The Crushing Depths (Coastal Guardians book 2) by Dani Pettrey – 5 Stars

This may be book two, but I didn’t realize it until after I read it, so it stands on it’s own.  Great book about oil rigs, very suspense filled, ending was a twist I didn’t pick up on, the characters were all had interesting stories of their own.  I would give this book five stars.


I received this in the kindle format from NetGalley.com.  I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.  #TheCrushingDepths #DaniPettrey #NetGalley

Description as found on NetGalley:

When an accident claims the life of an oil-rig worker on the first drilling platform off the North Carolina coast, Coast Guard investigators Rissi Dawson and Mason Rogers are sent to take the case. Tensions surrounding the oil rig are high and the death has everyone on edge. Environmental activists are threatening to do whatever it takes to stop the structure from being completed, while rumors are being whispered about ancient curses surrounding this part of the ocean.

Mounting evidence shows the death may not have been an accident at all. Was he killed by one of the activists or, perhaps more frighteningly, a member of his own crew? Rissi and Mason have to sort through not only a plethora of suspects, but also their own past and attraction to each other.

Just as the case seems like it'll break open, worse news arrives. A tropical storm has turned their way and soon they're cut off from any rescue--and right where the killer wants them. It's a race to discover his identity before he eliminates the threat they pose.

Small Town Big Secrets (Trinity River #2) – Elsie Davis Author – 4 Stars

I did enjoy this small town clean sweet romance of a book.  Easy to read in a day.  It held my interest and I wanted to see one of the characters get his comeuppance!  I really loved the romance that sparked between the two main characters.  All of the characters were well written and worked together.  This book is the second in this series, I didn’t know it was a series nor did I feel as if I had missed out on anything by not reading the first in the “Trinity River” series.  My Grandmother lived in a very small town and so I was able to relate, the book’s small-town feel was very real to me.  Everyone knows everyone else’s business, although there is one little boy in the book that not everyone knows everything about and he’s written as such an engaging cute character that you just want to see do well.  


I received this book in the kindle format through NetGalley.com and I thank them for once again giving me a good book to read.  My opinion and words on this book are my own, freely given.  NetGalley.com doesn’t require a positive review or a review at all if you don’t want to give one which is why I love reading their books.  #SmallTownBigSecrets. #NetGalley #Smalltownromance

Description as found on NetGalley.com:

To save her son, shy but determined waitress Becky McAllister would do just about anything. But she never expected “anything” to include the brother of the man who broke her heart.

Steve Parker needs a wife, now, if he has any hopes of winning his local DA election and becoming the advocate for the underserved, he’s always dreamed of being. The sweet waitress seems like just the person—if he can get her to agree.

One year of marriage—no strings, no personal attachments. Becky gets the insurance funds she needs for her son’s surgery while Steve’s poll ratings soar. Neither planned on a commitment in their future, so they should have no problem making it through the year without getting emotionally involved, right?

Except Becky’s holding on to a secret from her past—one that would change everything.

A Bride Of Convenience (The Bride Ships #3) by Jody Hedlund – 5 Stars

I’ve always liked Jody Hedlund’s books although I haven’t read the previous books in this series. This is definitely a stand-alone book you don’t feel you’ve missed much when you read it.  Jody Hedlund always does such a great job of researching backgrounds for books and then writing characters that are believable into those backgrounds.  I love reading Bride of Convenience books, they always have such great stories to them.  In this book Jody is a mill worker who emigrates to British Columbia and ends up taking in a native’s infant.  There are many who want to marry her but they don’t want the native infant as part of the plan.  She marries a Pastor who agrees to the marriage as one of convenience, although neither really loves the convenience part.  Zoe proves to the Pastor that she is very much a woman who is becoming as a Pastors wife as she loves doing for others.  She even teaches Pastor Abe a thing or two about God and serving him.  I really enjoyed reading this book and heartily give it 5 stars.


I received this book in the kindle format from Netgalley.com and once again thank them heartily for a great book!  My words are my own and freely given.  #BrideOfConvenience #Netgalley.com #JodyHedlund  #HistoricalFaithRomance

Description as found on Netgalley.com:

Unemployed mill worker Zoe Hart jumps at the opportunity to emigrate to British Columbia in 1863 to find a better life and be reunited with her brother, who fled from home after being accused of a crime.

Pastor to miners in the mountains, Abe Merivale discovers an abandoned baby during a routine visit to Victoria and joins efforts with Zoe, one of the newly arrived bride-ship women, to care for the infant. While there, he's devastated by the news from his fiancée in England that she's marrying another man.

With mounting pressure to find the baby a home, Zoe accepts a proposal from a miner of questionable character after he promises to help her locate her brother. Intent on protecting Zoe and frustrated by his failed engagement, Abe offers his own hand as groom. After a hasty wedding, they soon realize their marriage of convenience is not so convenient after all.

Always The Last To Know by Kristan Higgins – 5 Stars!!

A thoroughly engrossing read with very real characters that have you totally invested in each one, you absolutely are waiting till the end to find out what their ending will be.  Kristin Higgins has always been on my favorite authors list, although I don’t have money to buy many books, so winning one was exciting!  I couldn’t wait to crack open the book and it didn’t in any way disappoint.  When I first realized uh oh, each chapter is about a different character, and can sometimes be in the past. I found that it wasn’t a problem after all, they all blended into a great story and I wasn’t left scratching my head wondering where I was in the story like in some books.  I was able to see and compare events happening in the story similar in ways to my own family or had, and the characters were so well written so real, with so many very real and relevant changes happening in their lives as the story wove it’s way on through the years.  The ending was beautiful and I was happy after reading this book.  Disappointed it had to end and hoping to read another Kristan Higgins book in the future. 

I won this book through the contest with Berkley Publications.  My thoughts/opinions on this book are my own and not required in order to get the book.  #AlwaystheLasttoKnow #KristanHiggins



Description as found on Goodreads:

Sometimes you have to break a family to fix it.

From New York Times bestselling author Kristan Higgins, a new novel examining a family at the breaking point in all its messy, difficult, wonderful complexity.

The Frosts are a typical American family. Barb and John, married almost fifty years, are testy and bored with each other...who could blame them after all this time? At least they have their daughters-- Barb's favorite, the perfect, brilliant Juliet; and John's darling, the free-spirited Sadie. The girls themselves couldn't be more different, but at least they got along, more or less. It was fine. It was enough.

Until the day John had a stroke, and their house of cards came tumbling down.

Now Sadie has to put her career as a teacher and struggling artist in New York on hold to come back and care for her beloved dad--and face the love of her life, whose heart she broke, and who broke hers. Now Juliet has to wonder if people will notice that despite her perfect career as a successful architect, her perfect marriage to a charming Brit, and her two perfect daughters, she's spending an increasing amount of time in the closet having panic attacks.

And now Barb and John will finally have to face what's been going on in their marriage all along.

From the author of Good Luck with That and Life and Other Inconveniences comes a new novel of heartbreaking truths and hilarious honesty about what family really means.