Harbor of the Heart

Harbor of the Heart by Katherine Spencer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

5th in the Angel Island series, Harbor of the Heart continues the storyline between inn owner Liza Martin and carpenter/EMT Daniel Merritt. With summer approaching Daniel is considering taking his board exams over to return to the medical field but it means a season away from Liza and the inn. Plus, it means facing and overcoming his old fears. Meanwhile as he and Liza consider the cost to their relationship, a small white sailboat flounders off the shore near the inn and the sailor is thrown into the churning water, nearly drowning - if not for Daniel's quick reactions, with Liza and Claire's help. Who is this sailor that reportedly has no family except for a huge friend named Edison?

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Swept Away

Swept Away by Mary Connealy
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Mary Connealy is known for writing her female characters full of grit and determination - definite factors needed in the Old West and pioneering days. In Swept Away, Ruthy MacNeil is that strong personality that can handle a gun and a horse, quite easily at that! Used to working hard from sunup to sundown, when she falls in with rancher and ex-regulator Luke Stone, who is bent on recovering his ranch, Ruthy doesn't even blink. I'm looking forward to the second book in the series, Trouble in Texas to continue this engaging, sometimes-hilarious, historical romance.

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This Bright River

This Bright River: A Novel by Patrick Somerville
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Ben Hanson has made a few mistakes - well maybe more than a few - so he hesitantly takes the offer to head home to St. Helens, Wisconsin (where everyone has come up with their own story of why Ben went to jail)and clean up his favorite uncle Denny and cousin, Wayne's house, recently vandalized, to put on the market. Lauren Shehan, an classmate of Ben's, has headed home to St. Helens as well - hiding from the many tragic events in her past. When the two finally meet up again, Ben is trying to solve the mystery surrounding his cousin, Wayne's death - they are slowly, awkwardly, drawn to each other in their loneliness and need for love and understanding.

Right of the start the prologue pulled me in - there are places where the author rambles and weaves a bit before getting back on track and a few bogs, but overall you'll find yourself rooting for the two protagonists, hoping they work through their own private misery and move toward each other. A deep, moving story with many layers..

Favorite quote: "I hadn't seen her in almost five years. Such an extremely sad number, thinking it, and there was a time when such gaps within the family would have been impossible. Yet it happened, and I imagine it happens to a lot of families. You look up and half a decade is gone. The people you loved - not just that, but the people who were the first objects of your love, the people through whom you learned love - are no longer a part of your life."

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The Touch

The Touch by Randall Wallace

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Jones has an amazing gift - he has the touch - hands for surgery and saving people. He also has fallen in love with Faith, a woman who lives up to her name and who inspires Jones. When both are involved in a tragic accident on the way to their clinic in the mountains - Jones hangs up his own personal surgical instruments and teaches his fellow doctors to use their hands instead. At the same time a young woman named Lara Blair, who owns a biomedical engineering company, has been searching for a surgeon to operate the special tool she has designed to save lives. Jones, when discovered by Lara's team, wants nothing to do with surgery again and instead shows Lara the clinic in the Blue Ridge Mountains and the people who desperately need doctoring. When Jones also tells of Faith's anonymous acts of love, Lara begins to understand and believe in the selflessness and freedom of such an action.

An amazing novel of faith, belief, and the inner goodness of men. This author/producer/director is also the screenwriter of Braveheart and We Were Soldiers.



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Doctor in Petticoats

Doctor in Petticoats by Mary Connealy

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


What do you get when you cross one strong-willed, tough, ornery woman with a shell-shocked frightened doctor? Sparks are flying between Beth, a woman who knows how to handle a gun, and war-torn Alex, who has thrown his doctor's bag away forever, after what he's seen and been through. Alex realizes that only Beth can stabilize his thoughts and give him courage, so he proposes an idea, and pops the question! Will Beth agree to marry him out of pity? Will Alex ever practice doctoring again? A humorous, tale of strong women and strong faith.



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An Irish Country Courtship

An Irish Country Courtship: A Novel by Patrick Taylor

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I love Patrick Taylor's series set in Ireland and An Irish Country Courtship continues my love affair! My favorite characters are all there - Dr. Fingal Flahertie O'Reilly, Dr. Barry Laverty, their wonderfulk housekeeper Kinky Kinkade, Bertie Bishop, that rascal Donel Donelly and so many more. The book opens on Boxing Day in 1964 at Bertie and Flo Bishop party with a bang. Poor Barry, attending with his girl, Patricia Spencer, is shocked to overhear that she is ready to break up with him. And, Fingal has realized his fondness for Kitty has turned into love, but can he voice the words aloud before Kitty moves on? A new year brings new adventures to many of the villagers of Ballybucklebo!



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