House on the Hill by Annette Luthy Lyon

I just finished House on the Hill by Annette Luthy Lyon.  This was a book I found from a Facebook comment left on one of my favorite author's page, Susan Elizabeth Phillips - the reader raved about this book.  It was only a $1.99 for the Kindle book on Amazon!

After a vacation in Utah last year, I found myself wanting to learn more about the history of Utah - I'd love to find a James A. Michener Texas type book on their history.  Okay, this is not that book but it is a historical romance!  The backdrop for this book is the 1870's and the building of the Logan Temple.  The story is about Lizzy Sullivan and her struggling faith and the two men she has to choose from - her childhood friend Joshua or Abe, the Indian who is not a member of the Morman faith.  

I did enjoy this book and the struggles the Sullivan family encounter through the years.  I'd give this book 3 stars.



From Amazon:
It’s the late 1870s, and Lizzy Sullivan is struggling to understand why God hasn’t healed her little brother David. Then one night, tragedy strikes Lizzy’s family when their rural home burns down. Financially unable to rebuild, the Sullivans must find another place to live — and Lizzy must leave her lifelong friend Joshua behind. When a family in Logan invites the Sullivans to share their home, Lizzy’s father begins work as a mason on the Logan temple.

Against her mother’s wishes, Lizzie begins a relationship and falls in love with Abe, a young man who is not a member of the Church. Little does Lizzy realize that Abe and her dear friend Joshua, who both work in the quarries, will soon become close friends — and she will be forced to choose between these two good men. What does she truly want in her life? House on the Hill, by best-selling author Annette Lyon, will sweep you back in time to a faithful community where life was simpler than it is today, but matters of the heart were every bit as complex.

Still Life with Bread Crumbs by Anna Quindlen

Still Life with Bread Crumbs by Anna Quindlen is a good read.  Rebecca Winter is a famous photographer whose career has been in a downslide along with her marriage.  During her move to the country to an isolated cabin, she finds herself beginning a new chapter of her life away from New York City  and finding new friendships and a new unlikely romance.

I liked the story but didn't love the book - it was okay.  Very well-written but the plot was pretty predictable.  I also didn't fall in love with Rebecca or her romance.  I'd give the book 4 stars.


From Goodreads:

Still Life with Bread Crumbs begins with an imagined gunshot and ends with a new tin roof. Between the two is a wry and knowing portrait of Rebecca Winter, a photographer whose work made her an unlikely heroine for many women. Her career is now descendent, her bank balance shaky, and she has fled the city for the middle of nowhere. There she discovers, in a tree stand with a roofer named Jim Bates, that what she sees through a camera lens is not all there is to life.

Brilliantly written, powerfully observed, Still Life with Bread Crumbs is a deeply moving and often very funny story of unexpected love, and a stunningly crafted journey into the life of a woman, her heart, her mind, her days, as she discovers that life is a story with many levels, a story that is longer and more exciting than she ever imagined.

The Widow's Guide to Sex and Dating by Carole Radziwill

Okay, I admit it - I'm a fan of Carole Radziwill on The Read Housewives of New York - I love her sarcastic way of dealing with the drama the housewives constantly engage in and her way of not taking herself too seriously.  I also loved her first book, What Remains: A Memoir of Fate, Friendship, and Love.

The Widow's Guide to Sex and Dating is a fun, smart, witty read about Claire Byrne's life after the death of her husband Charles.  Not only is Claire alone now, but she is treated differently by her friends now that she is a widow - friends are now worried about their husband's being too sympathetic too her, what to do with her at a dinner party and what to say to her.  As she decides it's time to move on and start dating and lose her "widow's virginity", it's hilarious to read about her dating adventures.  The book definitely feels very "New York" - (a lot of art & literary references I should have looked up while reading but didn't) and uptown.

One thing I did have a hard time understanding in this book is Claire's feelings about Charles - I was sure that their marriage was not a romantic one for the ages but she did have some feelings for him.  Those conflicted feelings were sometimes hard to understand as she tries to move on with dating and her life.

