A Plain Leaving (The Sisters of Lancaster County #1) by Leslie Gould - I gave this one five stars!

A Plain Leaving (The Sisters of Lancaster County #1)by Leslie Gould (Goodreads Author)Gould Offers a New Amish Series in Idyllic Lancaster County:

This was one of the best Amish stories I’ve read in a very long time!  It had a mystery involved, a romance, a family drama, and a clash with the bishop!  Loved the book.  Read it in one day. I couldn’t put the book down the author is a really great writer.  I’ve read a lot of Amish books, I’ve always found them fascinating, a lot of Amis live around the town my Grandmother lives in, and I always wondered how and why they did the things the way that they did.  After ready many Amish stories this one stood out for me, I really believe if you are interested in the Amish and their lives, if you  pick up this book you’ll  really enjoy reading it.  I did!I received the book as a gift from the author and Bethany House Publishers..  It was sent with no strings attached the author just hopes I will like it and tell my friends.  Of course, I will, I loved the book!
At age twenty, Jessica Bachman left her two beloved sisters and her Amish community after clashing with the new bishop about her role in the family and the future of their farm. She tried to convince Silas Kemp, who'd been courting her for two years, to join her, but when he said no, she fled anyway.
Three years later, she returns home for the first time since leaving Lancaster to attend her father's funeral. Her arrival back revives all sorts of emotions--yearnings and sorrows alike. Jessica knows things will never return to how they were. But in seeing Silas again, she can't help but wonder what might have been.
Struggling to decide where her next step should take her, she learns the story of a Revolutionary War-era ancestor that echoes her own choices. Will Jessica leave her family and community forever, or is there peace and healing and love yet to come?

Deck The Halls by Donna Alward – 5 Stars - Loved this book!

This book was seriously a heart breaker in many ways before it built to a great ending.  It starts out with a man who has been for years homeless a veteran with serious PTSD and a case of guilt that really breaks him down.  He’s alive when his brothers in arms are not.  He knows he should have contacted the family of his friend and tell them what happened to their brother, he just can’t. He feels so guilty due to the circumstances surrounding his best friend’s death that he couldn’t contact them. He went downhill so fast that he lived on the streets and in homeless shelters for years and then one holiday when he’s gotten a job working in the Ladybug Garden Center and actually has a small apartment to live in, a family member comes looking for him.  He absolutely doesn’t want to talk to Amy, she wants closure and he doesn’t’ want to talk about it. She can’t believe when she finds him that he is the same man that left with her brother to go to war in the Middle East. She decides that she isn’t leaving until she receives that explanation.  Christmas will work its magic on he and Amy before it’s over and the book was a really engrossing read. I do highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a great Christmas book with a veteran and a family member who were attracted to each other prior to the war.  See how Darling Vermon and Christmas works to help them get around all of their problems.

I received this book through Netgalley.com in the kindle format and this is my review in exchange for the great book.  I loved it and give it five stars.

Description as found on NetGalley.com:

With shades of It’s a Wonderful Life, one man must face his past to find his future this Christmas.

In the last year, George's life has drastically changed. The formerly homeless veteran now has a job he likes, a family in the residents of Darling, VT, and for the first time in years, a home. But while his present is good, he's still haunted by the past, a past that appears shortly before Christmas when the older sister of his brother-in-arms hunts him down and finds him in Darling, working at the Ladybug Garden Center.

Amy’s looking for closure for her family after her brother's death in the Middle East, but the serious man she finds working in Vermont doesn’t resemble the soldier she remembers from years before. This man is hardened and yet somehow fragile, too, and in her desire to find out what really happened to her brother, she learns more about George than she ever expected.

With a little Christmas magic and the whole town supporting them, can these two bruised hearts make a future together?

Someone to love by Donna Alward Darling Vermont #2 - Four Stars!

Ethan is a fire fighter who has to adorable boys, who are also a handful.  Ethan is a handful.  He lost the love of his life and no longer believes that there is anyone out there that can finish his family and make them all happy. He and his first wife pledged their love on The Kissing Bridge, which is supposed to ensure lifelong happiness.  They had that until she died.  He feels there is no one else.

Willow returns to Darling, Vermont a changed girl.  She has overcome her past and owning her own business has strengthened her character in a great way!  She isn’t looking for love and absolutely doesn’t believe that there will be anything between her and Ethan!  She opens her Purple Pig Café and is busy with that.  She and Ethan eventually get on the same page, although they both fight it.

The book is a great romantic tale, one of three I believe.  They can all be read as a standalone.  This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review by NetGalley.com.  I gave it four stars.

From NetGalley.com

Ethan Gallagher is a firefighter in Darling, Vermont, who followed tradition and pledged his love on the Kissing Bridge to ensure lifelong happiness. A few years later, he's a widower with two rambunctious boys who no longer believes in magic. But even he has to admit that free-spirited Willow Dunaway fills him with wonder...and an attraction he cannot deny.

