A New York Christmas

A New York Christmas by Anne Perry
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Independent, young Jemima Pitt, daughter of London Special Branch policeman Thomas Pitt, is crossing the ocean in 1904 as a companion to "Phinny" Cardew..soon to be married into the wealthy Albright family of New York City. Upon arrival Jemima is told that Phinny's mother, who abandoned her when she was a small child, could possible appear and make a scandal at the high society wedding of the year. Could Jemima help find the woman and steer her clear of the event? Little does Jemima realize that she's being setup and will soon find herself behind bars...


I love these little Christmas morsels and eagerly eat them up way too quickly! Set against the bleak, cold, snowy backdrop of New York City, love and the humanity of man is found again...

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The Pecan Man

The Pecan Man by Cassie Dandridge Selleck
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Looking back Ora, now in her 80s, decides to set the record straight on what happened back in the summer of 1976...

In 1976, widowed and childless Floridian Ora Lee Beckworth hires a homeless black man, named Eddie, to mow her grass and tinker in her garden - which causes an upheaval both in the community and with her friend and maid, Blanche. Eddie, nicknamed the Pecan Man, lives in a wooded area off of downtown and is not trusted by the white Floridian ladies in her small town. But Ora sees something in Eddie and still does, even when he's charged with killing the police chief's son. Ora also finds out a lot about her own character...

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A Killing in the Hills

A Killing in the Hills by Julia Keller
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

When county prosecutor Bell Elkin's daughter, Carla, witnesses a triple murder at the Salty Dawg in their hometown of Ackers Gaps, WV, Bell is determined to protect Carla and find the killer. Unfortunately even though the diner was full of people, no one has description of the suspect. As days go by and Carla relives the horrifying event the face with the gun looks like a young man she seen at a recent party - where drugs were flowing easy. How can Carla give the information to her mom but not be grounded for life? In her quest to find the perp and dig deeper into the drug ring surrounding their county, Bell's own life is put in danger as is Carla's.

Full of suspense, A Killing in the Hills contains more than one mystery and readers will find Bell's own life story as the chapters unfurl. Bitter River is the next great read in the Bell Elkins mysteries.

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A Shining Light

A Shining Light by Judith Miller
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Andrea Wilson only feels relief when the news arrives that her sailing husband has died at sea. Even though she is left a widow without any financial means, Andrea know that she and her son are better off without the severe cruelty he inflicted upon them. She heads home to the family farm in Iowa, only to find that her father has perished in a terrible fire that consumed their home but left the barn. The good people from the nearby Amana Colony take her and little Lukas in and provide for their needs until arrangements can be made for their future. Just when things are looking up more shocking news enters Andrea's life.

Although a work of fiction, this gentle read of faith is woven throughout with historical tidbits.

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four friends

Four Friends by Robyn Carr
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Three women, Gerri, Andy, and Sonja, have a fantastic friendship, live on the same street, and power walk at 6am together every morn - how perfect is that? (although I can't even imagine being awake at 6am let alone power walking, grrr...) BJ has just recently moved to the area and is quite aloof, runs every morning but is quietly keeping a big secret she's not ready to share. Three of the four women will soon find that her marriage has been unraveling for quite awhile and when it does - it happens in a big way...BJ will come to be the friend that steps in, sees what needs done, and helps pick up the pieces.

This is the first book by Robyn Carr I've read although I've heard about her Virgin River series. She was an author I hoped to catch up with eventually and I'm very glad I did! You'll be giggling after some chapters and empathizing after others. Readers of Kristin Hannah will enjoy her writing.

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Keep Quiet

Keep Quiet by Lisa Scottoline
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

How far would you go to protect your child? How does the domino effect of lying affect the relationship with your spouse..your child..your job...

Jake Buckman, an accountant, is trying to rebuild a crumbling relationship with his 6'5" teenage son and high school basketball star, Ryan. After picking Ryan up from movie, Jake allows him to drive home a quiet, back road after 11pm, even though Ryan's learner's permit does not allow it. But, the unthinkable happens and in a heartbeat Jake makes a decision that will take the heat off Ryan but will mentally tear the family apart. It's crushing to read the thoughts and turmoil of what they face as each lie steamrolls, creating even more pain in its wake.....

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A Christmas Hope: A Novel

A Christmas Hope: A Novel by Anne Perry
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Number 11 in Anne Perry's Christmas novellas, A Christmas Hope finds us back in 1868, not so merry, old Victorian England, during the Christmas season. Claudine Burroughs is tired of the empty round of social engagements and tepid conversations and tired of the emptiness found in her own marriage of convenience. When a popular poet is accused of murder at the latest party attended, Claudine does not go with the consensus of his guilt and attempts to discover the true culprit. Knowing her husband would be horrified with her inquiries and stop her attempts, courageous Claudine must do so in secret and therefore pulls in an unwilling helper.

Perry's Christmas novellas are tiny gems - I look forward to reading them at every Yuletide season.

For a list of books in the series:
https://www.goodreads.com/series/4063...

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Bitter River

Bitter River by Julia Keller
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I usually do not read crime fiction, but this one caught my eye. Not only is the cover and title appealing, it takes place in a fictional town in the Appalachian mountains of nearby West Virginia. Several pages into Bitter River I realized that, darn, this is Julia Keller's second book set in Acker's Gap about prosecuting attorney, Bell Elkins. By that point, I was already involved with the story and couldn't put it down. Bell is deeply invested in the area and many of the townspeople are her personal friends or related. When a murder involving a popular and well-liked teen happens, the town is turned upside down with sadness, but yet there is more sorrow to come. Is the perp a local or an outsider? Bell has her hands full trying to track down the murderer.

I will be tracking down the first book - A Killing in the Hills.