I would definitely recommend this book to my friends but would add a caution that there is lots of animal sex described (hilarious!), curse words but not graphic sex scenes.  I would not recommend this book to my mother or her friends.  I'd give this book 5 stars.

Review from Amazon:From Booklist

When Claire Byrne’s intellectual husband dies in a freak accident with a falling sculpture (a fake, at that), she must figure out how to be a widow. Her marriage was defined by the age gap, Charles’ insistence (academic and otherwise) that there is either love or sex (not both), and his frequent infidelities. Claire has almost no identity of her own, and she is convinced by friends to lose her widowed virginity and move on. Radziwill’s first novel (after her memoir, What Remains, 2005) is a very New York book, even when Claire travels to L.A. to interview (and sleep with) a movie star. There is a constant war between lightness and heaviness in the subject, in the story, and in the telling that seems intrinsic to city dwellers. The plot features a lot of takeout, and Claire sees multiple therapists, a psychic, and a botanomanist to get herself sorted out, which, by the end, she more or less does. Radziwill’s book may receive extra coverage due to her association with the Kennedys and her appearance on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. --Susan Maguire

Romance Writers favorite Valentine's Books

Here's a link from one of my favorite authors - Susan Elizabeth Phillips- of some romance authors favorite Valentine's books. Susan Elizabeth Phillips books are one of the few author's whose books I read over and over again - I laugh - I cry- and then I just smile!  Her books make me happy!  I just wish she wrote faster!

From Susan Elizabeth Phillips Facebook:  Want some great book recommendations? Some of my favorite authors are recommending their favorite books.

http://www.npr.org/2014/02/14/276878856/romance-writers-offer-sweet-thoughts-for-valentines-day

One of my favorite books of SEP (as her fans call her) is First Lady.  But you cannot go wrong with any of her books!

This is from Amazon:

How does the most famous woman in the world hide in plain sight? The beautiful young widow of the President of the United States thought she was free of the White House, but circumstances have forced her back into the role of First Lady. Not for long, however, because she's made up her mind to escape -- if only for a few days -- so she can live the life of an ordinary person. All she needs is the perfect disguise . . . and she's just found it.

An entire nation is searching for her, but the First Lady is in the last place anybody would think to look: in the company of a man, an infuriatingly secretive and quietly seductive stranger whose charm, good looks, and sensuous appeal are awakening the forgotten woman within the dignitary. And with two adorable little orphaned girls in need of a family along for the ride, they're heading out across the heartland chasing their own American Dream -- on a wild journey of love, adventure, and glorious rebirth.

First Lady: A star-spangled, richly emotional story of self-discovery, celebrity, love, and family.

The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom

The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom was our last book club read.  Our member seemed to really enjoy this book - I was worried because this book was not always an easy read as the subject matter about slavery was sometimes tough to read.  I think we'd all love to think this chapter of our history did not happen!

What we all enjoyed was the character of Irish indentured servant Lavinia - we did not know about white indentured servants and their past in American history.  She was very likable although naive.  Our group liked the book because we were able to have a good discussion about the book.  We did grade the book a "B" because at times the plot was boring and predictable.  Although this book is also compared to The Help, we did not think it compared in any way.  I'd give it 4 stars.

Amazon.com Review

When a white servant girl violates the order of plantation society, she unleashes a tragedy that exposes the worst and best in the people she has come to call her family.

Orphaned while onboard ship from Ireland, seven-year-old Lavinia arrives on the steps of a tobacco plantation where she is to live and work with the slaves of the kitchen house. Under the care of Belle, the master's illegitimate daughter, Lavinia becomes deeply bonded to her adopted family, though she is set apart from them by her white skin.

Eventually, Lavinia is accepted into the world of the big house, where the master is absent and the mistress battles opium addiction. Lavinia finds herself perilously straddling two very different worlds. When she is forced to make a choice, loyalties are brought into question, dangerous truths are laid bare, and lives are put at risk.

The Kitchen House is a tragic story of page-turning suspense, exploring the meaning of family, where love and loyalty prevail.