Willow's come back to Darling a different girl than the one who left after high school. Overcoming her past and owning her own business has made her into a strong, independent woman. Single dad Ethan appeals to her in a way she didn't expect, even though settling down is the last thing on her mind. But after fire destroys the local food bank, the town rallies, and a fling between Ethan and Willow leads to unintended consequences. Can they find a way out of their heartbreak to make a home in each other's hearts?

A Season Of You by Emma Douglas - Cloud Bay #1 - Four Stars!

A Season With You (Cloud Bay #1) by Emma Douglas

I think I read the books in this series out of order, perhaps?  I thought for sure I had read about the festival at Cloud Bay before.  Either way, I hadn’t read this book.  Loved the romance at Christmas time!  Great story of a man who falls in love at first sight and never lets Mina Harris know, she’s married.  She lost her husband to a drunk driver and five years later Will figures even after all of this time she won’t want anything to do with a guy who runs a distillery even though it wasn’t his bar the fellow was drinking at prior to hitting her husband.  She has a freak accident and Will comes to her rescue.  She can’t get him out of her mind, and decides to have a wildly weird Christmas fling, it’s just mistletoe-inspired, right?  Only Will doesn’t believe that he’ll go along with anything if he can be with Mina even if it is during the Christmas Festival and they are supposed to go back to normal, going their separate ways at the end.  Can they, do it?  I never believed so although the story doesn’t take you in that direction.  You’ll have to pick up this passionate Christmas-inspired romance story to see how things happen and how they end up.  I know romances always have a happy ending, but do they?  Give it a read I think you’ll like it.

I received this book through NetGalley.com in exchange for an honest review.  It was in a kindle format.

Description as found on NetGalley.

It's Christmastime in the quaint island town of Cloud Bay, where love is always in season... Will Fraser has believed in love at first sight since the day he first laid eyes on Mina Harper five years ago. There was only one problem: She was happily married. Then, when Mina's husband was killed by a drunk driver, Will figured she'd want nothing to do with a guy who owns a whiskey distillery. So he's kept his feelings locked away, knowing that not even a Christmas miracle would be enough to melt Mina's heart. . . Mina believes her days of true love are behind her. Since losing her husband she's kept to herself, content to do her own painting and stay out of the limelight that comes with her famous family. But when, after a freak accident, Will comes to her rescue, Mina can't quite get him out of her mind. As curiosity turns into a fling during Cloud Bay's first Christmas Festival, she finds it harder to convince herself that her feelings for Will are just mistletoe-inspired. Could Mina be ready to lay the past to rest and finally admit that what she really wants for Christmas--and forever--is Will? 

Many Sparrows by Lori Benton - Engrossing read! Five Stars!

Many Sparrows

by Lori Benton (Goodreads Author)

I loved this book!  Clare Inglesby is left with just her little boy, waiting for her husband to bring help.  She doesn’t’ find out til later that he was attacked and stripped of his hair by a passing Indian.  She went into labor and left her boy long enough to be out of sight while giving birth because she felt her son didn’t need to hear her suffering labor pains waiting for the new baby to be born.  Unbeknownst to her a passing Indian took her son Jacob and she is willing to do anything to get him back!  She is found having labor by Frontiersman and adopted Shawnee Jacob Ring.  He promises Clare to take her into the wilderness to find the Indian’s that have taken her son.  They find the Shawnee party that took her boy, but it Is too late.  Jacob’s own sister who had lost her child and husband and has been very sad, and the ones who had her boy gave him to her in order to cheer her up, and the adoption ceremony has already happened.  There is no real way that Jacob can get her boy back after that happened. Jacob was renamed Many Sparrows, after a small story in the bible.  Rain Crow absolutely does not want to give up her new son.  Clare was very upset and had risked her life many times with the Indians trying to get close to her son.  She has no idea that her Uncle who had been expecting the little family for a long while and he is looking for her.  She won’t leave without her son.  This book was very interesting in that it told of many traditions of the Indians and how they lived.  The author describes all of it very well.  Clare is so brave and she lives among the Indians for quite a while with the hopes that Rain Crow will realize that Jacob will not behave and be her son, he’s seen his Mother knows she is alive and she’ll do anything to get her son back!  She had a daughter on the trail and she doesn’t hardly look at her daughter only doing very little to care for her, just breast feeding her, but she lays her aside while looking for her son Jacob.  This book was such a gift to me, it is inspirational, with many quotes from the bible, and the realism of living among the Indians gave the book such truth! I loved this book and gave it five stars. 

"I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review." This is my review as promised.

