love and redemption thrown in.
5/26/05

20. Becoming Olivia (Roxanne Henke)

Rating: * * *
Genre: Inspirational
Pages: 390
Olivia is battling depression. Olivia's daughter Emily is dealing with teenage woes. Olivia's therapist Dr. Sullivan is battling a few demons of his own, and Olivia is unintentionally helping him just as much as he is helping her. While Olivia is emotionally unavailable, Emily finds a confidante and mother figure in Peg, a 62-year-old woman who is in a nursing home because of a stroke. Henke wrote this story to throw light on the illness of depression, since she battles with it herself, but it's almost as much a story about friendship and different kinds of love.

One thing I appreciated was that she acknowledged that depression isn't necessarily cured by a year of therapy and medication. In some cases, it isn't so much cured as the victim learns coping mechanisms.
5/22/05

19. Finding Ruth (Roxanne Henke)

Rating: * * *
Genre: Inspirational
Pages: 380
This is the sequel to After Anne, which you won't find in my 2004 book list, because I read it longer ago than that. It's taken at least two years for the sequels to be available at the library I use, even with multiple copies. So I should at least mention After Anne. That is a very good book, the story of the friendship between two women, as one of them battles breast cancer. I highly recommend it.

Finding Ruth actually has no connection to After Anne, other than mention of some of the characters from the book. These books are called the Coming Home to Brewster series. Henke is a North Dakotan, and writes about Brewster, a mythical small town in North Dakota. Reading the books gives you an idea what life in rural North Dakota is like, but it's a bit idealized compared to my personal experiences. Still, it should feel familiar to anybody in the rural Midwest, and it would be an interesting peek into another culture for others who are just curious about how other people live.

Ruthie's lifelong dream is to move away from Brewster and work at a big city radio station. She hooks up with Jack, and together they buy a failing radio station in Brewster, supposedly as only a first step to buying more stations and moving away, but it never quite works out. Jack skips the country for the big city deejay job they both dreamed of, leaving Ruthie with the mess their station has become. Meanwhile, Paul, the childhood sweetheart she jilted in exchange for pursuing her dreams, has been making it big as a banker in Chicago, and now moves back to Brewster, his dream. The story revolves around Ruthie, Paul, and Jack trying to reconcile their very different dreams and find contentment, assisted by Ruthie's sister Vicky and her husband Dave (who own the local diner, Vicky's dream), and a supporting cast of stereotypical-but-cute smalltown characters.
5/18/05

18. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (J.K. Rowling)

Rating: * * * *
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 734
Harry gets tricked into competing in a wizard's competition that he is too young and unprepared for. Lots of secrets get revealed. More mysteries develop. New friends, old enemies, a bit of tragedy, a bit of resolution. I can't believe these books aren't getting a bit repetitious after three volumes, but the fourth is as fresh as the first, and even better. This one is my favorite so far.
5/16/05

17. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (J.K. Rowling)

Rating: * * *
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 435
There isn't too much to say about Harry Potter. You'd have to live in a cave to not be at least vaguely familiar with the story of a teenage wizard and his exploits at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. My overwhelming thought while reading this book was, "No wonder kids love these books. What's not to love? You have a misunderstood and bullied teenager with special powers and a sport he excels in, a wonderfully weird school, lots of adventure..." I would worry about the kid who didn't love Harry Potter!
5/8/05

16. Fortress in the Eye of Time (C.J. Cherryh)

Rating: * * * *
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 773
Book 1 in the Fortress series. The wizard Mauryl's final act against the evil Hasufin and the Shadows was to create a Shaping, from a magical race that he helped exterminate. Tristen is this Shaping, the rebirth of the Sihhe, brought into the world basically as an adult child, learning (and remembering) as he lives. Cefwyn is the young king of a divided realm, and the first person to believe in him. They become close friends, complicated by Cefwyn's engagement to the new Regent of Elwyn, Ninevrise. Elwyn has been given a promise that their true king, the Sihhe, would return, so they have always considered themselves only regents. Now, Tristen is the fulfillment of this promise, but he  has no interest in becoming king of anything. When he was created as a Shaping, he was infused with Mauryl's will, which was to defeat this evil Hasufin, and everything  he does has to be towards that end. This almost 800-page book covers maybe one year, and there are three more books to go!

This is definitely not light reading. The story is complicated, and the author writes in long, convoluted sentences. It takes a high degree of concentration, and sometimes I'd have to read a sentence or paragraph several times to make sense of it. I think I will be taking a break before I tackle Book 2!
5/5/05

15. The Substitute Sister (Lisa Childs, Harlequin Intrigue)

Rating: * * * *
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Pages: 248
Confession time. The only book club subscriptions I've ever had have been Heartsong Presents, an inspirational romance line that I dropped because too many of the books were boring, and Harlequin Intrigue, which I would have kept up had I been able to afford it. I love romantic suspense. You get the romance, but with a real story.

