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Lessons in Love at the Cornish County Hospital–many faces of love
Lessons in Love at the Cornish County Hospital
By Jo Bartlett
This series is the fictional account of several of the workers at St. Piran’s Hospital. It focuses specifically on two couples: Gary, a staff nurse, and Wendy, the head of housekeeping; and Danni who works in emergency medicine and her boyfriend Charlie, a children’s book author. Working on the fourth book in this series, Jo Barlett presents a lot of background about the various characters. Sometimes I felt like I had been dropped into the middle of a soap opera; and at other times, I admired Barlett’s handling of characters and situations that are serious.
Wendy had been married to Mike, unquestionably a philandering, narcissistic jerk who was the father of her two young adult girls. Now he is in a relationship with the much younger Chloe. Wendy struggles with doing the right things for her daughters as they form bonds with Chloe who is pregnant. Danni is also pregnant and is carefully cared for medically as an older mom with a first child. Both Gary and Charlie are caring and loving mates, but the women take the stage in this novel.
With relationship and medical issues, there is both trauma and drama for Chloe. Eating disorders affect several characters. Wendy struggles with jealousy over Chloe even though Wendy no longer loves or is attracted to Mike. It hurts that her daughters see Chloe as the fun “mom.” Meanwhile Chloe suffers from a deep seated and unfulfilled desire to be loved.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Rating: 4/5
Category: Fiction, Romance, Women’s Fiction
Notes: 1. #4 in the Cornish County Hospital series, but could be read as a standalone.
2. Only 6 instances of swear words and no open bedroom doors.
Publication: October 3, 2024—Boldwood Books
Memorable Lines:
…borrowing tomorrow’s trouble was a sure-fire way to suck all the joy out of life.
If death could come from a thousand small cuts, so could the death of a relationship and it felt like that day was getting closer and closer.
Everything they’d been through had taught her that love really could be found in the most unexpected of places. There was no such thing as loving too many people, or being loved by too many people in return.
Death by Chocolate Raspberry Scone–pirate gold
Death by Chocolate Raspberry Scone
By Sarah Graves
Ellie and Jake (Jacobia) are best friends and business partners in the Chocolate Moose, a small bakery in Eastport, Maine. Death by Chocolate Raspberry Scone finds the pair dealing with a complex web of murders in the middle of a sweltering summer and hectic tourist season. There isn’t a body, just an abandoned boat and a non-grieving widow left with three children and a mystery. Her husband has shown her an antique gold coin which is missing too.
On the home front, Jake’s large old house is bursting at the seams with extended family lined up outside the only bathroom. An expansion is not progressing according to schedule and winter is closing in.
Sharks play a huge role in this mystery from attacks on the investigators to the possibility that they are involved in several deaths or at least the “disposal” of the remains. A group of shark scientists are having a convention in the town, and Ellie has promised three dozen Chocolate Raspberry Scones. Ellie is a creative genius when it comes to her baking, but she has yet to perfect a recipe for this treat.
Jake’s sweet grandson Ephraim plays a big role in this cozy mystery. This four year old loves making music on a variety of noisy instruments from a kazoo to a toy trumpet, and this interest leads to a discovery that is critical to the plot.
Another intriguing character is Glenna LaFarge, known locally as the “witch of Walk Island.” Despite all the somewhat scary legends that have emerged around her, Ellie and Jake embark on one of many boating adventures in the book to confront Glenna and try to uncover some of the many secrets surrounding murders, a kidnapping and theft in the small tourist town. Jake and Ellie both show their daring and brave side as they track down the murderer. There is a fair amount of tension in this mystery, but there is also some humor sprinkled in as Jake knows how to laugh at herself and the crazy situations she finds herself in.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Mystery, Fiction
Notes: 1. #7 in the Death by Chocolate Mystery Series, but could be read as a standalone.
2. Includes a recipe for a version of Chocolate Raspberry Scones. As a chocolate lover and a scone lover, this sounds very good.
Publication: April 23, 2024—Kensington
Memorable Lines:
…I still couldn’t make a sound past the jagged chunk of fright stuck in my throat. It was a shark, a ridiculously large one from what I could see of its dark shape moving under the water, still coming straight at us.
It’s another thing I’ve learned over the years: You can cry all you want, but it doesn’t fix anything; when you’re finished, you still have to get up and do something about whatever it is.
I got up and poured more coffee at the credenza near the door. The fancy contraption that brewed it looked complicated enough to refine uranium in.
The Exchange–a kidnapping
The Exchange
by John Grisham
John Grisham’s second book, The Firm, was published in 1991. Two years later this legal thriller was made into a movie that guaranteed Grisham’s success. The Exchange is a sequel to The Firm revisiting lawyer Mitch McDeere and his wife Abby fifteen years after they escaped a very dishonest law firm that the FBI investigated. They bounced around a bit, and we meet up with them in New York City where Mitch has become a partner in Scully, a worldwide law firm with over a thousand lawyers.
Mitch is assigned an international case in which a Turkish construction company is trying to get Gaddafi to pay what he owes them for work on the Great Gaddafi Bridge in Libya which has become an embarrassment to Gaddafi because the predicted waters never arrived. It is essentially a bridge to nowhere.
The starting point for Mitch’s work is in Italy where an old friend Luca, who runs a branch of the law firm, convinces Mitch to bring his daughter Giovanna along on an exploratory visit to the bridge. Giovanna is a lawyer working for Scully’s firm in London. Unfortunately, Mitch ends up in the hospital with intestinal distress. Giovanna goes out to the bridge with a security team anyway, but is kidnapped.
The rest of the story details the convoluted multi-country effort to get Giovanna back safely. It involves politics, banks, and terrorists. The story was entertaining, and it was good to catch up with Mitch and Abby. It was not of the same caliber as The Firm and was not engaging enough to make me wish for a followup. I appreciated the way Grisham let the reader know the terrible things the terrorists did without sharing gruesome details. I was disappointed in the ending because there was closure for the characters without revealing the motivation of the villains. Mitch had an ethical decision to make in The Firm and again in The Exchange. I liked that he maintains his strong moral base, not caving to greed in either book.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Rating: 4/5
Category: Mystery and Thriller, Fiction
Notes: 1. Although this is a sequel, it could be read as a standalone as Grisham provides enough information and really little is needed to enjoy the current plot.
2. Some swearing, no sex.
3. Unless you are a thriller aficionado, this probably would not make good bedtime reading.
Publication: October 17, 2023—Doubleday Books
Memorable Lines:
For thirty years he had waged war on behalf of cold-blooded killers who were guilty of crimes that often defied description. To survive, he had learned to take the crimes, put them in a box, and ignore them. The issue wasn’t guilt. The issue was giving the state, with its flaws, prejudices, and power to screw things up, the right to kill.
“This is the Great Gaddafi Bridge in central Libya, over an unnamed river yet to be found. It was and is a foolish idea because there are no people in the region and no one wants to go there. However, there is plenty of oil and maybe the bridge will get used after all. Lannak doesn’t really care. It’s not paid to plan Libya’s future. It signed a contract to build the bridge and held its end of the deal. Now our client wants to be paid”
The story itself was certainly newsworthy—an associate in the London office of the world’s largest law firm kidnapped by murderous thugs in Libya—but the scarcity of real facts did nothing to throttle the breathless headlines, photography, and speculation. If the facts were insufficient to carry a story, others were simply created on the fly.
Helpless–one step ahead
Helpless
by Annette Dashofy
Are you up for a solid mystery with lots of action? It’s not quite a police procedural, but close. Zoe, a former paramedic and current county coroner, is married to Pete Adams, police chief in Vance Township. As you read, you will meet a lot of characters and have no trouble keeping track of them. Most of them are people who will put their own lives on the line to insure the safety of others. Some do it as part of their official duties, others because they are good people and good neighbors.
The plot centers around a wife murdered, a husband left for dead under gruesome circumstances, and a child kidnaped. The setting which plays heavily into the plot is Hurricane Iona. Sleuthing and life saving work by the EMS is drastically hampered by pelting rains, destructive winds, flooding and road blockages. Car accidents impede roadways and increase the load on emergency personnel; electrical and cell phone outages cause panics.
As bodies accumulate in the morgue, Zoe is caught between her official duties as coroner and her inner need to support the husband as a former EMS worker and as a friend. She is also called to the death scenes to process the bodies and desperately wants to help her husband find the missing child.
This is a well written book and series. The plot is devised in such a way that the reader wants to keep the story going to hopefully arrive at a happily ever after for the characters. This is not a Hallmark book, however, so don’t expect that level of predictability. I was a little teary eyed at the end, but I admired the author’s fine touch with the conclusion.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Mystery, General Fiction, Women’s Fiction
Notes: 1. #12 in the Zoe Chambers Mystery Series but can be read as a standalone
2. Contains some swearing, but is otherwise clean.
Publication: May 9, 2023—Level Best Books
Memorable Lines:
“What if he asks?” “He won’t. I think he suspects the worse. But as long as no one confirms it, he can go on hoping. My medical training and decades of practice tell me it comes down to that. Hope.
Zoe couldn’t bear merely sitting in her car, staring out the rain-blurred windows. The scene outside looked like an impressionistic painting. The thoughts inside her brain were equally smeared and unclear.
Shielding the Baby–a K-9 mystery/romance
Shielding the Baby
by Laura Scott
Officer Danica Hayes and her K9 partner Hutch, a German Shepherd, work with the Pacific Northwest K9 Unit. They are called out to a double murder at a bridge in the Mount Rainier area. While investigating that case, she interviews Luke Stark, the brother of the female victim, Stacey. She was a co-owner with a friend of three resorts in the area. Luke, a recently divorced medic, was released from the Army when his ex-wife died in a car accident. He is adjusting to life as a single parent to his adorable nine month old son Caden. They live at the resort.
After Danica meets with Luke, there are various attacks on both Danica and Luke and attempted kidnappings of little Caden. Danica moves into the resort to try to protect the father and son. Caden loves Hutch who has multiple skills as a K9 officer and is instinctively very protective of Caden.
The story moves rapidly as Danica tries to discover the identity of the murderer and the assailant. She needs to determine if one person is responsible for all of the crimes, and if so what could the motivation possibly be? Meanwhile, a romance develops between Luke and Danica, as they hesitantly open up to each other despite Luke’s marriage failure and Danica’s childhood trauma. Danica’s faith in God inspires Luke to examine his own faith and renews his interest in having a closer relationship with God.
I enjoyed this page turner. It’s always interesting to read about the skills of K9 officers and their bonds with their human partners. I hope to read other books in this series and others by Laura Scott.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Romance, Mystery, Christian
Notes: 1. Harlequin designates this book as “Inspirational Romance/Love Inspired Suspense” which helps readers know if this is a good choice for them.
2. #1 in the Pacific Northwest K-9 Unit Series. Some threads were neatly tied, but there were other major threads left dangling. This is a series of eight books all written by different authors. I’m not sure how they will be connected. I do know that Colt and his dog, minor characters in this book, will take center stage in the next book, Scent of Truth by Valerie Hansen. I can’t tell if the unresolved issues will be sorted out in the second book of the series.
Publication: March 28, 2023—Harlequin Romance
Memorable Lines:
Shame on her for thinking the worst. Blame it on her tumultuous childhood.
The Pacific Northwest K9 Unit had been founded ten years ago, primarily funded through a generous federal grant bankrolled by Roland Evans, a philanthropist who strongly believed in their core mission of solving the most difficult crimes that transpired throughout several police jurisdictions in Washington State, including the three national parks.
Once he’d held his own on the battlefield, wielding a rifle while caring for injured soldiers, but civilian life, especially being a readymade father, was something completely outside his wheelhouse.
Spurred to Justice–creepy “Grave Digger”
Spurred to Justice
by Delores Fossen
There were a lot of “firsts” in this read for me. I had never read any books in The Law in Lubbock County series, books by Delores Fossen, or books published under the Harlequin Intrigue imprint. I am sharing my reflections on each topic:
The Series: I could tell that there was a personal relationship backstory between the protagonists Adalyn and Nolan but that gap did not affect my understanding of the plot in Spurred to Justice.
The Author: Delores Fossen is a good writer creating likable characters. Her plot has misdirection for the reader and for FBI Special Agent Nolan and ex-cop, current security officer Adalyn. She adds significant plot twists to keep suspense at the forefront.
The Imprint: I like Harlequin Heartwarming books so I thought I might like a novel from the same publisher but with a small amount of suspense. Spurred to Justice had only a little of things that I prefer not to have in books I read: foul language, open bedroom doors, and creepy murders. The inappropriate language is mainly handled by describing someone cursing with the actual words appearing only a few times. The sex scenes do not go all the way to culmination because the pair is always interrupted by phone calls or texts. The creepy factor is the Grave Digger whose taunting and method of murder gives those trying to stop him literal nightmares, but more of the book delves into his identity rather than how he commits the murders.
Reading Spurred to Justice was an experiment for me. My conclusion is that although I did not dislike this book, I won’t be pursuing any similar novels in the future.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Rating: 4/5
Category: Mystery and Thriller, Romance
Notes: #4 in The Law in Lubbock County series, but could be read as a standalone
Publication: January 24, 2023—Harlequin Intrigue
Memorable Lines:
But her body had to be firing off all kinds of signals that this was a primal sort of showdown with the person who’d tried to murder her and would almost certainly try again if he got the chance.
Nolan kept his tone as dry as the West Texas dust.
The Grave Digger would have known this shock would cloud their minds and maybe cause them to lose focus.
Before We Were Yours–stealing and selling children
Before We Were Yours
by Lisa Wingate
This tale is based on actual events at the Memphis Tennessee Children’s Home Society in 1939 where Georgia Tann collected babies and sold them to adoptive parents. Sometimes she had police round them up from the streets. Other times she scammed unsuspecting parents when the groggy mothers of newborns were asked to sign papers which in fact turned the babies over to the state.
In this story, Rill (later renamed May), is 12 years old and given responsibility for her siblings when her mother has to go to the hospital for a difficult delivery. Scary men show up to their shanty boat telling the children lies and forcing them to go to the children’s home where as “swamp rats” they were treated despicably.
This is a dual timeline book, and the protagonist in the present time is Avery, a lawyer from the prominent Stafford political family in South Carolina. She is being groomed to take over her father’s political office if he succumbs to cancer.
In a chance meeting, May takes Avery’s bracelet, a dragonfly bracelet that is a family heirloom given to Avery by her Grandma Judy. In recovering the jewelry, Avery discovers a mysterious connection. Despite Judy’s gradually succumbing to Alzheimer’s, Avery pursues the relationship between the two women.
Before We Were Yours reveals a very sad series of events in U.S. history. Georgia Tann was a ruthless woman who took advantage of poor families during the Depression as well as families hurting from childlessness. The book is complex but Lisa Wingate tells the story with compassion. She researched her topic well and created a fictional tale that is substantiated by reported events and melds the facts into a compelling story.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Historical Fiction
Notes: Random House has an online book club kit that has resources that any reader would find beneficial, whether reading the book individually or with a group.
Publication: 2017—Ballentine
Memorable Lines:
She stops short of repeating the woman’s naughty words. Camellia’s eaten enough soap to clean up the inside of a whale in her ten years. She’s practically been raised on it. It’s a wonder bubbles don’t pour out her ears.
There’s no denying that Magnolia Manor is more upscale than the nursing home May Crandall lives in, but both places face the same underlying challenge—how to provide dignity, care, and comfort as life turns difficult corners.
“A woman’s past need not predict her future. She can dance to new music if she chooses. Her own music. To hear the tune, she must only stop talking. To herself, I mean. We’re always trying to persuade ourselves of things.”
Break of Day–Christian suspense
Break of Day
by Colleen Coble
I strongly encourage readers who enjoy Christian suspense to read the three part Annie Pederson series. As a mystery fan, I rarely read thrillers, only reading suspense that I think will be more mystery than psychologically creepy. This series walks the border for me, but the violence is not graphically depicted and evil is called out for what it is. I really liked Edge of Dusk (#1 in the series), but was not as enamored with Dark of Night (#2 in the series). This last book in the series blew me away. There were surprises right and left and lots of character development. Character motivations, both good and bad, were revealed.
Annie’s daughter Kylie, that I didn’t much care for in Dark of Night, was not an active character in this third book, but concern for her and her safety was appropriately inserted. Relationships were fractured and healed. Roadblocks rose up and were gradually dismantled through trust in God.
The focus of the book was the horrible hunting of innocent tourists and hikers as a game. This thread began in the first book, but was central to Break of Day. Annie’s law enforcement skills, outdoor survival tactics, nautical expertise, stamina, protectiveness, and moral character make her a protagonist to be admired and applauded. The themes of forgiveness and trust in God are woven throughout the tale as sisters Annie and Sarah relive past traumas and learn that their love for each other trumps previous hurts and mistakes.
There is beautiful symbolism of God’s faithfulness in a goldfinch he sends to reassure Kylie in a moment of crisis. Other symbolism is found in the darkness of the forest when Annie and Sarah are being hunted. They couldn’t tell which way to go because they couldn’t see the sun. They needed God to shed light on the situation and give direction.
I have to give a shout out to the dogs in the series. Samson is a search and rescue dog whose skills in Edge of Dusk are amazing. In Break of Day Sarah rescues Scout who later provides comfort and help to her. Samson’s pup Milo causes some welcome humorous chaos as this serious series draws to a close.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Mystery & Thriller, Romance, Women’s Fiction
Notes: 1. #3 in the Annie Pederson Novels. I recommend reading this series sequentially and close together time wise. Each book is a continuation of the prior book and will be best enjoyed if read as a unit.
Publication: July 4, 2023—Thomas Nelson
Memorable Lines:
“How many times does the Bible say ‘Fear not’? Enough times that we know God doesn’t want us to cower in our homes. And I’m not going to do it. What kind of example would that be for Kylie? I want to model courage not cowardice.”
“There’s room for all of us. Love is like that. It doesn’t matter how many people you love, there is always room for more.”
She found it hard to believe anyone could be so twisted and cruel. Evil was the real word. There was evil in the world, and the three of them faced it right now.
Dark of Night–kidnapping
Dark of Night
by Colleen Coble
This mystery/thriller has it all—suspense, action, Christian values, and some clean romance. It is all tied up with themes of family, loyalty, and honesty.
Annie, Law Enforcement Ranger on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula is the protagonist. She has spent twenty-four years dealing with feelings of guilt from her inability as a child to keep her little sister Sarah from being kidnapped. Annie is reigniting a relationship with Jon who, unbeknownst to either Annie or Jon, is the father of her daughter Kylie.
A woman shows up, initially in disguise, and claims to be the long lost Sarah. This woman is vindictive and confused. Meanwhile, there are other major plot threads. One involves Michelle Fraser, a formerly abused wife who has been living in a shelter for a year while she works to restore her confidence. Now she is ready to pursue her dangerous interest in mountain lions. There are three current kidnappings for apparently various reasons. Annie, Sheriff Mason, and an FBI agent along with Bree, her dog Samson, and the local search and rescue team combine efforts to find the victims.
There are too many threads to mention them all, but they are interesting and following them as they intersect with other threads keeps the reader quite involved.
I did have two issues with Dark of Night which kept it from being a five star book for me. As the second book in the series, it is heavily dependent on characters and plot found in the first book. There is just too much background that needed to be carried over and that can cause some confusion for the reader. It is a good read but not a good standalone. Also, I usually like characters who are children, but Kylie was not very appealing to me as a character. While she had been carefully taught personal safety, obedience, and respect, I had trouble empathizing with her because she was the center of everyone’s world. She gets a huge dose of reality in this book, and I will be watching to see if it affects her in the next book which I am looking forward to reading.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Rating: 4/5
Category: Mystery & Thriller, Romance
Notes: 1. #2 in the Annie Pederson Novels. I recommend it, but not as a standalone.
2. Be sure to followup by reading my review of #3 in the series. That book, the last in the series, changes my opinion of the whole series, which I already liked, in an even more positive direction.
Publication: January 10, 2023—Thomas Nelson
Memorable Lines:
His love for her had never wavered in the nine years he’d been gone. It had just gone underground and erupted the moment he saw her face again.
The discovery of a body was always hard for a search dog, and Samson had an especially tender heart.
Since she’d come here and seen how a real family lived, her rage over what she’d missed had grown.
Beneath His Silence–guilt and forgiveness
Beneath His Silence
by Hannah Linder
“Gothic-Style Regency Romance” encapsulates Hannah Linder’s new historical fiction novel Beneath His Silence. The beginning of this romance did not appeal to me at all with its mishmash of characters, settings, and mysterious motives. The first part of the book is confusing but gradually straightens itself out into a reasonable plot that continues to tease the reader with questions of who did what to whom and why. With the main male character, Lord Henry Sedgewick, consumed by guilt and admitting his crime, the reader must persevere along with the female protagonist, Ella Pemberton, who struggles to find the truth and control her emotions.
My favorite character is Lord Sedgewick’s son Peter, a loved and lovable lad. Ella assumes a new name and identity and becomes his governess to get into the household and avenge the deaths of her sister and her father.
The ending of the book is packed with action, danger, and heroics. Mysteries and love are revealed, but not without a cost. There are several romantic overtures to Lord Sedgewick who is a widower. The characters’ actions conform to the requirements of the times for the various classes and genders and stand out in stark contrast to expectations for the twenty-first century. The themes of the book revolve around a relationship with God, guilt, and forgiveness. Despite my initial misgivings, I did stay up late to finish what became a page turner.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Rating: 3/5
Category: Christian, Historical Fiction, Romance
Publication: November 1, 2022—Barbour Publishing
Memorable Lines:
There’d been no laughter for a long time…But maybe now things would be better. If Miss Woodhart could offer the boy love, if her presence could bring him laughter, if truth of his own mother could forever be kept from his ears…Maybe Peter could escape the punishment. The punishment Henry had brought on them both.
Was this how all inferiors felt? How demeaning to be treated as if one’s presence was not noticed. Had she ever treated anyone thus at Abbingston? Ah, yes. She most certainly had. Not out of meanness, of course, but rather from a lack of thought or consciousness. She resolved to do better in the future.
“I can believe that God created the world,” she whispered, “but how can I believe He is the author of such dreadful circumstances?” “I cannot convince you, Miss Woodhart, nor can I make you believe.” The evening shadows deepened around them. “I can only testify of Him. I am afraid the rest is something you must discover yourself.”
education pathways 