Calling Me Home by Julie Kibler

Calling Me Home by Julie Kibler was recommended by a member of our book club - she had found it at Target.  Our book club group tends to love all the Target Club Picks - good stories that aren't too demanding of a read.  This book is also a debut novel by Julie Kibler as so many of the books I have read lately!  This book is similar to The Help - I imagine that's why it's being promoted by Target as The Help was so awesome.

Calling Me Home is a good read and would be a great book club book for discussion.  There were no discussion questions in the back of my Kindle but I'm sure they would be available online.  As our club just read The Kitchen House - I think Calling Me Home would be best read next year for our group!  this book is about an elderly white woman - Isabelle McAllister and her journey across the country with her close friend and black hair stylist Dorrie.  As they travel to a funeral and their friendship deepens, Isabelle opens up about her past and her first love Robert Prewitt - who was black.  The story is set in modern times with the flashbacks to the 1930's.

I enjoyed this book and it would be a great book club read.  I'd give it 4 1/2 stars.

From Booklist

Comparisons to The Help (2009) are inevitable, and though there are echoes of Kathryn Stockett’s popular best-seller to be found in Calling Me Home, Kibler has crafted a wholly original debut. The novel, set in 1930s Kentucky, centers on a forbidden romance between a teenage white girl, Isabelle McAllister, and Robert Prewitt, the black son of the McAllister’s maid. Chafing under her mother’s restrictive notions of female propriety, Isabelle finds a kindred spirit in Robert. The two begin to meet clandestinely, but any hope of a future together is threatened by the overwhelming racism of the era. Against impossible odds, the pair elopes to neighboring Cincinnati, but their happiness is short-lived when Isabelle’s thuggish brothers drag her back to the family home. The sad story is presented in flashback, as told by a now-elderly Isabelle to her black hairdresser, Dorrie, while the two drive cross-country to a funeral. Some may object that the civil rights struggle is once again being filtered through a white perspective, but there’s no denying the pull of Kibler’s story. --Patty Wetli

The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion

The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion was a quirky fun read - kinda different.  I did enjoy it!  As the book is about genetics professor Don Tillman and his search for a perfect mate, his Asperger's becomes a major part of the plot of this book.  I'm not sure how realistic his condition is with the conclusion of this book, but it does make for a fun read.

This could be a good discussion book for a book club - lots of chatter about this book right now.  It was good but not great - 4 stars from me.

Amazon.com Review

An Amazon Best Book of the Month, October 2013: Full of heart and humor, Simsion’s debut novel about a fussy, socially-challenged man’s search for the perfect wife is smart, breezy, quirky, and fun. Sure, it’s the precise equivalent of a well-crafted romantic comedy. (In fact, the book was clearly written with the big-screen in mind, and the film rights have already been sold). But you’d have to be a pretty cynical reader not to fall for Don Tillman, a handsome genetics professor who has crafted a pathologically micromanaged life for himself but can’t seem to score a second date. After launching his Wife Project, which includes a hilarious questionnaire intended to weed out imperfect candidates--smokers, makeup wearers, vegans (“incredibly annoying”)--Don meets Rosie, a stunning, maddeningly disorganized bartender/student who’s looking for her biological father. The reader knows just where the story is headed: Rosie’s so wrong for Don, she’s perfect. That’s not giving anything away. Half the fun of the book is watching pent-up, Asperger’s-afflicted Don break free, thanks to Rosie, from his precisely controlled, annoyingly sensible, and largely humorless lifestyle. By the final third, you’re cheering for Don to shatter all his rules. And you’re casting the film. --Neal Thompson

Favorite Authors!

I've read almost everything the following authors have written - I took a look at my Kindle and on my bookshelves to compile their names.  When they release a new title, I either have pre-ordered the book or immediately buy it!