Description as found on Blogging For Books:
ABOUT MANY SPARROWS
Either she and her children would emerge from that wilderness together, or none of them would…

In 1774, the Ohio-Kentucky frontier pulses with rising tension and brutal conflicts as Colonists push westward and encroach upon Native American territories. The young Inglesby family is making the perilous journey west when an accident sends Philip back to Redstone Fort for help, forcing him to leave his pregnant wife Clare and their four-year old son Jacob on a remote mountain trail.
When Philip does not return and Jacob disappears from the wagon under the cover of darkness, Clare awakens the next morning to find herself utterly alone, in labor and wondering how she can to recover her son…especially when her second child is moments away from being born.
Clare will face the greatest fight of her life, as she struggles to reclaim her son from the Shawnee Indians now holding him captive. But with the battle lines sharply drawn, Jacob’s life might not be the only one at stake. When frontiersman Jeremiah Ring comes to her aid, can the stranger convince Clare that recovering her son will require the very thing her anguished heart is unwilling to do—be still, wait and let God fight this battle for them?

About Lori Benton:
 Lori Benton was raised east of the Appalachian Mountains, surrounded by early American history going back three hundred years. Her novels transport readers to the eighteenth century, where she brings to life the Colonial and early Federal periods of American history. When she isn’t writing, reading, or researching, Lori enjoys exploring and photographing the Oregon wilderness with her husband. She is the author of Burning Sky, recipient of three Christy Awards, The Pursuit of Tamsen Littlejohn, Christy-nominee The Wood’s Edge, and A Flight of Arrows.

The Proving by Beverly Lewis - I really enjoyed the book about the Amish People - I gave it five stars!

Amanda Dienner left the Amish life behind five years previous.  She was really upset with her sister and her Mother stepped in and told her she should perhaps take some time away from home.  Well that was in the heat of the moment and Amanda didn’t stay around to see if anything more was said later.  She packed up, found some friends who were leaving the life and she left.  The fight with her twin sister left her feeling betrayed, she wasn’t going to let that feeling go easily either. 

She was working at a flower shop and they had to let her go as the big flower shops were causing the owners to have money problems.  They couldn’t compete.  Just as Mandy was looking for another job she got a certified letter from her oldest brother.  She has received two letters from her sister but she didn’t read them, she just wrote return to sender on them.  She wrote her Mom once in a while and let her know how she was doing.  The letter from Jerome told her that her Mother had passed away suddenly and that she had left the Bed and Breakfast that she ran after her husband passed away, to her.  The catch?  Amanda had to run it for one year before she could sell it. 

Mandy has no idea what she is getting herself into but she returns to the Amish life but doesn’t want to live as an Amish person and that causes her big problems.  No one will work for her! 

I found this book really a great read.  Sometimes the Amish books can be too simple for me but this one went into great detail and had a wonderful story line.  Of course, it was a great clean read, with the Amish church back beliefs built into the story here and there along with their other ways of doing things.  The book leaves you feeling really good, you put the time in, read the book and felt great about the end of the story which isn’t the ending you thought you were going to find early in the beginning.  That’s another thing that made it fun.  I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys this type of read you won’t be disappointed.

I did receive this book from Bethany House Printers in exchange for an honest review.  The above was my review.

Description of the Book as found on Good Reads:

Having left the Amish life for the English world, Amanda Dienner is shocked when she learns that her mother has passed and left her Lancaster County's most popular Amish bed-and-breakfast. The catch is she has to run it herself for one year, acting as hostess. Amanda accepts the terms, but coming home to people she left behind won't be easy.

Love, Second Time Around: A Summerfield Village Sweet Romance by Penny Appleton (Goodreads Author) - 4 Stars!

Maggie Stewart, an attorney (retired) is living in an English cottage in Summerfield and she loves her home, but she doesn’t love the cost of the upkeep. She takes a job working with her old environmental team and on the plane to the location she comes across a man she was obsessed with in her old life.  Had he not been married she would definitely have started something up with him.  She sure is shocked when she sees him on the plane, she doesn’t even speak to him.  He’s always (Greg Warren) been attracted to Maggie but never moved on it when they came in contact with each other, but he never moved on it he was happily married.  His wife died three years ago and he hasn’t been dating at all.  Greg owns a ranch in Idaho, he’s very well off, but he’s lonely.  He has a daughter still living with him, and she definitely doesn’t want him to move on to anyone else.  He makes moves toward Maggie and she is afraid they are too different, their lifestyles.  Also his daughter is angry she doesn’t want Maggie anywhere near her Father.  Not because she doesn’t like her she doesn’t like anyone if her Father is involved.  Maggie retreats a few times and Greg follows her.  He’s been lonely a while and he likes Maggie and he’s drawn to her.  If you like a mature romance story that’s clean, romantic, and has wonderful descriptions of the English life style and that of an Idaho Ranch, then this book is for you!  Enjoy the read and the ride!

I received this book through Good Reads I believe, in exchange for an honest review in kindle format.  The above is my review.

Description as found on Good Reads:

In LOVE, SECOND TIME AROUND

Maggie Stewart is a retired lawyer, working to preserve the heritage of her little English cottage in Summerfield village. Her children have grown and she's content to ride horses in the countryside and enjoy her retirement.