This one is better yet--it's a gothic. Sasha's estranged identical twin Nadine has been murdered, leaving Sasha her two-year-old daughter Annie and a mansion she swindled from her former employer. Reed is the sheriff, and they are determined to find out who murdered Nadine, and why. Meanwhile, rocking chairs move by themselves, and ghostly voices call to Sasha... Add to the mix the ex-fiance that Nadine stole from Sasha, a creepy lawyer, an eccentric artist son who should have inherited the mansion, and a housekeeper and nanny with a major grudge against both Nadine and Sasha, and you have an interesting story going on!
4/12/05

14. The Carpenter's Wife (Lenora Worth, Love Inspired)

Rating: * *
Genre: Inspirational Romance
Pages: 250
Ana Hanson dreams of opening her own tearoom and art gallery. Carpenter Rock Dempsey thinks he wants a "traditional" wife. Can the two find a way to work things out? Of course! It's a romance. Standard cutesy "small town with matchmaking but big-hearted neighbors" fare. (Fortunately, this book was given to me, so I'm not out of pocket!)
4/10/05

13. Walk by Faith (Rosanne Bittner)

Rating: * * * *
Genre: Inspirational
Pages: 280
I happen to love wagon train/pioneer historical fiction, so I was prejudiced in favor of this book before I even read it. And I wasn't disappointed. After Clarissa's husband dumps her and their daughter Sophie for another woman, the church community blames her for their divorce. Her best friend Carolyn and her husband Michael help her out. Michael is the pastor of the church. When the church turns against Michael for helping Clarissa and forces him out of the church, he decides to take his wife and daughter Lena and Clarissa and Sophie and file on land in Montana. Dawson is a disillusioned Union soldier who has seen everyone he's ever cared about die. After he is wounded, he musters out of the Army and decides to lead a wagon train west. He meets Clarissa when he grabs Sophie when she darts in front of a carriage, and Sophie, a nurse, takes him  home and re-dresses his wound. They end up joining the wagon train he leads, and over time Clarissa and Dawson start falling in love, but Clarissa has to learn to trust a man again, and Dawson has to learn to trust God. The story is believable, not overdone. It's a love story, not just a romance, but it's also a story about true friendship. Definitely worth reading.
4/8/05

12. Freedom's Ransom (Anne McCaffrey)

Rating: * * * *
Genre: SF
Pages: 287
This is the latest installment, continuing from Freedom's Landing, Freedom's Choice, and Freedom's Challenge. Knowing Anne McCaffrey, there may be another one someday, but each one does have a satisfactory ending. They should be read in order, though. Kris and the Catteni Zainal and their friends have established a working settlement on Botany. Now they are attempting to establish trade with Earth and Barevi to "ransom" all the stuff that has been taken from Earth during the Catteni invasion. The currency they choose? Read the series! I liked the first one best, though. It was based on my favorite Anne McCaffrey novella ever. I really like this series and the cleverness of the exiled colonists.
4/5/05

11. Breaking the Silence (Diane Chamberlain)

Rating: * * * *
Genre: Mainstream
Pages: 411
Laura Brandon makes a promise to her dying father to visit Sarah, an elderly woman with Alzheimer's. For some reason, this upsets her husband so horribly that he commits suicide--while babysitting Laura's five-year-old daughter Emma. Emma is so traumatized that she stops speaking. Her therapist suggests she might benefit from spending time with her birth father, Dylan, who up till now doesn't know she exists. Laura comes to love Sarah and visits her weekly for long walks, while Sarah tells her the story of her life. Meanwhile, Dylan is building a relationship with Laura and Emma. But why is somebody still leaving her threatening notes demanding that she stop visiting Sarah? A fascinating story unfolds through Laura's life in the present and Sarah's life in the past.
3/13/05

10. A Love To Keep (Cynthia Rutledge, Love Inspired)

Rating: * * *
Genre: Inspirational Romance
Pages: 250
Simple story, fairly realistic. Lori, who writes an advice column for a teen magazine, moves in with Drew to be nanny to his two girls for six months. The younger one adores her and the teenage one resents her, fairly standard fare. What boosts it to three stars is the mature way Lori and Drew deal with their budding romance.
3/7/05

9. Battlefield Earth (L. Ron Hubbard)

Rating: * * * * *
Genre: Science Fiction
Pages: 1066
It is the year 3000. The vicious Psychlos have long since taken over Earth and almost eliminated the human "animal" population. Among the few remaining humans struggling for survival is an intelligent, resourceful, and curious young man named Jonnie Goodboy Tyler. Leaving his young lady Chrissie and her little sister Patty, he takes off seeking adventure, to discover if there are humans outside of his small village. He is kidnapped by Psychlo head of security Terl, who has been searching for a trainable human animal for his own self-serving purposes. In order to "train" Jonnie to be useful, he educates him, teaching him far more than he ever intended. The plots twists are unexpected, but completely logical. It's a simple story, and yet complex. It's a straightforward "good vs. evil" adventure with a larger than life hero, yet it's really a story about humanity and the indomitable human spirit.