Some of My Favorite Authors:

Anne Rivers Siddons
Susan Elizabeth Phillips
Patricia Cornwell
Wendy Wax
Luanne Rice
Maeve Binchy
Danielle Steel
Sandra Brown
Nancy Thayer
Adriana Trigiani
Mary Kay Andrews
Diane Chamberlain
Debbie Macomber
Barbara Delinsky
Mary Alice Monroe
Tami Hoag
Dorothea Benton Frank
Elin Hilderbrand
Susan Wiggs
Lisa Scottoline
Lisa Gardner
Jodi Picoult
Catherine Anderson
Iris Johansen
Lisa Genova
Emily Giffin
Charles Martin
Karen White
Faye Kellerman
LaVyrle Spencer
Lisa See
Anita Shreve
Anna Quindlen
Diane Mott Davidson

What Author's Men Might Enjoy (but I do too!)
Herman Wouk
Greg Illes
Michael Connelly
Nelson DeMille
David Baldacci
Pat Conroy
John Grisham
Jeff Abbott
Vince Flynn
Jeffrey Deaver

Patricia Cornwell
Stephen White
Lee Child
Irving Wallace
Harlan Corbin

Stephen White
Linwood Barclay
Dan Brown

Favorite Books from the Past...

This will be an ongoing list as I keep remembering my favorite books!

The Sunday Wife by Cassandra King
Beach Music by Pat Conroy
Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society: A Novel by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
Marjorie Morningstar by Herman Wouk
Still Alice by Lisa Genova
When Cricket's Cry by Charles Martin
Mao's Last Dancer by Li Cunxin

Current Books I'd Recommend!

Okay, people are always asking me about good reads so I'd thought I'd start a list of current books. ( I'll also have another list of all-time favorite reads.)  These are books that I really enjoyed - not in any particular order and I'll be updating the list as the year progresses.

1.  Where'd You Go Bernadette by Maria Semple

I loved this quirky book and my book club is reading it this spring.  I hope they love it as much as I did.  This book isn't like anything else I've read lately and is not predictable in any way. My sister is from the  Northwest and could really relate to this book.
Women's fiction  and I'd give it 5 stars.

From Amazon:  Bernadette Fox is notorious. To her Microsoft-guru husband, she's a fearlessly opinionated partner; to fellow private-school mothers in Seattle, she's a disgrace; to design mavens, she's a revolutionary architect, and to 15-year-old Bee, she is a best friend and, simply, Mom.

Then Bernadette disappears. It began when Bee aced her report card and claimed her promised reward: a family trip to Antarctica. But Bernadette's intensifying allergy to Seattle--and people in general--has made her so agoraphobic that a virtual assistant in India now runs her most basic errands. A trip to the end of the earth is problematic.

To find her mother, Bee compiles email messages, official documents, secret correspondence--creating a compulsively readable and touching novel about misplaced genius and a mother and daughter's role in an absurd world.

2.  The Love List by Lori Nelson Spielman

This first novel by Lori Nelson Spielman was a quick read about a women who finds herself when she sets out to fulfill her deceased mother's wish for her to complete her childhood list of goals.  These goals must be reached for her to receive her inheritance.  Although the plot sounds predictable, there were some curves thrown in to keep the reader off-guard.  I loved this book - maybe because I lost my mother this year.  Anyway - nothing that will set the literary world on fire - just a good read.  Women's fiction - 5 stars.

From Amazon:  In this utterly charming debut—perfect for fans of Cecelia Ahern’s P.S., I Love You and Allison Winn Scotch’s Time of My Life—one woman sets out to complete her old list of childhood goals, and finds that her lifelong dreams lead her down a path she never expects.

 
1. Go to Paris
2. Have a baby, maybe two
3. Fall in love
 
Brett Bohlinger seems to have it all: a plum job, a spacious loft, an irresistibly handsome boyfriend. All in all, a charmed life. That is, until her beloved mother passes away, leaving behind a will with one big stipulation: In order to receive her inheritance, Brett must first complete the life list of goals she’d written when she was a naïve girl of fourteen. Grief-stricken, Brett can barely make sense of her mother’s decision—her childhood dreams don’t resemble her ambitions at age thirty-four in the slightest. Some seem impossible. How can she possibly have a relationship with a father who died seven years ago? Other goals (Be an awesome teacher!) would require her to reinvent her entire future. As Brett reluctantly embarks on a perplexing journey in search of her adolescent dreams, one thing becomes clear. Sometimes life’s sweetest gifts can be found in the most unexpected places.