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A Place in the Country

A Place in the Country by Elizabeth Adler
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Caroline Evans, along with her very unhappy fifteen year old daughter, Issy, have high-tailed it out of a very comfortable life in Singapore. Her once happy marriage had turned into shambles when she found her husband, James, cheating with another woman. Without a pre-nup and any money except for the little bit that James inconsistently sends for Issy, things are going downhill fast. Tired of their tiny rented London flat, Caroline and Issy head for the Cotswolds for the weekend, and stumble upon an old country barn along a lazy river for sale.

Rather predictable, cheating husband, grouchy teen, and men who swoop in to help, especially financially, A Place in the Country is still a fun read. Throw in a murder and you have the mystery....

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Clay's Quilt

Clay's Quilt by Silas House

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Such a gritty, beautiful novel of tragedy and the sweet, uplifting love of family and friends, set in the coal mining towns and deep, lovely hollows of Kentucky. Brought up in a coal mining town in Western Maryland - I'm always eager to read of books that share my own area's geological features. This book has been on my "want to read" list for many months.

Young coal-miner Clay Sizemore is surrounded by family - there's the indomitable, faith filled Aunt Easter who raised him, Great-Uncle Paul the quilt-maker and his tiny wife Sophie, and his cousin Dreama who lives right next door with her daddy, Uncle Gabe. But it's his own mother that Clay yearns for - the ethereal, full of life Anneth, shot right in front of Clay when he was only four years old. Clay wishes he could piece together the story of his mother's life - like his Uncle Paul pieced his quilts together and when Aunt Easter finds a box on her back porch, some of those pieces start stitching themselves together.


Complete with a conversation with Silas House, the author, and a Reader's Guide at the end.



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Chasing the Sun

Set in the 1863, Texas has taken sides during the War Between the States. For those settlers that fought for the Union, their lands and holdings were confiscated and given to supporters and helpers of the Confederacy. Hannah Dandridge and her family, formerly of Vicksburg, have settled on a ranch that once belonged to the Barnett family. When young, injured Union fighter William Barnett returns home alone, he finds Hannah, her younger brother and sister, and some of his ranch hands struggling to keep things running. Although William wants his land back, he can't help but admire the strength and faith of the Dandridge family, but is also afraid to admit that he had fought in Vicksburg, the same town that Hannah lost her brother and now possibly - her father. When outside forces again threaten the safety of all in the little homestead, Hannah and William try to work through their differences....

Times were so unsettled in Texas in the 1860s, not only were the Confederates and Yankees fighting, but the Native American tribes were unsettled - hope and faith were the only things keeping people looking forward to another day - to fall in love, raise their families, and work and run their homesteads...

A Christmas Homecoming

A Christmas Homecoming: A Novel by Anne Perry

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I relish Anne Perry's small Christmas novels - this being her ninth release. Her characters always include some of our favorites from her larger novels and I certainly feel like I've stepped back into Victorian times and feel the cold bleakness of winter in Whitby, York.

Caroline and her husband, Joshua, and his acting troupe arrive at the mansion of their benefactor barely ahead of the Christmas snowstorm that locks them down for days. Also arriving on the doorstep in the middle of the terrible storm is a pale, handsome man who strangely resembles one of the characters, Dracula, of the play adapted from Bram Stoker's new novel, that Joshua's group is to practice and perform. When this same man is found dead days later, from a sharpened broomstick driven through his heart, all who inhabit the snow-stormed manor are fearing for their lives. Can Caroline, playing amateur detective, put the clues together and solve the mystery?





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The Ballad of Tom Dooley: A Ballad Novel

The Ballad of Tom Dooley: A Novel by Sharyn McCrumb

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Growing up in mountains of Western MD, I’ve listened to and sang the song, “Hang down Your Head Tom Dooley” by the Kingston Trio many times – never knowing there was truth behind the lyrics. What an eye opener to read McCrumb’s historical and fictional retelling of the tale, but with proven evidence of another main character’s involvement and betrayal.



Handsome, former Confederate soldier Tom Dula (dooley) and the lovely, but married Anne Melton had been attracted to each other since their early teens. Anne, even after marriage to the hardworking farmer, James, continued her dalliance with Tom. When her sociopath cousin, Pauline Foster, appears on the scene looking for work and needing doctor’s care for her “pox”, Anne hires her for room, board and little else, working her from sunup to sundown. Little does she know that Pauline, in her jealousy and contained rage, will set Tom and Anne up for the murder of another Foster cousin, Laura, who only wanted to elope and head to Tennessee with her beloved.



Set in Wilkes County, North Carolina, in the hard years following the War Between the States, fascinating, dry and repetitive in places, and narrated by Pauline and Zebulon Vance, lawyer and former governor assigned as pro-bono counsel to Tom Dula – this novel is an eye-opener.





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The Peach Keeper

The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Take a setting in the North Carolina. Throw in a bunch of Southern ladies, an inn, some coffee, a few peaches, a skeleton, a lot of secrets, and some magic and you have The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen. Sweet, silly, and sad in some parts, this novel is a juicy peach in itself.

Wild Willa Jackson, (the high school Joker of days gone by) has settled down and laid her pranks to rest. She's an adult now and a legitimate, respectable, boring owner of a sports store. Her family, once part of the socialite scene, but now disgraced has lived for generations in Walls of Water, NC. The once beautiful family home, The Blue Ridge Madam, is now being restored as an inn by perfect in every way Paxton Osgood, Willa's high school arch-nemesis. Oddly enough, Paxon and Willa's grandmothers had been best friends as girls. As the grounds are dug up near the Madam's only peach tree, a skeleton and a suitcase are found. Will more scandal and secrets hidden for 75 years also be brought to light?



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