If you've seen the movie, forget all about it. The movie failed because there is no way a movie could capture the scope of the book. The movie centers around one key battle that makes little sense without the rest of the story. Read the book. Don't be intimidated by the size. It has short chapters and numerous sections and is actually fast, easy reading.
3/5/05

8. The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks)

Rating: * * *
Genre: Mainstream
Pages: 214
This is the story of the romance between Noah and Allie. Two stars for the plot--there isn't one. One more star for the portrait the beautiful writing paints. Take the lives of two people and remove every aspect of their lives except for their romance and you have this story, intentionally one-dimensional. The author is not trying to tell a realistic, multidimensional story of the lives of two people--he is telling a story about love, nothing more. It's not a waste of time to read, by any means, but it wasn't particularly to my taste, and, as much as I admire pretty writing, I found myself skimming, searching for a plot that wasn't there.
3/3/05

7. A Stitch in Time (omnibus by Tracey V. Bateman, Carol Cox, Cathy Marie Hake, Vickie McDonough)

Rating: * * *
Genre: Inspirational Romance
Pages: 349
Cute story of the romances of three brothers and their sister.
Basket Stitch (Cathy Marie Hake) - Deborah comes west to marry her fiance, only to discover he's been killed. The Stafford family takes her under their collective wing, and she ends up falling in love with Micah Stafford.
Double Cross (Tracy V. Bateman) - Tomboy Lou Stafford falls in love with Trent, the circuit preacher. The problem is... He is a preacher and feels he needs a lady for a wife.
Spider Web Rose (Vickie McDonough) - Rachel and her grandfather are running away from Dodge City and the would-be suitor who attacked her. Rachel has been traveling as a boy, and Josh Stafford is not very happy at being fooled. However, he can't resist Rachel anyway, and there is a wee bit of interest between Rachel's grandpa and Grandma Stafford.
Double Running (Carol Cox) - Sam Stafford is a confirmed bachelor. Hope is sent back to Petunia in disgrace after spending three years with her aunt trying to find a husband who will overlook her clumsiness and lack of beauty. The whole town is determined to throw Hope and Sam together.
2/6/05
6. Dragonstar (Barbara Hambly)
Rating: * * * * *
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 328
John and Jenny are finally reunited, and they make one last attempt to destroy the demons. The series ends, extremely satisfactorily. I can't say much about the story without giving too much away, but the other books all build up to this. John and Jenny find out who their true enemies--and friends--are, and there are some surprises. They trap the demons in a fiendishly clever manner. And they go home to their three children to live happily ever after. (Yeah, right!) She could write a spinoff series, but don't hold your breath. The first book of these four was published in 1985, and this one in 2002. There are no disappointments in this series--I highly recommend it.
2/2/05
5. Knight of the Demon Queen (Barbara Hambly)
Rating: * * * * *
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 344
Jenny has lost everything. John has been sentenced to death for trafficking with demons. Aohila, the Demon Queen, blackmails him into helping her once more, threatening to destroy his world if he does not. Accompanied by the demon who formerly possessed Jenny, he must battle his way through different hells in search of the prize Aohila wants, a former lover of hers. Little does he know what he would really find. And little does he know he will be betrayed again upon his return...
1/23/05
4. Dragonshadow (Barbara Hambly)
Rating: * * * * *
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 310

This book was published in 1999. I was so thrilled to discover a sequel to Dragonsbane! The rest of the series are open-ended till the end, so I'm telling you right now, do not bother to read them until you get them all!

It's now five years later. John and Jenny have a small daughter as well as their two sons. Demons have come into the land, and have stolen their twelve-year-old firstborn, Ian. Bandits with a witch are attacking the realm, and Jenny has to go to help, while John goes in search of Morkeleb to help him find his son. I like the teaser on the back of the book: "In the coming struggle, Morkeleb will sacrifice what he values most. Jenny will question everything she trusts and believes in. And John will embark on a perilous quest for the only things capable of defeating such powerful demons--even more powerful demons. . ." Demons are after Jenny and Ian. John is after something that will overcome the demons. And they keep getting in deeper and deeper...
1/19/05

3. Dragonsbane (Barbara Hambly)
Rating: * * * * *
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 341
One of my resolutions for this year is to read all of the finished fantasy series I have accumulated, and I decided to start with this one. I have waited a long time to finish this series. To put the time frame in perspective, this book came out in 1985 and I bought it in 1986.