3.  The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh

This is another debut novel by an author.  I loved this book and so did my book club.  This is an easy read and we all loved learning about the different flowers and their meanings.  I also learned a lot about the foster-care system.  Highly recommend.  Women's fiction -5 stars.

 From Amazon:  
The Victorian language of flowers was used to convey romantic expressions: honeysuckle for devotion, asters for patience, and red roses for love. But for Victoria Jones, it’s been more useful in communicating mistrust and solitude. After a childhood spent in the foster-care system, she is unable to get close to anybody, and her only connection to the world is through flowers and their meanings. Now eighteen and emancipated from the system with nowhere to go, Victoria realizes she has a gift for helping others through the flowers she chooses for them. But an unexpected encounter with a mysterious stranger has her questioning what’s been missing in her life. And when she’s forced to confront a painful secret from her past, she must decide whether it’s worth risking everything for a second chance at happiness.

4.   The Selection by Kiera Cass

This is a young adult book that is similar to The Hunger Games & Divergent.  But it's also a cross of The Bachelor and The Princess Diaries movies.  No great literary work here - just fun and romance.  I seem to find in these series that the following books aren't as good as the 1st but we will see how this series goes.  Not for everyone - just good YA fun.  No great reason why it made my list except that I enjoyed it and can't wait to see how the series ends!  I think I gave it 5 stars but I will give it 4 stars for this list.

From Amazon:  For thirty-five girls, the Selection is the chance of a lifetime. The opportunity to escape the life laid out for them since birth. To be swept up in a world of glittering gowns and priceless jewels. To live in a palace and compete for the heart of gorgeous Prince Maxon.

But for America Singer, being Selected is a nightmare. It means turning her back on her secret love with Aspen, who is a caste below her. Leaving her home to enter a fierce competition for a crown she doesn't want. Living in a palace that is constantly threatened by violent rebel attacks.

Then America meets Prince Maxon. Gradually, she starts to question all the plans she's made for herself—and realizes that the life she's always dreamed of may not compare to a future she never imagined.

The Life List by Lori Nelson Spielmann

Some books are just good reads and some you just devour - can't put down, stay up way too late, ignore our family, don't walk the dog - The Life List by Lori Nelson Spielman was the later type of book for me.  I'm not sure why I downloaded this book in September or who recommended it but for some reason I decided to pick it out of my TBR pile last night.  I started it last night and finished this morning!  One of my favorite authors - Susan Elizabeth Phillips- wrote a blurb recommending it so maybe that's why I downloaded it to my Kindle.

The main character, Brett Bohlinger, is reeling from the death of her mother and discovers that her mother has found Brett's childhood list of goals and makes her complete these goals before she receives her inheritance.  The book is quirky enough to hold your attention and just when you think it's going to be totally predictable - the book takes a different path than you thought!

The book made me  think about my childhood goals would be at the age of fourteen and if I've accomplished them.  The book also made me think about what my mother's dreams for my life where and if I've fulfilled them or if there are some things on "my list" that she would still want me to pursue.

I will be recommending this book to my book club and to people who are looking for a great women's fiction book - 5 stars from me!!


From Amazon:

 this utterly charming debut—perfect for fans of Cecelia Ahern’s P.S., I Love You and Allison Winn Scotch’s Time of My Life—one woman sets out to complete her old list of childhood goals, and finds that her lifelong dreams lead her down a path she never expects.
 