Except she needs money for her renovations ... and she's lonely.

When she joins her old environmental team to go up against an oil company, Maggie finds herself working in opposition to a man she once loved from afar, many years ago.

Idaho ranch owner Greg Warren is rich and entitled, with a dark past that he hides behind a professional smile. But inside, he struggles with loneliness after the loss of his wife, and the rage of a wild daughter who won't let him move on.

Love blooms as Maggie and Greg take a chance on a new start, but can they find a balance between their two worlds?

˃˃˃ In this sweet romance, set between the English countryside and the mountains and farmland of Idaho, can Maggie and Greg find love second time around?

If you love a happy ending, this clean and wholesome, contemporary romance might just be for you. Download a sample or buy now.

The Hunter Bride (Hope's Crossing #1) by Cynthia Woolf (Goodreads Author) - 4 Stars

I just finished this book. I really liked it.  I do enjoy a good mail order bride story!  This one didn’t disappoint me. I had never read one where the bride was a bounty hunter in her past life.  She decides as she captures the man who murdered her family and takes him in, that she is going to settle down, find a husband and have a family.  She does stretch the description of her abilities a bit!  She does arrive and she marries Sheriff Sam Longworth of Hope’s Crossing, only to find out that the criminal that she captured got loose and is out looking to kill her.  She also doesn’t have any clue that Sam, before being a Sheriff, was a bounty hunter himself.  They just never crossed paths.  The book is packed with action, has some scenes that pull at your heartstrings a bit and of course has a happy ending.  What happens?  You have to read the book to find out.  Will Sam keep her? Read the book.

I received this book free in kindle format from the author in exchange for an honest review.  This is that review.

Description as found on Good Reads:

Five years ago, a band of outlaws murdered Josephine Shafter's parents and younger brother. Desperate for vengeance, Jo has spent every day since serving the law as a bounty hunter. But the trouble with justice served is that now that her family's killer has been brought in, she has nothing to do and no one to hunt. She decides it may be time for a new life and a fresh start. She longs for the arms of a strong man around her, and for a child of her own. But the Chicago dandies don't know how to kiss a woman who is tougher than they are. Jo decides her best chance at happiness is to head out West, to the wild Montana territory, to start a new life as a mail order bride. Sam Longworth has been the Sheriff of Hope's Crossing, Montana for two miserable years. He was much happier roaming the untamed plains as a bounty hunter, bringing outlaws to justice. But that was no life for a husband or father, and his wife wanted him home, safe and sound, every night. Forced into marriage, theirs had never been a love match, but he thought warming her bed every night would be enough. Instead she left him and took a stagecoach to rendezvous with her childhood sweetheart. She vowed never to return, and died on the journey. Plagued by guilt over her death, Sam doesn't need a woman's love, he just needs a wife. He orders a mail order bride, a woman who won't make too many demands, who can build a home and give him children. Josephine fits his life perfectly, until danger follows her to her new home and he realizes she's keeping secrets that could get them both killed. Trust is a hard road for two lost souls used to keeping secrets, and their new and fragile love might not be strong enough to survive what's coming.

Be Mine This Christmas: Sweetgrass Springs Stories (Texas Heroes Book 22) by Jean Brashear (Goodreads Author) - 5 Stars!

I really liked this book.  It was moving along well, kept my attention, had me wanting to keep reading to see what was happening next.  I really like reading Jean Brashear’s books, she writes engaging stories that make you want to see them to the end.  Also you are disappointed when the book is done.  This book was about a Mom  who couldn’t leave a kid in the system once she became a foster mother.  Who isn’t going to be in her corner?  She has a secret.  She was to follow Gib years ago out of high school but she didn’t she called him and said she didn’t love him and that she wasn’t coming.  She married someone else.  He died.  She has one child that is hers and three that are adopted.  Gib came to town because he thought she was still living elsewhere and wasn’t going to be someone he would run into when he came back to see his parents at their request for Christmas.  Little did he  know his entire life was about to be turned upside down. 

I received this book from Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.

Description as found on Good Reads:

"Jean Brashear's distinctive storytelling voice instantly draws in the reader. She writes with warmth and emotional truth.” ~ #1 NY Times bestselling author Debbie Macomber

The man he's become is not the boy she knew…and he may never forgive her for the secret she's concealing

In this Christmas story set in beloved Sweetgrass Springs, two young lovers torn apart years before come face to face unexpectedly in this emotional reunion romance by New York Times and USAToday bestselling Texas romance author Jean Brashear…

Gib Douglas has been on the road a long time, with no place to really call home. When he pays a Christmas visit to relatives in Sweetgrass Springs, the last person he expects to encounter is the girl he loved with all his heart, the girl who’d promised to marry him and love him forever…until she betrayed him and married someone else.

No Time to Explain (Barefoot William Beach #6) by Kate Angell - Laugh out loud fun!! Five Stars!

Ok this book was too fun! Joe “Zoo” Zooker is a ball player in town for the start of spring training. He’s hanging out at a Bridal show on the beach, looking to pick up a girl he can take home for the night or at least to the hotel for the night and he runs into one hot lady.

Stevie who has come to town with her friend in order to help her Aunt out at her doggie daycare as she has hurt herself and can’t take care of it for a while.  Stevie and her friend are at a local Bridal Show on the beach just looking around and Stevie fills out for different prizes, although she doesn’t have a boyfriend she definitely is not going to get married, it’s just a lark.  She runs into Zoo.  He hits on her and really annoys her, he won’t take no for an answer and unlike his normal self he keeps persuring this gal through the entire story even though she keeps protesting she isn’t interested.  She eventually has to suck It up and play nice when he brings his dog to the business to be taken care of as he really terrorized the hotel and was asked to leave.  Zoo’s dog is very much like him and doesn’t take no for an answer either.  There are laugh out loud moments during this story and you have to pick this book up!  I LOVED IT!

This book was a gift on NetGalley.com in exchange for an honest review.  It came in kindle format.  This is my review.

Description of book as found on Good Reads:

Who says romance has gone to the dogs? 
 
Richmond Rogues’ left-fielder Joe “Zoo” Zooker has his own ritual for the start of spring training—a weekend of pure pleasure, including as many pretty faces and curvaceous bodies as he can charm into his bed. After that, he’s all about baseball, especially with hungry minor leaguers eager for their own shot at the majors, just waiting for him to strike out. But when a beautiful woman with a smart mouth brushes off his flirting, he’s determined to go to bat as often as it takes to win a smile aimed only at him. 

Stevie may be new to the beach town of Barefoot William, but she’s seen plenty of charmers like hot and hunky Zoo before. Managing her aunt’s doggie daycare business, she’s up to her ears in rowdy puppies—and she doesn’t need a lifelong hound like Zoo breaking her heart. Still, there’s no denying the attraction between them, and as spring training heats up, lust suddenly begins to look a lot like love . . .
 

Christmas with My Cowboy – three stories in one book! by Diana Palmer, Lindsay McKenna (Goodreads Author), Margaret Way 5 Stars!

Christmas with My Cowboy – three stories in one book!

by Diana Palmer, Lindsay McKenna (Goodreads Author), Margaret Way

The Snowman – I really enjoyed this book. It went by quickly and I was disappointed when it was done. I love Diana Palmers books.   The books were read pretty quickly.  They move right along.  It’s a little early for me for Christmas, but I tried to get in the mood as I was to read three books about Christmas with this one.  Three authors in one.  First was Diana Palmer.

“Kassie’s Cowboy” , second was the story by Lindsay McKenna.  Kassie is driving when she hit’s black ice and puts her car into the snowy ditch.  Right in front of the home of former Marine Travis Grant her childhood sweetheart.  He runs down when he sees the accident to rescue whomever was in the car.  Imagine his surprise when he finds Kassie there, who was his childhood sweetheart.  He carries her inside and patches her up.  The roads are impassable and she slowly starts learning about how he is now that he’s gotten out of the Marines and why he lives so far out of town.  He has PTSD and doesn’t want to be around people.  He doesn’t want any women in his life, they might get hurt.  The book was good it moved along pretty well, I have to say I didn’t like it quite as well as I liked the first story by Diana Palmer. 

“Her Outback Husband” the third story by Margaret Way.  Not my normal read but I have to say I enjoyed the story.  Scott and Darcey MacArthur were divorced.  When she had to go into the hospital she found out through her Aunt that her best friend Becky had a one-night stand with her husband.  She couldn’t live with that she believed her Aunt, although her husband kept telling her that he did no such thing.  She and her Aunt weren’t really close, but she tried to keep in touch as her Mother had passed away.  Several years later Scott’s Mother invites Darcey home for the annual polo match and ball afterward for the Christmas holidays in the Outback on the huge ranch owned by the MacArthurs.  Darcey decides to attend, much to Scott’s dismay, as she wants to be able to see her ex-Mother In-Law.  Darcey and Scott are going to find that the lady had a plan and they are going to well….I can’t tell you or it would ruin the story.

The three books were really enjoyable, it was nice to go from one story to the next, I didn’t have to hunt around for something else to read, I just flowed from one story to the next and they all had the Christmas theme running through them.

I received this book through NetGalley.com as a kindle format in exchange for an honest review.  This is that review.   

Description from Good Reads:

From the snowy, wind-whipped prairie to the remote Australian Outback, a cowboy’s loving kiss makes this Christmas merry and bright . . .

“The Snow Man” by Diana Palmer
Meadow Dawson needs Santa to deliver a solution to her management of the Colorado ranch she’s inherited. Cattleman Dal Blake just wants his pretty neighbor’s dog to quit digging under his fence. This Christmas, the unexpected gift of love will surprise them both.

“Kassie’s Cowboy” by Lindsay McKenna
A brutal blue norther is battering Wyoming just in time for Christmas when solitary former Marine Travis Grant finds his childhood sweetheart, Kassie Murphy, injured in her car just beyond the ranch where he works. For Travis and Kassie, this snowy silent night will be one last chance to put the painful past behind them—and treat the wounds only love can heal.

“Her Outback Husband” by Margaret Way
Scott and Darcey MacArthur were the perfect couple, devoted to their life together on the family cattle ranch. With one blistering rumor, it ended in heartbreak—but Scott’s mother has a scheme that will reunite them in the Outback for a holiday that will prove it’s the season for forgiveness. (less)

Merry and Bright by Debbie Macomber - 5 Stars!!

Merry and Bright

by Debbie Macomber (Goodreads Author)

I love reading Debbie Macomber’s books!  This book did put me in the Christmas mood although I am usually not thinking Christmas until the first of December, I don’t even get there the day after Thanksgiving This one was fun as Merry Knight is so busy working and doing all of the Christmas time things, she is too busy to think about dating or a man.  Her well-meaning Mother and brother decide to create an online dating profile for her, without a photo and emails start rolling in.  Merry can’t believe they have done that but in the end, she decides to give it a try.

Hey since I met my husband of 18 years through match.com I’m always a champion for finding love that way!!  You’ll have to read the book to see how Merry fares with the online dating thing.  I won’t spoil it. 

I received this book in kindle format from NetGalley.com in exchange for an honest review.

Description of the book as found on Good Reads:

Christmas is the season of the heart, and #1 New York Timesbestselling author Debbie Macomber is here to warm yours with a delightful holiday novel of first impressions and second chances.


Merry Knight is pretty busy these days. She's taking care of her family, baking cookies, decorating for the holidays, and hoping to stay out of the crosshairs of her stressed and by-the-book boss at the consulting firm where she temps. Her own social life is the last thing she has in mind, much less a man. Without her knowledge, Merry’s well-meaning mom and brother create an online dating profile for her--minus her photo--and the matches start rolling in. Initially, Merry is incredulous, but she reluctantly decides to give it a whirl.
Soon Merry finds herself chatting with a charming stranger, a man with similar interests and an unmistakably kind soul. Their online exchanges become the brightest part of her day. But meeting face-to-face is altogether different, and her special friend is the last person Merry expects--or desires. Still, sometimes hearts can see what our eyes cannot. In this satisfying seasonal tale, unanticipated love is only a click away.

Food52 Mighty Salads: 60 New Ways to Turn Salad Into Dinner.......5 Stars!

Food52 Mighty Salads: 60 New Ways to Turn Salad Into Dinner--And Make-Ahead Lunches, Too

by Editors of Food52 (Contributor), Amanda Hesser (Foreword), Merrill Stubbs (Foreword)

Wow this book was beautiful.  I mean look at the cover it’s beautiful.  You’ll find inside every kind of salad you’ve never thought of with pictures that make you hungry!  I’m always looking for salad dressings to make from scratch, now they have wonderful recipes of salad dressings that change with each type of salad. There are Leafy Salads, Less-Leafy Vegetable Salads, Grain and Bean Salads, Pasta and Bread Salads, Fish and Seafood Salads and Meat Salads.  I wouldn’t have thought of several of those sections for meals, but they sure looked tasty I need to take a picture of a recipe make sure I have all of the ingredients and get into the kitchen and surprise my husband.  He wouldn’t turn his nose up at these choices.  He’s all for healthy meals with fresh new ingredients and I am hoping to incorporate some of my doTERRA Essential Oils into the salad dressings instead of some of the herbs.  Loved this book. It doesn’t disappoint!

I received this book through BloggingForBooks.com in exchange for an honest review!

Description of the book:

A collection of 60 recipes for turning ordinary salads into one-dish worthy meals. 

Does anybody need a recipe to make a salad? Of course not. But if you want your salad to hold strong in your lunch bag or carry the day as a one-bowl dinner, dressing on lettuce isn’t going to cut it.

Make way for Mighty Salads, in which the editors of Food52 present sixty salads hefty with vegetables, meats, grains, beans, fish, seafood, pasta, and bread. Think shrimp and radicchio tossed in a bacon vinaigrette, a make-ahead jumble of white beans with charred lemon and fennel, slow-roasted duck and apples scattered across spicy greens. It’s comforting food made captivating by simply charring one ingredient or marinating another shaving some, or roasting a bunch.

But because we don t always follow recipes, there are also loose formulas for confident off-roading, as well as back-pocket tips and genius tricks for improving any old salad. Because once you know how to fix too-salty dressing, wash greens once and for all, keep an avocado from browning, and even sprout your own grains, the humble salad starts looking a lot more interesting and a whole lot more like dinner.

Lady Eleanor’s Seven Suitors by Anna Bradley - I gave this one 4 Stars@

This book was interesting.  Lady Eleanor keeps turning her nose up at suitors.  She doesn’t want to marry for anything less than love!  Then she meets Cam and he has a secret he holds over her head.  He tells her he will give her two weeks for a sham courtship and then he’ll expect her to be ready to marry. He has his own reasons for insisting this sham of a marriage take place but he isn’t telling her!  The book is kind of fun as Ellie as he calls her, plays at not being available when he comes around to take her out and he does get quite angry!  She plays as if it is a game but her sister is involved in this and she has to toe the line at some point or risk her sister losing her fine reputation. 

The last thing that Ellie and Cam expect is for love to find its way into their relationship and neither sees what is happening, and they aren’t talking to each other.  You have to wait for the book to reach it’s end to find out if she will marry him, I can’t ruin the book for you.  I don’t often like these regency romances but this one has a young lady with a lot of spunk and it’s quite well written and I did enjoy reading it.  I say if you like these types of books pick it up, and if you like romance in general do so also you will be pleasantly surprised!  I was.  

I received a copy of this through Good Reads in exchange for an honest review, this is my review.

Description as found on Good Reads:

Lady Eleanor Sutherland has refused so many suitors the ton has dubbed her Lady Ice, a title she plans to keep until she finds a gentleman she truly loves, because only a fool would trade her freedom for anything less than love.

But didn't someone once say the course of true love never did run smoothly? Instead of the love every hero and heroine dream about, Ellie and Cam are trapped in a nightmare. Blackmail and revenge, a sham courtship, a defiant bride, and a suitor with a secret that could destroy them both—it's not exactly love at first sight. But love can turn nightmares into dreams, and villains into heroes. Will Ellie open her eyes in time to see the man she despises is the only man she can't live without?

Six suitors. Six offers. Six refusals.

Lady Eleanor's Seventh Suitor

Frontier Want Ad Bride (Wilderness Brides #4)

Frontier Want Ad Bride by Lyn Cote

I loved this book!  Judith becomes a mail order bride. Upon arriving in Peptin, Wisconsin, she’s immediately sent to get ready for her marriage to this man, Asa Brant.  She doesn’t know he recognizes her, she’s the sister of his old buddy from the war.  He wants to forget everything about the war, he got rid of his first name, and moved as far as he could in order to have a life without the interference of people wanting to talk about the war.  Especially his wife.  She is so kind to two children who make their way to the farm, they steal food and hide in the woods, they’ve run away from a home they were placed in when their parents died.  Judith spends so much of her time trying to get to know her husband, wishing to learn more about him and to get closer to him.  He keeps holding her at arm’s reach.  He hasn’t consummated their marriage two months later.  She comes to know him as a very nice man after time, and eventually she remembers where she’s seen him before!  You’ll have to pick up the book if you want to know more.  It’s a very engrossing read, I read it in one day.  This book goes a little deeper than many of these types of stories do  I really liked it!

I received this book in kindle format in exchange for an honest review! 

Description as found on Good Reads:

Bride by Mail Mail-order bride Judith Jones has barely arrived in Pepin, Wisconsin, before she's whisked away to prepare for her wedding to Asa Brant. Though something about Asa seems so familiar, how do two strangers become husband and wife? Especially when Judith senses Asa's hidden sorrow. His kindness in helping two young orphans could win her heart...if only he'd open up to her. Determined to start over after four years of brutal war, Asa moved away and sent for a mail-order bride. He had no idea the woman answering his ad would be the sister of his former soldier in arms. The less he reveals, the fewer painful memories there are to confront. But Judith's compassion - and two loving children - might just show them the path to true happiness...

Gathering the Threads (The Amish of Summer Grove #3) by Cindy Woodsmall (Goodreads Author) Not your normal Amish book! 5 Stars!!

This book was the third in the series and I do suggest you read numbers 1 and 2.  You can read it as a standalone, although the first two books were really great and I think you would appreciate this one more if you read them all.  I’ve always loved reading about the Amish, but the premise of this book, this series, was not one I would have thought of.  The story line is very different from other Amish books I’ve read and the main character does find difficulty in accepting what the elders say is in the bible, as she knows the difference after looking at the bible through the Englishers eyes.  She feels the fate of bullying from the elders and she really has to decide on her future very carefully.  She has been denied doing some things that she really loves her Father seems to be going along with what the Elders have to say, although their children aren’t treated the same as those in the church in Summer Grove.  You’ll have to read the book to find out what happens but believe me this one is a riveting read and I found it hard to put down.  I believe I read it in one day!

I was given the book in exchange for an honest review from the publisher for Cindy Woodsmall.

Description as found on Good Reads:

After three months ofdraus in da Welt, Ariana has returned to Summer Grove, the Old Order Amish community where she was raised for twenty years, and life with her Brenneman family. Skylar Nash, the Englisch-raised young woman is working in Ariana s cafe while getting to know her birth family and their Plain way of life. Skylar's time in Summer Grove has changed her outlook, just as Ariana has grown to see her personal faith in God in a different light than the manner she was taught while growing up. Both women will have to make decisions about their paths and Ariana must decide what role her childhood friend, ex-Amish Quill Schlabach, will play in her life.
Gathering the Threadsis the third and final novel in the Amish of Summer Grove series."

Mail Order Brides Anthology: Leah and Tess Books 1-2 (Montana Mail Order Brides Series) by Rose Jenster - Engrossing Read 4 Stars!

Mail Order Brides Anthology: Leah and Tess Books 1-2 (Montana Mail Order Brides Series)

by Rose Jenster

I’ve always been fascinated by mail order bride stories. I’m sure that there were real mail order brides back in the day.  That was the only way to have decent women to move to these remote towns that are filled with men, many of which want wives, not saloon girls.  The authors that write these books make you feel the brides stories and their mates reaction to having them come to marry them.  The stories are sweet and fun reads and you can only believe that many of these stories could have been true because back in the day you were either an old spinster or a teacher, etc. or you got married.  If you couldn’t or didn’t want to get married to anyone in the town you live in, moving to another community is the only way and they didn’t often have backing from their family to leave so by writing letters and receiving money to travel is the only recourse they had.  I love these stories and find the different authors who write these stories to have great minds in coming up with something new and fresh for each bride!  I do recommend these books if you like these types of stories.

This book was given to me in a kindle format in exchange for an honest review.
 

Here is the description as found on Good Reads:

This clean, sweet romance anthology includes the novellas Mail Order Bride Leah and Mail Order Bride Tess, books 1 and 2 of the series. Enjoy each of their journeys in overcoming their challenging situations in New York. Note that each is a sweet stand-alone book, but they also are the first two books in the Montana Mail Order Brides Series.

Mail Order Bride Leah

Leah is a school teacher in Albany, New York during the 1880s who was devoted to her mother until she passed away. Her father lost his business and Leah did not want to spend the rest of her life living with her protective brother. She begins to correspond with a man from Montana who ran an ad for a mail order bride. Could she have found someone who also loves literature and shares so many of her interests?

How does Leah handle her brother's negative reactions to the correspondence that now was the focus and light of her life? Can she leave the desperate situation in New York and find that joy that her heart dreams? Or is she destined to live a life without fulfillment?

Will Leah find happiness in Montana? What secrets does her love keep to himself that makes him so hard to reach and read? Can Leah help Henry open up his heart or will she give up? Can his scars heal from the past?

Book 2: Mail Order Bride Tess

Tess is a seamstress in upstate New York during the 1880s. She fears she will be working in the sweltering shop her whole life and never find true happiness by finding a man who loves her. A married friend shows her a newspaper that has ads for mail order husbands and Tess shyly studies it with guarded hope. Tess is quite bashful with a lot of fear, but also worries what her life would be like without a big change.

Will she find happiness out west or be stuck in the sweltering shop in New York? Why does Luke withdraw from her emotionally and can he let go of his past loss? Will Tess return home in defeat and be broken inside? Can their love blossom?

Note: Each of the books is a stand-alone clean romance without a cliffhanger. They are sweet westerns appropriate for all ages. Book six, Mail Order Bride Jessica, is now available and is also in Kindle Unlimited. 

Winter's Secret (Northern Intrigue #1) by Lyn Cote (Goodreads Author) - 5 Stars!

I loved the book!  Romance and mystery all rolled into one. Who could ask for anything more?  Sheriff Rod Durand is trying to capture the snowmobile bandit who is breaking into homes he calls him the Weasel.  Since the break-ins seem to happen any time Wendy Carey has taken a patient from their home to the clinic for an overnight stay, she seems to be linked to these burglaries.  Of course she is absolutely appalled at that idea.  She keeps feeling this pull toward the handsome new Sheriff but she is fighting that she doesn’t want to have a relationship or to get married.  Her Mom ruined all of that for her.  The Sheriff has the same thing happening to him, every time he’s around Wendy he’s super aware of all of her great qualities, and has this urge to kiss her.  He’s fighting that though even trying to stay away from her but the burglaries mean they have to work together to try and get a drop on the Weasel.  Who knows what will happen next and the biggest surprise of all is the identity of the burglar!  Buy the book and take a run at figuring it all out.  If you can you are a better person than I!

I got this book from Lyn Cote, author, in exchange for an honest review!

Here is the description of the book:

Sheriff Rod Durand is desperate to solve the snowmobile burglaries. As the one link to the crimes against the elderly, Wendy Carey is determined to risk anything to protect those she loves. As they follow the thief's trail, Rod and Wendy discover much more than they bargained for. First book in a 3-book series.