Barbara Hambly is one of my absolute favorite authors. If she has one defining characteristic, it's her ordinary, very human, characters. Actually, that leads to a second defining characteristic... Her books are some of the most romantic I have ever read. She usually has two very ordinary, simple characters who are either lovers from the start or fall in love throughout the story, and their love is so deeply woven into the plot that the books would fall apart without it. These characters are then thrown into extraordinary situations that test and eventually strengthen their love.

Jenny Waynest is a half-trained witch of small power. John Aversin is Thane of the Winterlands, a godforsaken region, owing allegiance to a king who can't be bothered to help them out. He is a simple man, a scholar, and cares for two things--his people, and studying bits of ancient manuscripts he has scrounged. He also happens to be the Dragonsbane, the only living person to slay a dragon. (How do you slay a dragon? Not with a sword! If he gets off the ground, you're dead. He used a very unromantic axe.) They are pushing 40 with two small sons, very happy with their life. Then Gareth, son of the king, shows up searching for the Dragonsbane, to dispose of a dragon that has been terrorizing the realm. He promises his father will finally get aide to John's people if he will come slay the dragon. Gareth's head is full of stories and ballads, and short, bespectacled, scholarly John is not his idea of a Dragonsbane, but he is their only hope. So off John and Jenny go to slay a dragon. And not just any dragon, but Morkeleb the Black, the oldest and wisest of the dragons. John almost kills Morkeleb and Morkeleb almost kills John. Jenny bargains with Morkeleb that if he will help her save John's life, she will save his. And so, she does. But, in doing so, she discovers that the old saying, "Save a dragon, slave a dragon" is indeed true, and now Morkeleb is bound to Jenny's bidding.

They discover things are strange at court. The king is a doddering fool, controlled by a young witch named Zyrene, who has somehow managed to acquire way more power than her small training and ability should allow. Zyrene has the old king and half the court under her thumb. She wants Morkeleb out of the way so she can access something in the dwarves' mines, where he has his lair. Now that Morkeleb has been dealt with, Jenny, John, Morkeleb, and Gareth now have to figure out how to keep Zyrene from gaining control of the entire kingdom.

This book actually ends, and it has a very satisfying ending. I wonder if Hambly had intended to write a sequel, or decided that later. The rest of the series are open ended till the final one.
1/14/05

2. Promise Forever (Marta Perry, Love Inspired)
Rating: * * *
Genre: Inspirational Romance
Pages: 251
Tyler is established in life as the CEO of the family business when somebody sends a picture of the son from his brief marriage to Miranda, his first love, a son he hadn't known existed. I expected the usual war... He would come in demanding to haul their son off to the city and she would fight tooth and nail to keep him in their small hometown with her large extended family. Actually, it was very realistic. I was impressed. Tyler and Miranda work out a compromise where he stays at her family-owned resort and telecommutes while he gets to know his son, and once Sammy has become comfortable with him, they will share custody. So then I expected a precocious little boy who would pull all sorts of shenanigans to get his parents together. It wasn't like that, either. They get to know each other over the summer and rekindle their love while he earns Sammy's trust. When his business becomes urgent and he has to leave and skip Sammy's ballgame, we don't get broken hearts and misunderstandings. Miranda insists he tell Sammy himself. Meanwhile, his irresponsible younger brother is handling the company, and Tyler also learns how to respect his own family. This book goes to show that you can have a realistic story without melodrama or cutesiness and still make it work. It's not exactly lister material, but it's a refreshing read, and I recommend it.
1/6/05
1. Blessings of the Heart (Valerie Hansen, Love Inspired)
Rating: * *
Genre: Inspirational Romance 
Pages: 251
Not an auspicious start to my book reading year. Reclusive writer Brianna has inherited a nice house and is very nitpicky about how it's cared for. She is stereotypical spoiled rich girl--can't cook, has a cleaning lady--even though she isn't really rich. Mitch and his two boys have a shacky cabin with no indoor plumbing, down the hill from Brianna's nice house. A flash flood sweeps away their cabin and tears down the phone lines and washes out the roads, forcing Mitch and his sons to seek haven with Brianna. You don't learn much about either of their backgrounds. He thinks she's snobby rich because of her house, but she isn't. She thinks he is white trash poor because of his cabin, but he isn't. About the only plot deals with their misunderstanding about each other's situation. Of course they fall in love and live happily ever after. Don't waste your time on this one--I'm glad it was given to me, not one I spent money on!
1/3/05

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