1. Go to Paris
2. Have a baby, maybe two
3. Fall in love
 
Brett Bohlinger seems to have it all: a plum job, a spacious loft, an irresistibly handsome boyfriend. All in all, a charmed life. That is, until her beloved mother passes away, leaving behind a will with one big stipulation: In order to receive her inheritance, Brett must first complete the life list of goals she’d written when she was a naïve girl of fourteen. Grief-stricken, Brett can barely make sense of her mother’s decision—her childhood dreams don’t resemble her ambitions at age thirty-four in the slightest. Some seem impossible. How can she possibly have a relationship with a father who died seven years ago? Other goals (Be an awesome teacher!) would require her to reinvent her entire future. As Brett reluctantly embarks on a perplexing journey in search of her adolescent dreams, one thing becomes clear. Sometimes life’s sweetest gifts can be found in the most unexpected places.

Praise for The Life List
 
“Spielman’s debut charms.”—Kirkus Reviews
 
“You won’t want to miss Lori Nelson Spielman’s remarkable debut, an intensely emotional novel of transformation and trust. It’s about how we let go, and how we never let go. The Life List has great heart, and even greater soul.”─Sarah Addison Allen, New York Times bestselling author of The Peach Keeper
 
“Irresistible! Everything I love and look for in women’s fiction. A clever, funny, moving page-turner.”─Susan Elizabeth Phillips, New York Times bestselling author of The Great Escape

Bridge to Happiness by Jill Barnett

Sometimes I just like to read a book to escape from the everyday mundane details of life - not deal with stress, worry about  children, friend's problems or my own problems.  I just want to relax and enjoy another world for awhile.  I always feel like I need to keep up with the books that are popular with the book clubs or are getting lots of attention in the literary world.  But sometimes it's fun to just read a book with no expectations - just to relax and enjoy!

The Bridge to Happiness by Jill Barnett filled my expectations to just read a book for fun.  I loved reading about March Randolph's journey in life - first her marriage to Mike Cantrell, building a business and family with him, and then about how she recovers from his early death.  Her four children are an integral part of her life and her business and it's their story too of recovering from their father's death.  This book had book club questions in the back but I'm not sure if it would be a good pick for our book club because I don't think there would be enough to discuss.  I'd give this book 3 1/2 stars - it's good not great.  But a perfect book to read while watching the Olympics!

From Amazon:

From the luxury of San Francisco's famous hills to the wild freedom of the majestic snow-covered Sierra Mountains, BRIDGE TO HAPPINESS is the intensely dramatic story of one woman's life, the idyllic moments, her humanity, her love, and finally, the difficult road she must walk alone...to discover the strong woman she is destined to become. When March Randolph meets Mike Cantrell, she has no idea how her life will change, and how time will change her. For over three decades she and Mike forge a marriage, a family and a business together, helping to make snowboarding into a popular, worldwide winter sport, and raising four strong-willed and independent children into a adulthood, never once fearing the future won't be as golden as their past. In a heartbeat everything changes, and March and her family suffer a tragic change, one that drives a schism into her once perfect life, and will test the bonds of love and family far beyond any definition of recovery. Suddenly March is stuck in the past, unable to move forward, and only if she, alone, finds the strength and will to move on, can any of the Cantrells have a single, glimmer of hope at a new life of happiness. "Bridge To Happiness is a beautiful and poignant exploration of loss, love and unexpected opportunities. This book is for any woman who has ever loved and lost and dared to reach for happiness." Kristin Hannah, New York Times Bestselling Author of Winter Garden

The Edge of Normal by Carla Norton

I like a good thriller! And The Edge of Normal by Carla Norton kept me up way too late last night finishing this debut thriller fiction!  (I'm kinda liking the feature on my new Kindle paperwhite that tells me how much longer to finish the book - that made me decide to stay up a little later to finish this novel!)

The main character, Reeve LeClaire is a kidnap survivor who has changed her name and tried to get on with her life after being held captive & sexually abused for 4 years.  This story takes place six years later - she still struggles adjusting to normal life but has the help of her psychiatrist, Dr. Lerner.  Dr. Lerner asks her to help another kidnap survivor.

What I liked about the story was that the plot was not too complicated - I could follow the plot line.  I also finished it quickly - not too long!  I do feel like the author could continue writing a series of this character - I'd love to follow her recovery and her getting on with her life!  I'd give this book 4 1/2 stars!  I'd also recommend it to my friends who like to read thrillers!



