February Books

 

The Heiress by Rachel Hawkins -- When Camden gets an email from his cousin, he realizes he needs to return to the home he departed ten years ago when he fled all the baggage of family. His wife Jules is enthusiastic about her trip to see the famous (or infamous) Ashby House in the mountains of North Carolina. In between their sides of the story, we read publications about the McTavish family as well as letters written by Ruby McTavish, the heiress who adopted Cam when he was three. Pretty good.

The Mystery Guest by Nita Prose -- Once again, a story about a maid and a murder featuring the lovable, quirky Molly. When a popular author reserves the hotel tea room for an important announcement - a secret he's kept - but falls over dead before he can spit it out, the police get involved. This book deals with that plus Molly's own childhood memories of working with her Gran in Mr.Grimthorpe's house.  Cute story.

The Beach at Summerly by Beatriz Williams -- Emilia Withrop, one of the locals with a long family history in the area, is the help to the wealthy summer crowd.  Story of her and her friends Shep and Amory, and also nowadays as she lives with her sister Susana.  This is during the era when the US and Soviet Union were at odds. Pretty good.

The Fiction Writer by Jillian Cantor -- Olivia's book sales are struggling so when her agent approaches her about someone well-known wanting her to write a book for him, she takes a trip to Los Angeles to meet him.

Riding Rockets by Mike Mullane -- "the outrageous tales of a space shuttle astronaut."  This book was referenced in one of my favorite books last year about the first six women who were chosen to be astronauts in the US. They were in Mike's class, and the author of that book mentioned this one which I got for Christmas. Pretty interesting.

Wicked Redhead by Beatriz Williams -- I believe I would have enjoyed this one much more if I'd read the earlier book about Wicked City instead of starting with this one. Alas, I had this one on hand with no other library books, and decided to give it a go. Ginger is a redhead during the time of Prohibition.  She likes two brothers, one more than the other. In more current times, there is Ella who recently left her cheating husband. Meh... this one was OK.

The Outcast Girls by Shirley Dickson -- I remember reading a book or two by this author and adding a few of her other stories to my Amazon Wishlist. This is one I got for Christmas, and it's about Frieda, a German Jew who was brought to England during World War II. She meets an English girl, Sandra, who has lived a life of service. The two of them wind up on a farm helping the war effort. Pretty good.

The Lost Children by Shirley Dickson -- Twins Jacob and Molly are eight years old when their mom decides to send them to the countryside where they will be safe from Hitler's bombs. They are sent to the area I read about in the book before, and this book has some of the same characters so I'm glad to read these stories back-to-back. Another pretty good tale.

The Orphan's Secret by Shirley Dickson -- Lily leaves home to become a Lumberjill during World War II.  Her husband is serving in the war, and Lily wants to do her part. She meets Ethel, who grew up an orphan, and the two eventually become friends. When both of them realize they are expecting babies at the same time, and Ethel has nowhere to live, Lily invites Ethel to live with her until something can be decided. Pretty good story.

Five Bad Deeds by Caz Frear -- I'm back to reading library books. This one is about sisters Ellen and Kristy, and mostly Ellen's hectic household and group of friends/acquaintances.

Black Out by Lisa Unger -- Annie keeps having flashbacks to when she was a teenager who moved with her mother from New York City to Florida so her mom could pursue a relationship with a man behind bars. Although this stuff is in her past, it keeps rearing its head and life is quite frightening! 

Random in Death by J.D. Robb -- If I'm so inclined I see that I have about sixty other "futuristic thrillers" available to read in this In Death series featuring Lt. Eve Dallas and her fellow officers. In this book a couple of teenaged girls are jabbed with a needle full of a blend made to kill them within minutes. Lt. Dallas is in charge of identifying the suspect. Decent book, but I would know more about these characters if I'd read the other sixty books, no doubt. But, whew!  I did not like the teenage lingo throughout the book.

The Therapist by B.A. Paris -- When Leo suggests he and Alice move in together, he finds a house in London behind a gate where Alice believes she will be able to make quick friends. When she learns from a private investigator that something terrible happened at the house where she now lives, she decides to ask the neighbors in order to learn more about the therapist who lived at house #6 in The Circle. 

One Wrong Word by Hank Phillippi Ryan -- When your reputation is in ruins, Arden Ward is who you want working for you. Only, now she's been falsely accused and given the sack yet her boss wants her to do one last job for him. Cordelia hires Arden to clean up the image of her husband who was acquitted of running over someone yet the moms at school still give Cordelia the cold shoulder. Pretty good story.

The Disappearing Act by Catherine Steadman -- A British actor comes to Los Angeles to audition for several roles. At one casting, she meets Emily who gives her her wallet and keys to top off the car meter, then disappears. While juggling reading scripts and auditioning, Mia wonders what happened to Emily and decides to search for her. Pretty good. 

The Eden Test by Adam Sternbergh -- It's their third anniversary, and Craig is ready to leave his wife after a quick meal. He's got plans with another woman, yet Daisy surprises him by not being at home and instead giving him instructions to meet her at a cabin in upstate New York. He does, and instead of a quick meal and goodbye, Daisy tells him she's booked the place for a week and it's some kind of couples retreat... so weird.

The Bones of the Story by Carol Goodman -- Nell is a dean of the college she attended, and she's busy preparing for a big event complete with most of her friends from back then.  When a snowstorm traps most of her peers together, strange things happen including a murder or two. An OK book.

Keep Your Friends Close by Leah Konen -- While going through a separation from her husband, Mary is looking for housing, a preschool for her son Alex, and a job in a new area. One day she happens upon Willa, a friend she'd made who ghosted her. Only when she confronts Willa, she acts like Mary is a stranger. What is going on?  Pretty good.

The Woman from Lydia by Angela Hunt -- Book one in The Emissaries this told the story of Euodia, a supporter of Paul's ministry as he told the good news of Jesus Christ. In this book she and a couple servants travel to various cities along the Via Egnatia in search of a girl, Sabina. I rather like this quote at the front of the book:

"If a man gets lost in the mountains, hundreds will search and often two or three searchers are killed. But the next time somebody gets lost just as many volunteers turn out. Poor arithmetic, but very human. It runs through all our folklore, all human religions, all our literature - a racial conviction that when one human needs rescue, others should not count the price."  -- Robert A. Heinlein

Two Dead Wives by Adele Parks -- This was a sequel to an earlier book: I knew some of this sounded familiar, but I really didn't remember what all transpired in the first book. Still, in this book Kylie is missing presumed dead by her former BFF who pushed her over the cliff. What? Yeah, and Daan and Mark are out a wife since Kylie was married to them both. Kind of.