From Goodreads:  The Edge of Normal  by Carla Norton 

3.64 of 5 st

In many ways, Reeve LeClaire looks like a typical twenty-two year old girl. She’s finally landed her own apartment, she waitresses to pay the bills, and she wishes she wasn’t so nervous around new people. She thinks of herself as agile, not skittish. As serious, not grim. But Reeve is anything but normal.

Ten years ago, she was kidnapped and held captive. After a lucky escape, she’s spent the last six years trying to rebuild her life, a recovery thanks in large part to her indispensable therapist Dr. Ezra Lerner. But when he asks her to help another girl rescued from a similar situation, Reeve realizes she may not simply need to mentor this young victim—she may be the only one who can protect her from a cunning predator who is still out there, watching every move.

From the author of the #1 non-fiction bestseller Perfect Victim: The True Story of the Girl in the Box comes a novel that draws you into a chilling and engrossing world. With powerfully gripping characters and an ending that is a masterpiece of deception, Carla Norton's The Edge of Normal is a stunning debut thriller.
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Fear Nothing by Lisa Gardner

I love reading Lisa Gardner's books with detective D.D. Warren through the years - they are usually fun thrilling reads.  After all the holiday rush, it was fun to read a book just for fun. I enjoyed the book even though the subject matter got a little (okay - a lot) creepy!  The killer is taking strips of skin from his victims and saving them!  We have two sisters - one who is a convicted murderer and the other a psychiatrist who cannot feel pain.  Poor D.D. has a horrible injury from investigating the initial crime scene and is not handling rehab and the pain very well- (I just want to scream at her - TAKE the darn pain pill!) and of course has to see the pain doctor- Dr. Adeline Glen - who is the sister of the convicted  killer Shana Day.  I enjoy seeing glimpses of some sensitive sides of the gruff D.D. Warren - especially how tender her husband Alex is with her.  Good series - fun read!  4 stars!


From Amazon:  In #1 New York Times bestseller Lisa Gardner’s latest pulse-pounding thriller, Detective D. D. Warren must face a new fear as a serial killer terrorizes Boston.

My name is Dr. Adeline Glen. Due to a genetic condition, I can’t feel pain. I never have. I never will. 

The last thing Boston Detective D. D. Warren remembers is walking the crime scene after dark. Then, a creaking floorboard, a low voice crooning in her ear. . . . She is later told she managed to discharge her weapon three times. All she knows is that she is seriously injured, unable to move her left arm, unable to return to work.

My sister is Shana Day, a notorious murderer who first killed at fourteen. Incarcerated for thirty years, she has now murdered more people while in prison than she did as a free woman.

Six weeks later, a second woman is discovered murdered in her own bed, her room containing the same calling cards from the first: a bottle of champagne and a single red rose. The only person who may have seen the killer: Detective D. D. Warren, who still can’t lift her child, load her gun, or recall a single detail from the night that may have cost her everything.

Our father was Harry Day, an infamous serial killer who buried young women beneath the floor of our home. He has been dead for forty years. Except the Rose Killer knows things about my father he shouldn’t. My sister claims she can help catch him. I think just because I can’t feel pain doesn’t mean my family can’t hurt me. 

D.D. may not be back on the job, but she is back on the hunt. Because the Rose Killer isn’t just targeting lone women, he is targeting D.D. And D.D. knows there is only one way to take him down:

Fear nothing. 

Book Movement's Top Ten List

I love keeping up with Book Movements Top Ten Books - their readers are on tap with what I usually like to read.   I haven't read the Orphan Train, The Book Thief, or And The Mountains Echoed or I am Malala and those books are on my Kindle TBR.  Of those books that I have read = I loved The Language of Flowers the best!

BookMovement

Top Ten LIst

Like and Share with your friends to love to read!

1. The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty
2. Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline
3. The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
4. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
5. The Light Between Oceans by ML Stedman
6. Me Before You by Jojo Moyes
7. And The Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini
8. The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh
9. The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom
10. I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai