J's bookshelf: all en-US Fri, 09 May 2025 13:31:00 -0700 60 J's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg <![CDATA[Martha Stewart's Cookies: The Very Best Treats to Bake and to Share]]> 2176873
Cookies are the treat that never disappoints. Whether you’re baking for a party or a picnic, a formal dinner or a family supper� or if you simply want something on hand for snacking–there is a cookie that’s just right. In Martha Stewart’s Cookies, the editors of Martha Stewart Living give you 175 recipes and variations that showcase all kinds of flavors and fancies. Besides perennial pleasers like traditional chocolate chip and oatmeal raisin, there are other sweet surprises, including Rum Raisin Shortbread, Peppermint Meringue Sandwiches with Chocolate Filling, and Lime Meltaways.

Cleverly organized by texture, the recipes in Martha Stewart’s Cookies inspire you to think of a classic, nostalgic treat with more nuance. Chapters include all types of treasures: Light and Delicate (Cherry Tuiles, Hazelnut Cookies, Chocolate Meringues); Rich and Dense (Key Lime Bars, Chocolate Mint Sandwiches, Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies); Chunky and Nutty (Magic Blondies, Turtle Brownies, White Chocolate-Chunk Cookies); Soft and Chewy (Snickerdoodles, Fig Bars, Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies); Crisp and Crunchy (ANZAC Biscuits, Chocolate Pistachio Biscotti, Almond Spice Wafers); Crumbly and Sandy (Cappuccino-Chocolate Bites, Maple-Pecan Shortbread, Lemon-Apricot Sandwiches); and Cakey and Tender (Lemon Madeleines, Carrot Cake Cookies, Pumpkin Cookies with Brown-Butter Icing).

Each tantalizing recipe is accompanied by a lush, full-color photograph, so you never have to wonder how the cookie will look. Beautifully designed and a joy to read, Martha Stewart’s Cookies is rich with helpful tips and techniques for baking, decorating, and storing, as well as lovely gift-packaging ideas in standout Martha Stewart style.]]> 352 Martha Stewart 0307394549 J 4 4.10 2008 Martha Stewart's Cookies: The Very Best Treats to Bake and to Share
author: Martha Stewart
name: J
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2008
rating: 4
read at: 2025/05/09
date added: 2025/05/09
shelves:
review:

]]> Thirteen Weddings 18280725 Escape to the summer and feel the warmth of Paige Toon's storytelling

A year ago, Bronte left Sydney for a wedding in England, where she met newly single Alex . After one amazing night together they parted ways.

Now working on the picture desk for a glossy magazine in London, Bronte is about to meet a new colleague - who turns out to be all too familiar. Alex is now engaged, but the memory of the spark they felt when they met hasn't died. As Alex's wedding day looms, it is clear that he and Bronte have unfinished business...

THE ONE WE FELL IN LOVE WITH was selected for the Zoella Book Club and Paige Toon's novels have been published across the world.

Praise for Paige Toon's
'You'll love it, cry buckets and be uplifted'Ěý MARIAN KEYES
'I blubbed, I laughed and I fell in love ... utterly heart-wrenching' GIOVANNA FLETCHER
'Devoured this in one sitting' COSMOPOLITAN
'An absorbing and emotional read' HEAT]]> 448 Paige Toon 1471113426 J 0 currently-reading 3.95 2014 Thirteen Weddings
author: Paige Toon
name: J
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/05/09
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> The Tenant 221733722 There’s no place like home�

Blake Porter is riding high, until he's not. Fired abruptly from his job as a VP of marketing and unable to make the mortgage payments on the new brownstone that he shares with his fiancee, he's desperate to make ends meet.

Enter Whitney. Beautiful, charming, down-to-earth, and looking for a room to rent. She's exactly what Blake's looking for. Or is she?

Because something isn't quite right. The neighbors start treating Blake differently. The smell of decay permeates his home, no matter how hard he scrubs. Strange noises jar him awake in the middle of the night. And soon Blake fears someone knows his darkest secrets...

Danger lives right at home, and by the time Blake realizes it, it'll be far too late. The trap is already set.

#1 New York Times bestselling author Freida McFadden knocks at your door with a gripping story of revenge, privilege, and secrets turned sour�]]> 368 Freida McFadden 1464227314 J 4 3.94 2025 The Tenant
author: Freida McFadden
name: J
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/05/09
date added: 2025/05/09
shelves:
review:

]]> It's a Date (Again) 123451227 One lovestruck woman. Three handsome boyfriends—and strangers. A unique dating adventure awaits in a hilarious and heartwarming romantic comedy by New York Times bestselling author Jeneva Rose.

A guy told me he loved me tonight.

Peyton Sanders hopes it’s not too late to say it back. Done with dead-end relationships and swiping right, she knows who her heart belongs to. But as she races to tell him how she feels, she’s hit by a car and wakes up with amnesia. It gets worse. Peyton has no clue who the three men who show up at her hospital bed are except they each claim to be her boyfriend.

They’re certainly worth remembering. A rustic-looking contractor—heaven in flannel. A tailored consultant with a smile to die for. And a tattooed chef with a box of homemade chocolates, both delicious. Peyton’s friends Maya and Robbie have an idea: date each man again. Recognizing her soulmate should be as easy as one, two, three.

On a wildly romantic and dizzyingly funny journey, Peyton runs once again toward love. This time, hopefully, her heart can guide her where her mind cannot.]]> 248 Jeneva Rose 1662512406 J 3 3.73 2023 It's a Date (Again)
author: Jeneva Rose
name: J
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2025/05/06
date added: 2025/05/06
shelves:
review:

]]> The Frozen River 112975658 A gripping historical mystery inspired by the life and diary of Martha Ballard, a renowned 18th-century midwife who defied the legal system and wrote herself into American history.

Maine, 1789: When the Kennebec River freezes, entombing a man in the ice, Martha Ballard is summoned to examine the body and determine cause of death. As a midwife and healer, she is privy to much of what goes on behind closed doors in Hallowell. Her diary is a record of every birth and death, crime and debacle that unfolds in the close-knit community. Months earlier, Martha documented the details of an alleged rape committed by two of the town’s most respected gentlemen—one of whom has now been found dead in the ice. But when a local physician undermines her conclusion, declaring the death to be an accident, Martha is forced to investigate the shocking murder on her own.

Over the course of one winter, as the trial nears, and whispers and prejudices mount, Martha doggedly pursues the truth. Her diary soon lands at the center of the scandal, implicating those she loves, and compelling Martha to decide where her own loyalties lie.

Clever, layered, and subversive, Ariel Lawhon’s newest offering introduces an unsung heroine who refused to accept anything less than justice at a time when women were considered best seen and not heard. The Frozen River is a thrilling, tense, and tender story about a remarkable woman who left an unparalleled legacy yet remains nearly forgotten to this day.]]> 432 Ariel Lawhon 0385546874 J 0 currently-reading 4.37 2023 The Frozen River
author: Ariel Lawhon
name: J
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/05/04
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> Out of Nowhere 64005123
Also caught in the melee was corporate consultant Calder Hudson. Arrogant, self-centered, and high off his latest career win, he’s frustrated and confused when he wakes up in the hospital after undergoing emergency surgery on his arm. ĚýThe doctor tells him that he was lucky—that as far as gunshot wounds go, he pulled through remarkably well. ĚýOthers weren’t so lucky, which instills in Calder a furious determination to get justice . . . a goal shared by Elle.

Their chance encounter at the police station leads to a surprising and inexplicable gravitation to one another, but even as the attraction grows, Elle and Calder can’t help but wonder if the unimaginable tragedy that brought them together is too painful and too complicated to sustain—especially while the shooter remains at large.]]> 416 Sandra Brown 1538742942 J 3 3.91 2023 Out of Nowhere
author: Sandra Brown
name: J
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2025/05/04
date added: 2025/05/04
shelves:
review:

]]> What If I Never Get Over You 216522748 One Day meets a contemporary Bridgerton in this high-drama, escapist wonder of a love story, Paige Toon’s best yet.

Three days to fall in love. Six years to try to forget.

Ellie didn’t expect to fall in love while interrailing through Europe. But she also didn’t expect to meet a man like Ash. Three blistering days in Lisbon is all it takes to form an unforgettable connection—a bond deep enough for them to scrap their itineraries and plan to meet again in Spain. But Ellie arrives late, and Ash is nowhere to be found.

Six years later, Ellie has landed her dream job working as a gardener for a viscount and viscountess on their sprawling five-hundred-year-old estate in Wales. She finds peace amongst the towering topiary hedges and colorful gardens, but her idyll is shattered when Ash crashes back into her life. And when it becomes clear why he didn’t show in Madrid, her heart breaks anew—for what the truth means for her, and for his fate.

But they have never been able to resist each another, and when the sparks of their attraction fly, Ellie’s life will catch flame. She will have to make a choice.]]> 416 Paige Toon 0593718739 J 4 3.91 2025 What If I Never Get Over You
author: Paige Toon
name: J
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/30
date added: 2025/04/30
shelves:
review:

]]> Great Big Beautiful Life 218559595 Two writers compete for the chance to tell the larger-than-life story of a woman with more than a couple of plot twists up her sleeve in this dazzling and sweeping new novel from Emily Henry.

Alice Scott is an eternal optimist still dreaming of her big writing break. Hayden Anderson is a Pulitzer-prize winning human thundercloud. And they’re both on balmy Little Crescent Island for the same reason: To write the biography of a woman no one has seen in years--or at least to meet with the octogenarian who claims to be the Margaret Ives. Tragic heiress, former tabloid princess, and daughter of one of the most storied (and scandalous) families of the 20th Century.

When Margaret invites them both for a one-month trial period, after which she’ll choose the person who’ll tell her story, there are three things keeping Alice’s head in the game.

One: Alice genuinely likes people, which means people usually like Alice—and she has a whole month to win the legendary woman over.

Two: She’s ready for this job and the chance to impress her perennially unimpressed family with a Serious Publication

Three: Hayden Anderson, who should have no reason to be concerned about losing this book, is glowering at her in a shaken-to-the core way that suggests he sees her as competition.

But the problem is, Margaret is only giving each of them pieces of her story. Pieces they can’t swap to put together because of an ironclad NDA and an inconvenient yearning pulsing between them every time they’re in the same room.

And it’s becoming abundantly clear that their story—just like the tale Margaret’s spinning—could be a mystery, tragedy, or love ballad…depending on who’s telling it.]]> 432 Emily Henry J 4 4.12 2025 Great Big Beautiful Life
author: Emily Henry
name: J
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/30
date added: 2025/04/30
shelves:
review:

]]> The Overnight Guest 60164470 A woman receives an unexpected visitor during a deadly snowstormĚýin this chilling thriller fromĚýNew York TimesĚýbestselling author Heather Gudenkauf

She thought she was alone�

True crime writer Wylie Lark doesn’t mind being snowed in at the isolated farmhouse where she’s retreated to write her new book. A cozy fire, complete silence. It would be perfect, if not for the fact that decades earlier, at this very house, two people were murdered in cold blood and a girl disappeared without a trace.

As the storm worsens, Wylie finds herself trapped inside the house, haunted by the secrets contained within its walls—haunted by secrets of her own. Then she discovers a small child in the snow just outside. After bringing the child inside for warmth and safety, she begins to search for answers. But soon it becomes clear that the farmhouse isn’t as isolated as she thought, and someone is willing to do anything to find them.]]> 316 Heather Gudenkauf 0778311937 J 4 4.01 2022 The Overnight Guest
author: Heather Gudenkauf
name: J
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/26
date added: 2025/04/26
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Perfect Divorce (Perfect, #2)]]> 219240806 From the author of the multimillion-copy bestselling thriller The Perfect Marriage

Till death do us part. Yours. Not Mine.

It’s been eleven years since high-powered attorney Sarah Morgan defended her husband, Adam, against the charge of murdering his mistress. Sarah has long since moved on, starting a family with her new husband, Bob Miller, and changing careers. Her life is back to being exactly how she always wanted � or is it?

After discovering Bob engaged in a one-night stand, Sarah wastes no time filing for divorce. However, amid their ugly separation, new DNA evidence is uncovered in the case against Adam, forcing the police to reopen the investigation and putting Sarah right back in the spotlight. Everyone wants to know what really happened, most of all former deputy Marcus Hudson, who is hell-bent on finding the truth.

But when the woman Bob slept with is reported missing, he and Sarah start to fight dirty, and a high-stakes game of cat and mouse ensues. Filled with page-turning suspense and Jeneva Rose’s signature twists and turns, this book will have readers wondering: Can Bob and Sarah achieve the perfect divorce? Or will it be “’til death do us part�?]]> 288 Jeneva Rose J 4 4.11 2025 The Perfect Divorce (Perfect, #2)
author: Jeneva Rose
name: J
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/18
date added: 2025/04/18
shelves:
review:

]]> The Perfect Marriage 223688351 Would you defend your husband if he was accused of killing his mistress?

Sarah Morgan is a successful and powerful defense attorney in Washington D.C. At 33 years old, she is a named partner at her firm and life is going exactly how she planned.

The same cannot be said for her husband, Adam. He is a struggling writer who has had little success in his career. He begins to tire of his and Sarah’s relationship as she is constantly working.

Out in the secluded woods, at Adam and Sarah’s second home, Adam engages in a passionate affair with Kelly Summers.

Then, one morning everything changes. Adam is arrested for Kelly’s murder. She had been found stabbed to death in Adam and Sarah’s second home.

Sarah soon finds herself playing the defender for her own husband, a man accused of murdering his mistress.

But is Adam guilty or is he innocent?]]> 352 Jeneva Rose J 4 4.01 2020 The Perfect Marriage
author: Jeneva Rose
name: J
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/16
date added: 2025/04/16
shelves:
review:

]]> The Winemaker's Wife 42201870 The author of the engrossing international bestseller The Room on Rue Amélie returns with a moving story set amid the champagne vineyards of northern France during the darkest days of World War II, perfect for fans of Kristin Hannah’s The Nightingale.

Champagne, 1940: Inès has just married Michel, the owner of storied champagne house Maison Chauveau, when the Germans invade. As the danger mounts, Michel turns his back on his marriage to begin hiding munitions for the ¸éĂ©˛őľ±˛őłŮ˛ą˛Ôł¦±đ. Inès fears they’ll be exposed, but for CĂ©line, half-Jewish wife of Chauveau’s chef de cave, the risk is even greater—rumors abound of Jews being shipped east to an unspeakable fate.

When Céline recklessly follows her heart in one desperate bid for happiness, and Inès makes a dangerous mistake with a Nazi collaborator, they risk the lives of those they love—and the champagne house that ties them together.

New York, 2019: Liv Kent has just lost everything when her eccentric French grandmother shows up unannounced, insisting on a trip to France. But the older woman has an ulterior motive—and a tragic, decades-old story to share. When past and present finally collide, Liv finds herself on a road to salvation that leads right to the caves of the Maison Chauveau.]]> 385 Kristin Harmel 1982112298 J 0 to-read 4.16 2019 The Winemaker's Wife
author: Kristin Harmel
name: J
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/15
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Strangers in Time 217182446 From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Calamity of Souls comes David Baldacci’s newest novel, set in London in 1944, about a bereaved book shop owner and two teenagers scarred by the second world war, and the healing and hope they find in one another.

Fourteen-year-old Charlie Matters is up to no good, but for a very good reason. Without parents, peerage, or merit, ducking school but barred from actual work, he steals what he needs, living day-to-day until he’s old enough to enlist to fight the Germans. After barely surviving the Blitz, Charlie knows there’s no telling when a falling bomb might end his life.

Fifteen-year-old Molly Wakefield has just returned to a nearly unrecognizable London. One of millions of people to have been evacuated to the countryside via “Operation Pied Piper,� Molly has been away from her parents—from her home—for nearly five years. Her return, however, is not the homecoming she’d hoped for as she’s confronted by a devastating reality: both her parents are gone.

Without guardians and stability, Charlie and Molly find an unexpected ally and protector in Ignatius Oliver, and solace at his book shop, The Book Keep, where A book a day keeps the bombs away. Mourning the recent loss of his wife, Ignatius forms a kinship with both children, and in each other—over the course of the greatest armed conflict the world had ever seen—they rediscover the spirit of family each has lost.

But Charlie’s escapades in the city have not gone unnoticed, and someone’s been following Molly since she returned to London. And Ignatius is still reeling from a secret Imogen long kept from him while she was alive—something so shocking it resulted in her death, and his life being turned upside down.

As bombs continue to bear down on the city, Charlie, Molly, and Ignatius learn that while the perils of war rage on, their coming together and trusting one another may be the only way for them to survive.]]> 435 David Baldacci 1538742055 J 3 4.07 2025 Strangers in Time
author: David Baldacci
name: J
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2025
rating: 3
read at: 2025/04/15
date added: 2025/04/15
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Say You'll Remember Me (Say You'll Remember Me, #1)]]> 216437557 disastrously close. A gorgeous veterinarian giving Greek god vibes—all while cuddling a tiny kitten? Immediately yes. That is until Xavier opens his mouth and proves that even sculpted gods can say the absolute wrong thing. Like, really wrong. Of course, there’s nothing Samantha loves more than proving an asshole wrong�

. . . unless, of course, he can admit he made a mistake. But after one incredible and seemingly endless date—possibly the best in living history—Samantha is forced to admit the truth, that her family is in crisis and any kind of relationship would be impossible. Samantha begs Xavier to forget her. To remember their night together as a perfect moment, as crushing as that may be.

Only no amount of distance or time is nearly enough to forget that something between them. And the only thing better than one single perfect memory is to make a life—and even a love—worth remembering.]]> 416 Abby Jimenez 0349442827 J 4 4.09 2025 Say You'll Remember Me (Say You'll Remember Me, #1)
author: Abby Jimenez
name: J
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/15
date added: 2025/04/15
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The World's Fair Quilt (Elm Creek Quilts #23)]]> 216269097 A timely celebration of quilting, family, community, and history in this latest novel in the perennially popular Elm Creek Quilts series from New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Chiaverini.

As fall paints the Pennsylvania countryside in flaming colors, Sylvia Bergstrom Compson is contemplating the future of her beloved Elm Creek Quilts. The Elm Creek Quilt Camp remains the most popular quilter’s retreat in the country, but unexpected financial difficulties have beset them and the Bergstrom family’s stately nineteenth-century manor. Now in her eighth decade, Sylvia is determined to maintain her family’s legacy, but she needs new resources—financial and emotional.

Summer Sullivan—a founding Elm Creek Quilter—arrives to discuss an antique quilt that she wants to display at the Waterford Historical Society’s quilt exhibit. When Sylvia and her sister Claudia were teenagers, they had entered a quilt in the Sears National Quilt Contest for the 1933 Century of Progress Exposition, also known as the Chicago World’s Fair. The Bergstrom sisters� quilt would be perfect for the Historical Society’s exhibit, Summer explains.

Sylvia is reluctant to lend out the quilt, which has been stored in the attic for decades, nearly forgotten. In keeping with the contest’s “Century of Progress� theme, the girls illustrated progress of values—scenes of the Emancipation Proclamation, woman’s suffrage, and labor unions. But although it won ribbons, the quilt also drove a wedge between the sisters.

As Sylvia reluctantly retraces her quilt’s story for Summer, she makes an unexpected discovery—one that restores some of her faith in this unique work of art, and helps shine some light on a way forward for the Elm Creek Quilts community.]]> 304 Jennifer Chiaverini 0063381753 J 3 3.97 The World's Fair Quilt (Elm Creek Quilts #23)
author: Jennifer Chiaverini
name: J
average rating: 3.97
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2025/04/14
date added: 2025/04/14
shelves:
review:

]]> Twenty Years Later 57645345
Avery Mason, host of American Events, knows the subjects that grab a TV audience’s attention. Her latest story—a murder mystery laced with kinky sex, tragedy, and betrayal—is guaranteed to be ratings gold. New DNA technology has allowed the New York medical examiner’s office to make its first successful identification of a 9/11 victim in years. The twist: the victim, Victoria Ford, had been accused of the gruesome murder of her married lover. In a chilling last phone call to her sister, Victoria begged her to prove her innocence.

Emma Kind has waited twenty years to put her sister to rest, but closure won’t be complete until she can clear Victoria’s name. Alone she’s had no luck, but she’s convinced that Avery’s connections and fame will help. Avery, hoping to negotiate a more lucrative network contract, goes into investigative overdrive. Victoria had been having an affair with a successful novelist, found hanging from the balcony of his Catskills mansion. The rope, the bedroom, and the entire crime scene was covered in Victoria’s DNA.

But the twisted puzzle of Victoria’s private life is just the beginning. And what Avery doesn't realize is that there are other players in the game who are interested in Avery’s own secret past—one she has kept hidden from both the network executives and her television audience. A secret she thought was dead and buried . . .

Accused of a brutal murder, Victoria Ford made a final chilling call from the North Tower on the morning of 9/11. Twenty years ago, no one listened. Today, you will.]]> 357 Charlie Donlea 1496727169 J 0 to-read 4.06 2021 Twenty Years Later
author: Charlie Donlea
name: J
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Shades of the Falls (A Sweetwater Falls Mystery Book 13)]]> 223247822 Sweetwater Falls is a town full of beauty and unexpected surprises.
When a high school student is found dead in her car,
Sheriff Spenser Song is called to investigate.

It seems the life of a popular teen girl is full of hidden mysteries.
With an empty pill bottle discovered in the car, it was initially ruled a suicide.
But something strange is afoot.
Her seemingly perfect life clashes with the possibility of her taking her own life.

While searching through the teen's belongings, Spenser stumbles upon her diary.
The young girl's diary contained hints about a secret boyfriend.

Hoping to fill in the blanks from the diary, Spenser attempts to track down the girl's phone.
Unable to find it, she sends her deputy to shadow potential suspects connected to the teen.

Envy, exploitation, betrayal, and hearts that are deceptive above all things.
It seems the shades of the Falls are full of treacheries in disguise.

With every new clue unraveling in a dramatic twist, the very fabric of this once idyllic town might be changed forever. ]]> 247 Elle Gray J 4 4.64 Shades of the Falls (A Sweetwater Falls Mystery Book 13)
author: Elle Gray
name: J
average rating: 4.64
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/02
date added: 2025/04/02
shelves:
review:

]]> The Hotel Nantucket 59227941 Ěý
Filled with the emotional tension and multiple points of view that characterize Elin's books (The Blue Bistro, Golden Girl) as well as an added touch of historical reality, Hotel Nantucket offers something for everyone in this summer drama for the ages.Ěý]]> 416 Elin Hilderbrand 0316258679 J 4 4.01 2022 The Hotel Nantucket
author: Elin Hilderbrand
name: J
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/31
date added: 2025/03/31
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Double Cross (Blake Wilder FBI Mystery Thriller Book 27)]]> 222055315 Undercover work is not for the faint of heart�

FBI agent Blake Wilder is orchestrating a sting operation to dismantle the Arias Cartel, a notorious crime syndicate.
Shortly after their undercover operation, an informant is found dead.

Blake and the team dig into the victim’s life, finding a long list of suspects.
Then, a mysterious call threatens her life and her team.
Blake is rattled upon learning of the intel and sets out to track down the caller.
With their undercover op in jeopardy, they return to the safe house to interrogate a list of suspects and run ballistics.
Soon, chaos erupts, and Blake and her team are met with a barrage of gunfire.
An unexpected ambush!

Who could have tipped them off?
With time running against them, the only option they have is kill or be killed.

Crime syndicates, traffickers, cartels, murder, and mayhem.
With everything caving in on the team, the only way out is to find the light. ]]> 276 Elle Gray J 4 4.62 Double Cross (Blake Wilder FBI Mystery Thriller Book 27)
author: Elle Gray
name: J
average rating: 4.62
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/29
date added: 2025/03/29
shelves:
review:

]]> Ward D 123193218 spending the night on a locked psychiatric ward.

Amy has been dreading her evening working on Ward D, the hospital’s inpatient mental health unit. There are very specific reasons why she never wanted to do this required overnight rotation. Reasons nobody can ever find out.

And as the hours tick by, Amy grows increasingly convinced something terrible is happening within these tightly secured walls. When patients and staff start to vanish without a trace, it becomes clear that everyone on the unit is in grave danger.

Amy’s worst nightmare was spending the night on Ward D.

And now she might never escape.
]]> 348 Freida McFadden J 4 3.98 2023 Ward D
author: Freida McFadden
name: J
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/27
date added: 2025/03/27
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Mushrooming Without Fear: The Beginner's Guide to Collecting Safe and Delicious Mushrooms]]> 508396
Novices eager to collect tasty wild mushrooms will find this unique guide invaluable. Unlike others, it focuses only on those types that are both safe to eat and delicious. Most importantly, it presents the eight rules of mushroom gathering in a straightforward fashion, including, "Never, never take a mushroom with gills" and "If a mushroom smells rotten, it is rotten."

Among the mushrooms covered are the cep; the red-cracked, larch, bay, and birch boletes; hen of the woods, chanterelle, trumpet chanterelle, hedgehog fungus, common puffball, horn of plenty, and cauliflower mushroom.

Each is identified with several photographs and identification checklist, and there's also information on mushroom season, handling, storage, and cooking, complete with recipes.]]> 128 Alexander Schwab 1602391602 J 4 4.12 2006 Mushrooming Without Fear: The Beginner's Guide to Collecting Safe and Delicious Mushrooms
author: Alexander Schwab
name: J
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2006
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/25
date added: 2025/03/25
shelves:
review:

]]> Under Pressure 176012689 USA Today Bestselling Author Ellie Thornton welcomes you to the sunshine state! Looking for fun in the sun? Come to Diamond Cove, a beach community full of hilarious situations, meddling grandparents, and swoony romance. Lose your heart to this sweet romantic comedy about a NAVY SEAL, a hurricane, a treasure, pirates, and the SECOND CHANCE he never saw coming.

All Bluebell St. James wants from her move to Diamond Cove is to settle down, find some security, and feel safe, but when her long-lost love walks into her bohemian boutique with four adorable little old ladies, all those dreams go up in flames in a whirlwind of emotions long buried. Sean broke her heart nine years ago, and she's not about to let him do it again.

But when she learns he's suffering from a recent loss, her resolve weakens. She can protect her heart and be there for him. Right?

Sean Clayton's life is simple in its complexity, and he likes it that way. All he has to do is pretend he's retired from the Navy while protecting a prince with a huge bounty on his head, find a sunken ship belonging to said prince's country with treasure worth millions on it before his rivals do, and keep his grandpa and his grandpa's crew out of mischief--which often proves more difficult than expected. Sean lives to serve, but when Bluebell, Blue, shows up in his life after nearly a decade, his priorities start to shift.

Seeing her again makes him want to forget all his responsibilities and for once in his life do something for himself.

But with someone always needing something from him, a hurricane about to hit, pirates on his tail, and unexpected horrors from Blue's past all coming at him at once, putting himself first seems like an impossible hurdle.

Don Clayton has always had a soft spot for his grandson, Sean, one of the most selfless men he's had the privilege to know. So when Bluebell shows up again, Don knows what he has to do--no matter what it takes.

With emotions running high, catastrophic weather, bad guys lurking, and two stubborn lovebirds, the Secret seven might not know what hit 'em!]]> 322 Ellie Thornton J 0 nf 4.49 Under Pressure
author: Ellie Thornton
name: J
average rating: 4.49
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/23
shelves: nf
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Beyond Anxiety: Curiosity, Creativity, and Finding Your Life's Purpose]]> 211025416 From bestselling author Martha Beck, a new path to overcoming anxiety by awakening the creativity within.

We live in an epidemic of anxiety. Most of us assume that the key to overcoming it is to think our way out. And for a while it works. But there is always something that sends us back into the anxious spiral we’ve been trying to climb out of.

In Beyond Anxiety, Dr. Martha Beck explains why anxiety is skyrocketing around you, and likely within you. She also tells you how to not only reduce your anxiety but use it to propel you into a life filled with peace, meaning, and joy.

Using a combination of the latest neuroscience as well as her background in sociology and coaching, Beck explains how our brains tend to get stuck in an “anxiety spiral,� a feedback system that can increase anxiety indefinitely. To climb out, we must engage different parts of our nervous system—the parts involved in creativity. Beck provides instructions for engaging the “creativity spiral,� in a process that not only shuts down anxiety but leads to innovative problem solving, a sense of meaning and purpose, and joyful, intimate connection with others—and with the world.

The opposite of anxiety, it turns out, is a wonderful new way of life—one that can calm and inspire us as individuals and help us become a source of healing for everything around us.]]> 336 Martha N. Beck 0593656385 J 3 3.98 2025 Beyond Anxiety: Curiosity, Creativity, and Finding Your Life's Purpose
author: Martha N. Beck
name: J
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2025
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/22
date added: 2025/03/22
shelves:
review:
I don't have anxiety so reading this book did give me insights on how it feels and ways to calm oneself.
]]> Far From Home 214399102 #1 New York Times bestselling author Danielle Steel delivers an exciting and moving historical novel about a courageous wife and mother hiding in occupied France.

In July 1944, Arielle von Auspeck arrives at the glamorous Hotel Ritz in occupied Paris. Half French, half German, she is happy to be back in France, where her husband, Gregor, a retired colonel, will join her soon from Germany. Arielle and Gregor have thus far been able to hide their private opposition to Hitler.

Then her world falls apart. She receives word that Gregor was part of Operation Valkyrie, a failed attempt to assassinate Hitler in Poland, and has been shot as a traitor. Now, holding a French passport handed to her by another high-level collaborator, she is whisked away from Paris under cover of darkness for her own safety.

As the Allies storm the beaches, she goes into hiding in a small village in Normandy under an assumed name, unable to contact her adult children. There, she forms a friendship with Sebastien Renaud, whose wife and daughter were deported in 1941, and who eventually reveals himself as a forger in the Resistance. As war rages on, Arielle and Sebastien work for the Resistance and hold out for the time when they can search for their loved ones.

In Far From Home, Danielle Steel captures the devastation of World War II with a sweeping story of family love that transcends impossible odds.]]> 238 Danielle Steel 0593498682 J 4 I see the author Danielle Steel and think it's going to be a nice romance maybe....

It's a good story set in both Germany and France WWII. Not what I was looking for but glad to have read.
We need to never forget.
]]> 4.38 Far From Home
author: Danielle Steel
name: J
average rating: 4.38
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/20
date added: 2025/03/20
shelves:
review:
I was looking for an easy read from in my e-reader. You know nothing too harsh to get over my last book read.
I see the author Danielle Steel and think it's going to be a nice romance maybe....

It's a good story set in both Germany and France WWII. Not what I was looking for but glad to have read.
We need to never forget.

]]> Beautiful Ugly 211004123 The million-copy bestselling Queen of Twists Alice Feeney returns with a gripping and deliciously dark thriller about marriage. . .
. . . and revenge.

Author Grady Green is having the worst best day of his life.

Grady calls his wife to share some exciting news as she is driving home. He hears Abby slam on the brakes, get out of the car, then nothing. When he eventually finds her car by the cliff edge the headlights are on, the driver door is open, her phone is still there. . . but his wife has disappeared.

A year later, Grady is still overcome with grief and desperate to know what happened to Abby. He can’t sleep, and he can’t write, so he travels to a tiny Scottish island to try to get his life back on track. Then he sees the impossible � a woman who looks exactly like his missing wife.

Wives think their husbands will change but they don’t.
Husbands think their wives won’t change but they do.]]> 306 Alice Feeney 125033778X J 4 Oh my!]]> 3.63 2025 Beautiful Ugly
author: Alice Feeney
name: J
average rating: 3.63
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/19
date added: 2025/03/19
shelves:
review:
I'm going to need to read something light for my next book.
Oh my!
]]> <![CDATA[The Jury Master (David Sloane, #1)]]> 8146267 449 Robert Dugoni J 5 4.13 2006 The Jury Master (David Sloane, #1)
author: Robert Dugoni
name: J
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2006
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2025/03/18
shelves:
review:

]]> The Great Alone 34912895 Unpredictable. Unforgiving. Untamed.
For a family in crisis, the ultimate test of survival.

Ernt Allbright, a former POW, comes home from the Vietnam war a changed and volatile man. When he loses yet another job, he makes an impulsive decision: he will move his family north, to Alaska, where they will live off the grid in America’s last true frontier.

Thirteen-year-old Leni, a girl coming of age in a tumultuous time, caught in the riptide of her parents� passionate, stormy relationship, dares to hope that a new land will lead to a better future for her family. She is desperate for a place to belong. Her mother, Cora, will do anything and go anywhere for the man she loves, even if it means following him into the unknown.

At first, Alaska seems to be the answer to their prayers. In a wild, remote corner of the state, they find a fiercely independent community of strong men and even stronger women. The long, sunlit days and the generosity of the locals make up for the Allbrights� lack of preparation and dwindling resources.

But as winter approaches and darkness descends on Alaska, Ernt’s fragile mental state deteriorates and the family begins to fracture. Soon the perils outside pale in comparison to threats from within. In their small cabin, covered in snow, blanketed in eighteen hours of night, Leni and her mother learn the terrible truth: they are on their own. In the wild, there is no one to save them but themselves.

In this unforgettable portrait of human frailty and resilience, Kristin Hannah reveals the indomitable character of the modern American pioneer and the spirit of a vanishing Alaska―a place of incomparable beauty and danger. The Great Alone is a daring, beautiful, stay-up-all-night story about love and loss, the fight for survival, and the wildness that lives in both man and nature.]]> 435 Kristin Hannah J 0 4.44 2018 The Great Alone
author: Kristin Hannah
name: J
average rating: 4.44
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/17
shelves:
review:

]]> Distant Shores 836984 --back cover]]> 342 Kristin Hannah 0345450728 J 3 3.59 2002 Distant Shores
author: Kristin Hannah
name: J
average rating: 3.59
book published: 2002
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2025/03/17
shelves:
review:

]]> Angel Falls 276342 Kristin Hannah's talent for writing poignant tales of duty, passion, identity and family bonds made last year's On Mystic Lake a bestseller, and will certainly rake in the fans this time. (Imagine Danielle Steel without the Gucci bags or aging corporate CEOs.) While the majority of the novel has our heroine knocked out on a hospital gurney, Hannah makes valiant efforts to bring Mike's character to life, and Liam's enduring love should keep you rooting for him and reaching for the hanky. --Nancy R.E. O'Brien

]]> 400 Kristin Hannah J 3 3.79 2000 Angel Falls
author: Kristin Hannah
name: J
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2000
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2025/03/17
shelves:
review:

]]> Winter Garden 6668467 394 Kristin Hannah 0312364121 J 0 4.21 2010 Winter Garden
author: Kristin Hannah
name: J
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2010
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/17
shelves:
review:

]]> Home Front 12022079
All marriages have a breaking point. All families have wounds. All wars have a cost. . . .

Like many couples, Michael and Jolene Zarkades have to face the pressures of everyday life�children, careers, bills, chores�even as their twelve-year marriage is falling apart. Then a deployment sends Jolene deep into harm's way and leaves defense attorney Michael at home, unaccustomed to being a single parent to their two girls. As a mother, it agonizes Jolene to leave her family, but as a solider, she has always understood the true meaning of duty. In her letters home, she paints a rose-colored version of her life on the front lines, shielding her family from the truth. But war will change Jolene in ways that none of them could have foreseen. When tragedy strikes, Michael must face his darkest fear and fight a battle of his own�for everything that matters to his family.

At once a profoundly honest look at modern marriage and a dramatic exploration of the toll war takes on an ordinary American family, Home Front is a story of love, loss, heroism, honor, and ultimately, hope.]]> 390 Kristin Hannah 0312577206 J 0 4.15 2012 Home Front
author: Kristin Hannah
name: J
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/17
shelves:
review:

]]> Always You and Me 217500852 From the bestselling author of Fractured comes a moving, heart-mending and uplifting novel of love, hope and second chances.

°Őłó±đ˛Ôâ€�

On the eve of her wedding to Adam, Lily’s best friend Josh unexpectedly walked out of her life, and she hasn’t seen him since.

Lily and Adam are blissfully happy, until he falls ill. As she cares for him in his final hours, Adam asks her to make a mysterious promise: to find Josh—and forgive them both.

This winter�

Tracking Josh down isn’t easy, but fate seems determined to bring them together. Cut off in his remote Scottish cabin by a fierce snowstorm, Lily and Josh explore their tangled feelings for each other, stretching back over the decades. But when she discovers the shocking reason behind Adam’s unexpected last wish, she’ll need to trust her heart completely�

Can Lily and Josh choose love—and find forgiveness and lasting happiness together?

Always You and Me asks: Do you choose love? Or does love choose you?]]> 394 Dani Atkins 1662527497 J 5 I cried in the beginning and then end but it's really a beautiful story of love.]]> 4.35 2025 Always You and Me
author: Dani Atkins
name: J
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2025
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/13
date added: 2025/03/13
shelves:
review:
Imagine having two loves in your life.
I cried in the beginning and then end but it's really a beautiful story of love.
]]> Hold Strong 209035148 From Robert Dugoni, Jeff Langholz, and Chris Crabtree comes an epic and inspiring novel—based on true events—about love, heroism, and resilience during the darkest chapters of World War II.

Sam Carlson is a projectionist in small-town Minnesota, where fantasies unspool in glorious black and white—for him and for his sweetheart, college-bound math whiz Sarah Haber. When the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor, Sam is sent to the Philippines and captured as a POW. Brutalized but unbroken by the Bataan Death March and POW camps, Sam is one of 1,800 starved and weakened prisoners herded into the cargo hold of a barbaric hell ship called the Arisan Maru, his survival doubtful.

Determined to use her math skills on the home front, Sarah is recruited to Washington, DC, into the covert field of code breaking. When Sarah intercepts a message about a Japanese convoy, the US Navy’s mission is sink the Arisan Maru and send it to the bottom of the South China Sea. Now, the lives of the two young lovers are about to inadvertently collide in one of the most shocking acts of World War II.

Anchored in an extraordinary true story and breathlessly recreated, Hold Strong is a one-of-a-kind novel that explores faith, courage, survival, and coming home against insurmountable odds.]]> 503 Robert Dugoni 1662516320 J 5
If you read "Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand, then you know how brutal the POW's were treated by the Japanese during WWII.
Hold Strong is another powerful book about events that are rarely written about. We are not in Europe!

Thank you for the bit of humor in this story 'cause I was ready to give up a couple of times. These writers give you enough to know but stop just short of tossing the book and taking a walk to clear ones head.]]> 4.67 2025 Hold Strong
author: Robert Dugoni
name: J
average rating: 4.67
book published: 2025
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/11
date added: 2025/03/11
shelves:
review:
I don't know what to say. It's going to take me awhile to process this book.

If you read "Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand, then you know how brutal the POW's were treated by the Japanese during WWII.
Hold Strong is another powerful book about events that are rarely written about. We are not in Europe!

Thank you for the bit of humor in this story 'cause I was ready to give up a couple of times. These writers give you enough to know but stop just short of tossing the book and taking a walk to clear ones head.
]]> Joy of Cooking 43822015 In the nearly ninety years since Irma S. Rombauer self-published the first three thousand copies of Joy of Cooking in 1931, it has become the kitchen bible, with more than 20 million copies in print. This new edition of Joy has been thoroughly revised and expanded by Irma’s great-grandson John Becker and his wife, Megan Scott.

John and Megan developed more than six hundred new recipes for this edition, tested and tweaked thousands of classic recipes, and updated every section of every chapter to reflect the latest ingredients and techniques available to today’s home cooks. Their strategy for revising this edition was the same one Irma and Marion employed: Vet, research, and improve Joy’s coverage of legacy recipes while introducing new dishes, modern cooking techniques, and comprehensive information on ingredients now available at farmers� markets and grocery stores.

You will find tried-and-true favorites like Banana Bread Cockaigne, Chocolate Chip Cookies, and Southern Corn Bread—all retested and faithfully improved—as well as new favorites like Chana Masala, Beef Rendang, Megan’s Seeded Olive Oil Granola, and Smoked Pork Shoulder. In addition to a thoroughly modernized vegetable chapter, there are many more vegan and vegetarian recipes, including Caramelized Tamarind Tempeh, Crispy Pan-Fried Tofu, Spicy Chickpea Soup, and Roasted Mushroom Burgers. Joy’s baking chapters now include gram weights for accuracy, along with a refreshed lineup of baked goods like Cannelés de Bordeaux, Rustic No-Knead Sourdough, Ciabatta, Chocolate-Walnut Babka, and Chicago-Style Deep-Dish Pizza, as well as gluten-free recipes for pizza dough and yeast breads.

A new chapter on streamlined cooking explains how to economize time, money, and ingredients and avoid waste. You will learn how to use a diverse array of ingredients, from amaranth to za’atar. New techniques include low-temperature and sous vide cooking, fermentation, and cooking with both traditional and electric pressure cookers. Barbecuing, smoking, and other outdoor cooking methods are covered in even greater detail.

This new edition of Joy is the perfect combination of classic recipes, new dishes, and indispensable reference information for today’s home cooks. Whether it is the only cookbook on your shelf or one of many, Joy is and has been the essential and trusted guide for home cooks for almost a century. This new edition continues that legacy.]]> 1200 Irma S. Rombauer 1501169718 J 5 4.14 1931 Joy of Cooking
author: Irma S. Rombauer
name: J
average rating: 4.14
book published: 1931
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2025/03/05
shelves:
review:

]]> James 173754979 A brilliant reimagining of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn—both harrowing and satirical—told from the enslaved Jim's point of view

When Jim overhears that he is about to be sold to a man in New Orleans, separated from his wife and daughter forever, he runs away until he can formulate a plan. Meanwhile, Huck has faked his own death to escape his violent father. As all readers of American literature know, thus begins the dangerous and transcendent journey by raft down the Mississippi River toward the elusive and unreliable promise of the Free States and beyond.

Brimming with nuanced humor and lacerating observations that have made Everett a literary icon, this brilliant and tender novel radically illuminates Jim's agency, intelligence, and compassion as never before. James is destined to be a major publishing event and a cornerstone of twenty-first-century American literature.

Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780385550369.]]> 303 Percival Everett J 4 James is a really good book! I got a chuckle about the slave talk. Lots of emotions in this story.
]]> 4.46 2024 James
author: Percival Everett
name: J
average rating: 4.46
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/05
date added: 2025/03/05
shelves:
review:
I forgot how much I loved to read adventure book. Not just Mark Twain but Robert Lewis Stevenson and Jack London books.
James is a really good book! I got a chuckle about the slave talk. Lots of emotions in this story.

]]> We All Live Here 213243915 The #1 New York Times bestselling author, whose books so many love, brings us a fresh, contemporary story of a woman and her unruly blended family

Lila Kennedy has a lot on her plate. A broken marriage, two wayward daughters, a house that is falling apart, and an elderly stepfather who seems to have quietly moved in. Her career is in freefall and her love life is... complicated. So when her real dad—a man she has barely seen since he ran off to Hollywood thirty-five years ago—suddenly appears on her doorstep, it feels like the final straw. But it turns out even the family you thought you could never forgive might have something to teach about love, and what it actually means to be family.]]> 450 Jojo Moyes 1984879324 J 3 3.86 2025 We All Live Here
author: Jojo Moyes
name: J
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2025
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/25
date added: 2025/02/25
shelves:
review:

]]> Three Days in June 213243949 A new Anne Tyler novel destined to be an instant classic: a socially awkward mother of the bride navigates the days before and after her daughter's wedding.

Gail Baines is having a bad day. To start, she loses her job—or quits, depending on whom you ask. Tomorrow her daughter, Debbie, is getting married, and she hasn’t even been invited to the spa day organized by the mother of the groom. Then, Gail’s ex-husband, Max, arrives unannounced on her doorstep, carrying a cat, without a place to stay, and without even a suit.

But the true crisis lands when Debbie shares with her parents a secret she has just learned about her husband to be. It will not only throw the wedding into question but also stir up Gail and Max’s past.

Told with deep sensitivity and a tart sense of humor, full of the joys and heartbreaks of love and marriage and family life,ĚýThree Days in JuneĚýis a triumph, and gives us the perennially bestselling, Pulitzer Prize–winning writer at the height of her powers

]]> 165 Anne Tyler 0593803485 J 3 3.60 2025 Three Days in June
author: Anne Tyler
name: J
average rating: 3.60
book published: 2025
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/18
date added: 2025/02/18
shelves:
review:

]]> Out of the Woods 209220944
But Sarah has begun to wonder... Who is she without her other half?

When she decides to take on a project of her own, a fundraising gala in memoriam of her late mother, Sarah wants nothing more than to prove to herself—and to everyone else—that she doesn’t need Caleb’s help to succeed. She’s still her mother’s daughter, after all. Independent and capable.

That is until the event fails and Caleb uninvitedly steps in to save the day.

The rift that follows unearths a decade of grievances between them and doubts begin to grow. Are they truly the same people they were when they got married at nineteen? Are they supposed to be?

In a desperate attempt to fix what they fear is near breaking, Sarah and Caleb make the spontaneous decision to join a grueling hiking trip intended to guide couples through rough patches.

What follows is a life-affirming comedy of errors as two nature-averse people fight their way out of the woods in order to find their way back to their roots.]]> 336 Hannah Bonam-Young 0593871863 J 0 nf 3.97 2025 Out of the Woods
author: Hannah Bonam-Young
name: J
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/14
shelves: nf
review:

]]> Out on a Limb 124950295 397 Hannah Bonam-Young 1778027784 J 0 nf 4.25 2023 Out on a Limb
author: Hannah Bonam-Young
name: J
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/14
shelves: nf
review:

]]> The Bookshop Ladies 205187113
She arrives in Ballycove to find that Robyn runs a rather chaotic and unprofitable bookshop. She is shy, suffering from unrequited love for dashing Kian, and badly in need of advice on how to make the bookshop successful.

As Joy becomes entangled in the daily dramas of Ballycove, uncovering the secrets behind her husband's painting grows increasingly challenging. When she finally musters the courage to confront the truth, her revelation sends shockwaves through the tight-knit community she's grown to love.]]> 304 Faith Hogan 1803282568 J 5 4.29 2024 The Bookshop Ladies
author: Faith Hogan
name: J
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/13
date added: 2025/02/13
shelves:
review:

]]> The Fall Risk 223199392 Two good neighbors make the best of a bad Valentine’s Day in a funny and improbably romantic short story by the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Just for the Summer.

It’s Valentine’s Day weekend, and Charlotte and Seth are not looking for romance. Armed with emotional-support bear spray, Charlotte is in self-imposed isolation and on guard from men. Having a stalker can do that to a person’s nerves. Just across the hall and giving off woodsy vibes is Seth, a recently divorced arborist. As in today recently. Heights, he’s fine with. Trust? Not so much. But when disaster traps them one flight up and no way down, an outrageously precarious predicament forces a tree-loving guy and a rattled girl next door to embrace their captivity. Soon their defenses are breaking away. Considering how close they both are to the edge, Charlotte and Seth could be in danger of falling—in love.]]> 82 Abby Jimenez 1662529082 J 4 4.11 2025 The Fall Risk
author: Abby Jimenez
name: J
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/10
date added: 2025/02/10
shelves:
review:

]]> Never Say Never 211103031 #1 New York Times bestselling author Danielle Steel’s deeply moving novel is the story of a woman whose life is turned upside down while living temporarily in the French countryside.

Oona Kelly Webster has much to be grateful forâ€� A striking woman with red hair and green eyes, she has a loving family and a job she adores, editing a prestigious line of books.Ěý To celebrate their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary, she and her husband Charles have planned a visit to France.

But then Charles drops a bombshell.Ěý He has been living a lie--hiding an affair for a year—and he is leaving Oona for a younger male lover.

Although devastated, Oona decides to travel to France without Charles. She arrives in a charming village an hour outside of Paris, and settles into the house she has rented, called La Belle Florence—named after the king’s mistress for whom it was built. But just as she’s catching her breath, she’s dealt another Ěý her company’s merger will eliminate her job.Ěý

In the space of a few months, everything she nurtured for decades has slipped through her fingers.Ěý The only silver lining is that she can remain in France, where the simple life in beautiful surroundings slowly begins to heal her-- as does the little white dog she rescues, and a friendly neighbor hailing from Trinidad, who delights her with his openness and warmth.Ěý

Though she did not at first recognize him, her neighbor, she soon realizes, is a well-known actor. As their feelings begin to deepen, Oona wrestles with the risks of opening her heart again—especially with a younger, very famous man.

Never Say Never is an inspiring novel about a woman who finds a second chance at happiness and love, all because she understands the importance of being brave enough to stay open to change.]]> 241 Danielle Steel 0593498658 J 2 4.12 Never Say Never
author: Danielle Steel
name: J
average rating: 4.12
book published:
rating: 2
read at: 2025/02/10
date added: 2025/02/10
shelves:
review:

]]> The Widow 61851752
When Allison’s wealthy and charming husband Peter is found dead, she appears distraught, devastated�.delighted?

Because despite an apparently picture-perfect marriage, Allison knows it was all built on a bed of lies.

And as the truth regarding Peter’s life and death are revealed, Alison must try to keep her own dark past buried.

Because if Peter was keeping secrets, then his widow is too…]]> 340 Valerie Keogh 1804154652 J 4 4.06 2022 The Widow
author: Valerie Keogh
name: J
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/08
date added: 2025/02/08
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Catching Fire (The Hunger Games, #2)]]> 6148028 Sparks are igniting.
Flames are spreading.
And the Capitol wants revenge.

Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has won the Hunger Games. She and fellow District 12 tribute Peeta Mellark are miraculously still alive. Katniss should be relieved, happy even. After all, she has returned to her family and her longtime friend, Gale. Yet nothing is the way Katniss wishes it to be. Gale holds her at an icy distance. Peeta has turned his back on her completely. And there are whispers of a rebellion against the Capitol—a rebellion that Katniss and Peeta may have helped create.

Much to her shock, Katniss has fueled an unrest that she's afraid she cannot stop. And what scares her even more is that she's not entirely convinced she should try. As time draws near for Katniss and Peeta to visit the districts on the Capitol's cruel Victory Tour, the stakes are higher than ever. If they can't prove, without a shadow of a doubt, that they are lost in their love for each other, the consequences will be horrifying.

In Catching Fire, the second novel of the Hunger Games trilogy, Suzanne Collins continues the story of Katniss Everdeen, testing her more than ever before . . . and surprising readers at every turn.]]> 391 Suzanne Collins 0439023491 J 4 4.34 2009 Catching Fire (The Hunger Games, #2)
author: Suzanne Collins
name: J
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2009
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2025/02/04
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games, #1)]]> 2767052
Winning means fame and fortune. Losing means certain death. The Hunger Games have begun. . . .

In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV.

Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister's place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before-and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that weigh survival against humanity and life against love.]]> 374 Suzanne Collins J 4 4.34 2008 The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games, #1)
author: Suzanne Collins
name: J
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2008
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2025/02/04
shelves:
review:

]]> Comfort & Joy 36681499 Alternative cover edition of ASIN B000FCKGMA

Joy Candellaro once loved Christmas more than any other time of the year. Now, as the holiday approaches, she is at a crossroads in her life; recently divorced and alone, she can’t summon the old enthusiasm for celebrating. So without telling anyone, she buys a ticket and boards a plane bound for the beautiful Pacific Northwest. When an unexpected detour takes her deep into the woods of the Olympic rainforest, Joy makes a bold decision to leave her ordinary life behind--to just walk away--and thus begins an adventure unlike any she could have imagined.

In the small town of Rain Valley, six-year-old Bobby O’Shea is facing his first Christmas without a mother. Unable to handle the loss, Bobby has closed himself off from the world, talking only to his invisible best friend. His father Daniel is beside himself, desperate to help his son cope. Yet when the little boy meets Joy, these two unlikely souls form a deep and powerful bond. In helping Bobby and Daniel heal, Joy finds herself again.

But not everything is as it seems in quiet Rain Valley, and in an instant, Joy’s world is ripped apart, and her heart is broken. On a magical Christmas Eve, a night of impossible dreams and unexpected chances, Joy must find the courage to believe in a love--and a family--that can’t possibly exist, and go in search of what she wants . . . and the new life only she can find.]]> 272 Kristin Hannah J 3 3.93 2005 Comfort & Joy
author: Kristin Hannah
name: J
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2005
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2025/02/04
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Sins of the Falls (A Sweetwater Falls Mystery Book 12)]]> 220807587 Sins can be forgiven, but some can be like a curse,
afflicting and tormenting until the last breath.

Former FBI Agent Spenser Song is on the path to healing from tragedy and betrayal.
After moving to Sweetwater Falls and settling into her cabin in the idyllic woods,
she has found a sense of belonging and peace as the town’s Sheriff.

While having breakfast with Ryker, Spenser is notified about a grim new case.
A female victim has been found shot on the side of a rural road.

Upon arrival at the crime scene, Spenser recognizes the deceased woman.
The acclaimed author, Dallas James.
Spenser had just provided security for her a few days prior.

Speculations and theories circulate in town, leaving more confusion than answers.
A deep dive into the victim's life reveals many passion-fueled twists.

It is said that a deceitful heart is deadlier than any weapon.
The sins of the falls might lead its participants on the road to their demise. ]]> 261 Elle Gray J 3 4.55 Sins of the Falls (A Sweetwater Falls Mystery Book 12)
author: Elle Gray
name: J
average rating: 4.55
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/04
date added: 2025/02/04
shelves:
review:

]]> The Crash 216223604 The nightmare she’s running from is nothing compared to where she’s headed.

Tegan is eight months pregnant, alone, and desperately wants to put her crumbling life in the rearview mirror. So she hits the road, planning to stay with her brother until she can figure out her next move. But she doesn’t realize she’s heading straight into a blizzard.

She never arrives at her destination.

Stranded in rural Maine with a dead car and broken ankle, Tegan worries she’s made a terrible mistake. Then a miracle she is rescued by a couple who offers her a room in their warm cabin until the snow clears.

But something isn’t right. Tegan believed she was waiting out the storm, but as time ticks by, she comes to realize she is in grave danger. This safe haven isn’t what she thought it was, and staying here may have been her most deadly mistake yet.

And now she must do whatever it takes to save herself—and her unborn child.

A gut-wrenching story of motherhood, survival, and twisted expectations, #1 New York Times bestselling author Freida McFadden delivers a snowbound thriller that will chill you to the bone.
]]> 384 Freida McFadden 1464232989 J 4 3.58 2025 The Crash
author: Freida McFadden
name: J
average rating: 3.58
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/01
date added: 2025/02/01
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Potato Factory (The Potato Factory, #1)]]> 137808 739 Bryce Courtenay 0749322632 J 4 4.14 1995 The Potato Factory (The Potato Factory, #1)
author: Bryce Courtenay
name: J
average rating: 4.14
book published: 1995
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2025/01/31
shelves:
review:

]]> Cher: The Memoir, Part 1 214363953
After more than seventy years of fighting to live her life on her own terms, Cher finally reveals her true story in intimate detail, in a two-part memoir.

Her remarkable career is unique and unparalleled. The only woman to top Billboard charts in seven consecutive decades, she is the winner of an Academy Award, an Emmy, a Grammy, and a Cannes Film Festival Award, and an inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame who has been lauded by the Kennedy Center.

She is a lifelong activist and philanthropist.

As a dyslexic child who dreamed of becoming famous, Cher was raised in often-chaotic circumstances, surrounded by singers, actors, and a mother who inspired her in spite of their difficult relationship.

With her trademark honesty and humor, Cher: The Memoir traces how this diamond in the rough succeeded with no plan and little confidence to become the trailblazing superstar the world has been unable to ignore for more than half a century.

Cher: The Memoir, Part One follows her extraordinary beginnings through childhood to meeting and marrying Sonny Bono—and reveals the highly complicated relationship that made them world-famous, but eventually drove them apart.

Cher: The Memoir reveals the daughter, the sister, the wife, the lover, the mother, and the superstar.

It is a life too immense for only one book.]]> 432 Cher 0008355371 J 4 4.23 2024 Cher: The Memoir, Part 1
author: Cher
name: J
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/28
date added: 2025/01/28
shelves:
review:

]]> The Locked Door 57795665
While eleven-year-old Nora Davis was up in her bedroom doing homework, she had no idea her father was killing women in the basement.

Until the day the police arrived at their front door.

Decades later, Nora’s father is spending his life behind bars, and Nora is a successful surgeon with a quiet, solitary existence. Nobody knows her father was a notorious serial killer. And she intends to keep it that way.

Then Nora discovers one of her young female patients has been murdered. In the same unique and horrific manner that her father used to kill his victims.

Somebody knows who Nora is. Somebody wants her to take the fall for this unthinkable crime. But she’s not a killer like her father. The police can’t pin anything on her.

As long as they don’t look in her basement.]]> 313 Freida McFadden J 4 4.00 2021 The Locked Door
author: Freida McFadden
name: J
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/23
date added: 2025/01/23
shelves:
review:

]]> Here One Moment 208516656 If you knew your future, would you try to fight fate?

Aside from a delay, there will be no problems. The flight will be smooth, it will land safely. Everyone who gets on the plane will get off. But almost all of them will be forever changed.

Because on this ordinary, short, domestic flight, something extraordinary happens. People learn how and when they are going to die. For some, their death is far in the future—age 103!—and they laugh. But for six passengers, their predicted deaths are not far away at all.

How do they know this? There were ostensibly more interesting people on the flight (the bride and groom, the jittery, possibly famous woman, the giant Hemsworth-esque guy who looks like an off-duty superhero, the frazzled, gorgeous flight attendant) but none would become as famous as “The Death Lady.�

Not a single passenger or crew member will later recall noticing her board the plane. She wasn’t exceptionally old or young, rude or polite. She wasn’t drunk or nervous or pregnant. Her appearance and demeanor were unremarkable. But what she did on that flight was truly remarkable.

A few months later, one passenger dies exactly as she predicted. Then two more passengers die, again, as she said they would. Soon no one is thinking this is simply an entertaining story at a cocktail party.

If you were told you only had a certain amount of time left to live, would you do things differently? Would you try to dodge your destiny?

Liane Moriarty’s Here One Moment is a brilliantly constructed tale that looks at free will and destiny, grief and love, and the endless struggle to maintain certainty and control in an uncertain world. A modern-day Jane Austen who humorously skewers social mores while spinning a web of mystery, Moriarty asks profound questions in her newest I-can’t-wait-to-find-out-what-happens novel.]]> 512 Liane Moriarty 0593798600 J 4 3.98 2024 Here One Moment
author: Liane Moriarty
name: J
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/17
date added: 2025/01/17
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Gathering Blue (The Giver, #2)]]> 12936
As she did in The Giver, Lowry challenges readers to imagine what our world could become, and what will be considered valuable. Every reader will be taken by Kira's plight and will long ponder her haunting world and the hope for the future.

]]> 240 Lois Lowry 0385732562 J 4 3.82 2000 Gathering Blue (The Giver, #2)
author: Lois Lowry
name: J
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2000
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2025/01/04
shelves:
review:

]]> The Giver (The Giver, #1) 3636 208 Lois Lowry 0385732554 J 5 4.12 1993 The Giver (The Giver, #1)
author: Lois Lowry
name: J
average rating: 4.12
book published: 1993
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2025/01/04
shelves:
review:

]]> A Very Bad Thing 202991908 From New York Times bestselling author J.T. Ellison comes a taut thriller about one author at the pinnacle of her career, whose past threatens to destroy everything she has—and everyone she knows.

A great writer knows when to deliver a juicy plot twist. But for one author, the biggest twist of all is her own murder.

With a number of hit titles and a highly anticipated movie tie-in, celebrated novelist Columbia Jones is at the top of her game. Fans around the world adore her. But on the final night of her latest book tour, one face in the crowd makes the author collapse. And by the next morning, she’s lying dead in a pool of blood.

Columbia’s death shocks the world and leaves Darian, her daughter and publicist, reeling. The police have nothing to go on—at first. But then details emerge, pointing to the author’s illicit past. Turns out many people had motive to kill Columbia. And with a hungry reporter and frustrated cop on the trail, her secrets won’t stay buried long. But how many lives will they shatter as the truth comes out?]]> 446 J.T. Ellison 1662520328 J 4 4.16 2024 A Very Bad Thing
author: J.T. Ellison
name: J
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/02
date added: 2025/01/02
shelves:
review:

]]> Dark Matter 45697427 Alternative cover editions for this ASIN can be found here and here

Jason Dessen is walking home through the chilly Chicago streets one night, looking forward to a quiet evening in front of the fireplace with his wife, Daniela, and their son, Charlie—when his reality shatters.

It starts with a man in a mask kidnapping him at gunpoint, for reasons Jason can’t begin to fathom—what would anyone want with an ordinary physics professor?—and grows even more terrifying from there, as Jason’s abductor injects him with some unknown drug and watches while he loses consciousness.

When Jason awakes, he’s in a lab, strapped to a gurney—and a man he’s never seen before is cheerily telling him “welcome back!�

Jason soon learns that in this world he’s woken up to, his house is not his house. His wife is not his wife. His son was never born.

And someone is hunting him.]]> 343 Blake Crouch J 4 4.23 2016 Dark Matter
author: Blake Crouch
name: J
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2016
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/30
date added: 2024/12/30
shelves:
review:

]]> A Christmas Wedding 36285952 The short story eBook sequel to Thirteen Weddings,Ěýfrom bestselling author Paige Toon.Ěý Ěý Four years ago, following that fated thirteenth wedding, Bronte fled the UK and has been happily burying her head in the sand ever since. But when an email lands in her inbox from Alex, it seems her past might be about to catch up with her right here in Sydney. Is it time for Bronte to finally face her demons? Ěý With links to The Last Piece of My Heart, Lucy in the Sky and One Perfect Summer, this short story ebook sequel to Thirteen Weddings is a must for all fans of Paige Toon. Get ready for Christmas with a heartwarming short story from Paige Toon, perfect for fans of Giovanna Fletcher and Adele Parks.Praise for The Last Piece of My Heart: â€A gorgeous, warm novelâ€� Adele Parks â€I loved itâ€� Lindsey Kelk â€Poignant and lovely, warm and wiseâ€� Milly Johnson â€Paige’s writing is brilliant!â€� Mhairi McFarlane â€Wonderfully heartfeltâ€� her best book yetâ€� heat, five star review Ěý]]> 126 Paige Toon 147117221X J 3 4.34 A Christmas Wedding
author: Paige Toon
name: J
average rating: 4.34
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/27
date added: 2024/12/27
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Sleigh Bells & Second Chances (A Frosty Season Series Book 1)]]> 198324248 After twenty-eight years away, Trudy is called back to her hometown of Wilmington to serve as the temporary innkeeper of her Aunt Olivia’s beautiful Hollow’s Grove Inn.
Trudy is reluctant to go, to say the least. She’s a Boston girl these days, nursing her wounds from her husband’s death five years ago, and committed completely to her work in the city. But when Trudy arrives, the cozy streets, snow-topped rooftops adorned with twinkling lights, and the friendly locals create an atmosphere of warm nostalgia. And a handsome stranger named Jack catches her eye� and makes her question if she’s really done with romance, after all. What’s a chance discovery of a mysterious photograph pulls Trudy into an immersive mystery� one that draws her deeper into the world of Wilmington, its long-held secrets, and its yearly Parade of Christmas Floats. As the festive season reaches its peak, the Parade of Christmas Floats becomes a symbol of hope and reconciliation for Trudy, her family, and the dramas of the past. After this holiday season, Trudy will carry cherished memories of love, forgiveness, and newfound connections with her, forever. Dive into Sleigh Bells & Second Chances, a Christmas story that celebrates love, second chances, and plenty of delightful Christmas treats� just in time for the holiday season.]]> 188 Katie Winters J 4 4.47 2023 Sleigh Bells & Second Chances (A Frosty Season Series Book 1)
author: Katie Winters
name: J
average rating: 4.47
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/25
date added: 2024/12/25
shelves:
review:

]]> Five Stolen Rings 219544066 FIVE stolen rings, FOUR calling birds, THREE French kisses, TWO falling in love, and a Partridge in a pear tree...
Stella Partridge never expected to move back to her hometown. She never expected to be a house-sitter for the twelve days leading up to Christmas as a desperate bid to earn some extra money. And she definitely never expected to recognize the thief that breaks into the house she's Jack Piorra, her childhood best friend, the one who turned cold and distant overnight and never told her why.
Jack insists there's something in this house that belongs to him. But Stella's not going down without a fight--not in house-sitting, and not in love. If only locking the windows and doors could keep Jack from stealing her heart...
.
FIVE STOLEN RINGS is a wacky romcom mashup of Home Alone and Twelve Days of Christmas, perfect for fans of love, laughter, and holiday warm fuzzies!]]> 272 Gracie Ruth Mitchell J 0 nf 4.15 Five Stolen Rings
author: Gracie Ruth Mitchell
name: J
average rating: 4.15
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/22
shelves: nf
review:

]]> <![CDATA[First Christmas (The Christmas Collection, #1)]]> 49623772 232 Trevor McCall J 0 nf 4.43 First Christmas (The Christmas Collection, #1)
author: Trevor McCall
name: J
average rating: 4.43
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/22
shelves: nf
review:

]]> The Christmas Songbird 55593646 FREE with Kindle Unlimited

Rebecca Hutton’s happy life in Melcombe Saint Abbott is cut tragically short when unexpected and life-changing news arrives one Christmas Eve.

In the wake of this tragedy, she finds solace through song and friendship amongst members of the village choir.

With new residents at Melcombe Grange, her singing attracts the attentions of a particularly handsome gentleman �

Willard Hackett is the dashing son of the regimental Colonel, a man with a fine career ahead of him. He is so moved by the solo he hears on his first Christmas Eve in Melcombe Saint Abbott that he simply must seek out its performer. However, the life of a soldier is one of separation. How can romance blossom when one must go far away to fight for Queen and country?

When Willard returns to Melcombe Grange, will he find that Rebecca has forgotten him? And will she believe that any chance of love is long gone? Do they dare hope for something more or will Christmas Eve forever be tinged with the tragedy of the past?

A delightful and heartwarming Christmas tale you’re sure to enjoy.

“The Christmas Songbird”Ěýand allĚýCatharine Dobbs' novellas are wholesome Victorian Romances.]]> 182 Catharine Dobbs J 4 Well done.]]> 4.49 The Christmas Songbird
author: Catharine Dobbs
name: J
average rating: 4.49
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/22
date added: 2024/12/22
shelves:
review:
I'm officially in the Christmas spirit with this short Victorian story.
Well done.
]]> <![CDATA[Christmas in Silver Bell Falls (Silver Bell Falls, #1)]]> 48736022 Her attitude is less than merry and bright�

Melanie Harper and Christmas do not see eye to eye. While most people celebrate and look forward to the holidays, it's something she has come to dread. When she receives a gift from an unlikely source - a house in the quaint town of Silver Bell Falls - her immediate reaction is to reject it. After all, with a name like that, you're pretty much guaranteed to be surrounded by people who love Christmas!

He sees it as the most wonderful time of the year�

Josiah Stone is all about peace on earth and goodwill toward man. Maybe it's because he's the sheriff of a town named after a beloved Christmas song, but that doesn't make it any less true. Christmas is his favorite time of year and living in Silver Bell Falls where everyone feels the same and celebrates it nearly year-round only adds to his festive outlook on life.

Can a white Christmas change everything?

When Melanie is forced to stay in Silver Bell Falls during the actual holiday season, she's less than thrilled. But after meeting the sexy sheriff she finds that there is something to be said about the magic of Christmas.]]> 206 Samantha Chase J 4 4.17 2015 Christmas in Silver Bell Falls (Silver Bell Falls, #1)
author: Samantha Chase
name: J
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2015
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/20
date added: 2024/12/20
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Christmas in Dixie (Apple Cart County Christmas #1)]]> 59447239
I really want a ring before subjecting Collins to my redneck relatives. So I’m relieved when he has to work over the holidays.

All I want is a low-key Christmas in Alabama with my family. Well, that and the snow I believe is coming. My perfect holiday is ruined the moment Collins shows up in my mama’s kitchen � escorted by my county sheriff ex-boyfriend.

I can honestly say I haven’t been this surprised since my cousin went to jail.

Collins might be a successful surgeon in Atlanta, but I doubt he can last a few days in the small town of Wisteria, Alabama. However, if our love can withstand my gun-slinging, hog-killing family, then I’m sure we’re destined to be together.

We just have to make it through Christmas.]]> 244 Kaci Lane J 3 I guess too long.]]> 4.05 Christmas in Dixie (Apple Cart County Christmas #1)
author: Kaci Lane
name: J
average rating: 4.05
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/19
date added: 2024/12/19
shelves:
review:
This story is alright but I was done with it before the book was over.
I guess too long.
]]> Christmas Actually 217356736 Time spent with family can be challenging, especially at Christmas actuallyĚý.Ěý.Ěý.

Kate Cavendish is stuck in a rut. That is until a former colleague contacts her and offers her a chance to fulfill her lifelong dream of becoming a successful photographer. But with her focus pulled in all directions by her children, her pregnant sister, her newly dating mother, and the niggling worry that her husband might be having an affair, Kate is filled with self-doubt.

Then, as the countdown to Christmas begins, and memories of her own childhood resurface, Kate’s anxiety deepens—both personally and professionally. Can she move on from past events and rebuild her future?ĚýAnd can the power of social media finally stop hindering her family, and help her create something successful?

Christmas Actually is a festive drama about family and forgiveness, and a snapshot of modern family life—addressing subjects from social media to motherhood and everything in between.]]> 346 Lisa Darcy 1504099516 J 2 nf 3.85 2024 Christmas Actually
author: Lisa Darcy
name: J
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2024
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 2024/12/13
shelves: nf
review:

]]> Angel For Christmas 33145204 130 Caroline Clemmons J 4 ]]> 4.77 Angel For Christmas
author: Caroline Clemmons
name: J
average rating: 4.77
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/12
date added: 2024/12/12
shelves:
review:
Loved this Christmas story.

]]> All I Want for Christmas 31691157 All I Want for Christmas is a big, cozy Christmas story about the importance of family, the strength of childhood friendships, and learning to trust your heart.

Fans ofĚýCarole Matthews, Susan Wiggs and Susan Mallery â€� and anyone who likes the glow of Christmas lights and the rustle of wrapping paper â€� will fall in love with this feel-good Christmas treat.

Christmas comes once a year . . . But true love comes once in a lifetime.

Snowflakes are falling, there’s carol singing on every corner, and Leah Evans is preparing for a family Christmas at her grandmother’s majestic plantation house in Virginia. It won’t be the same now that her beloved Nan is gone, but when Leah discovers she has inherited the mansion, she knows she can give her daughter Sadie the childhood of her dreams.

But there’s a catch. Leah must split the house with a man called David Forester. Leah hasn’t heard that name in a long time. Not since they were kids, when Davey was always there to catch her.

Now David is all grown up. He’s gorgeous, successful, and certain of one thing: Leah should sell him her half of the house.

They can’t agree, but as they share memories over wine by the log fire, Leah notices a fluttering in her stomach. And by the look in his eyes, he’s starting to feel it too.

Will it be Leah or David who must give up their dreams? Or, with a little bit of Christmas magic, will they finally understand Nan’s advice to them both about living life without regrets � and take a chance on true love?

What everyone’s saying about Jenny Hale’s books �
�Captured my heart from the very first page and never let it go � Jenny is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors � One minute I’m giggling and the next there is a huge lump in my throat � My heart melted � I just wanted to reach in the pages and give them all hugs. I can’t wait to read more by this wonderful author.� Color Me Read

�Absolutely fantastic, I loved this book and will definitely be remembering and revisiting it in future. Jenny Hale is a supremely accomplished and highly talented author. I can’t wait to read more from her!� Splashes into Books

â€A perfect romance read. Full of tension and heart-wrenching feelings â€� Oh I really did enjoy it â€� One to lift my mood and put a smile on my face and warmth in my heart â€� Full of charismatic characters, family love and bonds, honesty, small town loveliness and soul mates. Reading perfection!â€� 5/5 Pajama Book Girl

â€This book is the epitome of everything I love about reading, about fiction and about romance. It was heart-warming, touching, upsetting, endearing, beautiful and one hundred other adjectives I could reel offâ€� It’s an absolute must-read for any romance fan.â€� Paris Baker’s Book Nook]]> 233 Jenny Hale J 3 4.12 2016 All I Want for Christmas
author: Jenny Hale
name: J
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2016
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/12
date added: 2024/12/12
shelves:
review:
It's a sweet Christmas books but I already read enough books, seen enough Hallmark movies to know the story.
]]> <![CDATA[The 15:17 to Paris: The True Story of a Terrorist, a Train, and Three American Heroes]]> 28691794 Soon to be a major motion picture from Warner Brothers directed by Clint Eastwood.

An ISIS terrorist planned to kill more than 500 people. He would have succeeded except for three American friends who refused to give in to fear.

On August 21, 2015, Ayoub El-Khazzani boarded train #9364 in Brussels, bound for Paris. There could be no doubt about his mission: he had an AK-47, a pistol, a box cutter, and enough ammunition to obliterate every passenger on board. Slipping into the bathroom in secret, he armed his weapons. Another major ISIS attack was about to begin.

Khazzani wasn't expecting Anthony Sadler, Alek Skarlatos, and Spencer Stone. Stone was a martial arts enthusiast and airman first class in the US Air Force, Skarlatos was a member of the Oregon National Guard, and all three were fearless. But their decision-to charge the gunman, then overpower him even as he turned first his gun, then his knife, on Stone-depended on a lifetime of loyalty, support, and faith.

Their friendship was forged as they came of age together in California: going to church, playing paintball, teaching each other to swear, and sticking together when they got in trouble at school. Years later, that friendship would give all of them the courage to stand in the path of one of the world's deadliest terrorist organizations.

The 15:17 to Paris is an amazing true story of friendship and bravery, of near tragedy averted by three young men who found the heroic unity and strength inside themselves at the moment when they, and 500 other innocent travelers, needed it most.
]]> 256 Anthony Sadler 1610397339 J 3 3.50 2016 The 15:17 to Paris: The True Story of a Terrorist, a Train, and Three American Heroes
author: Anthony Sadler
name: J
average rating: 3.50
book published: 2016
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2024/12/09
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Shot to Kill (Blake Wilder FBI Mystery Thriller Book 26)]]> 220231929 Everything done in the dark will be brought to light.
What is kept secret will be made known.

Overwhelmed by their growing caseload,
FBI Agent Blake Wilder and her team search for a new case officer.
But their interview is abruptly interrupted by a shocking phone call -

There’s been an attempt on Fish’s life, and now he’s in the hospital in a coma.

Devastated by the news, Blake drops everything to track down the shooter.
Despite being reminded that she has no jurisdiction over the case,
Blake uses her connection with Pax Arrington to gain access to the Seattle PD investigation.

Surveillance footage reveals a man in a black SUV.
After combing through the detective notes, Blake wonders�
Could this be linked to Fish’s dangerous crime boss past?
With enemies from his past and present wishing him dead,
Blake’s list of suspects keeps growing.

Lives hang by a thread, and this shot in the dark could lead to devastating consequences.

Secrets, lies, and manipulation.
The conspiracies of today could be tomorrow’s truth. ]]> 281 Elle Gray J 4 4.69 A Shot to Kill (Blake Wilder FBI Mystery Thriller Book 26)
author: Elle Gray
name: J
average rating: 4.69
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/08
date added: 2024/12/08
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Caused an Epidemic of Mental Illness]]> 171681821
A must-read for all parents: the generation-defining investigation into the collapse of youth mental health in the era of smartphones, social media, and big tech—and a plan for a healthier, freer childhood.

“With tenacity and candor, Haidt lays out the consequences that have come with allowing kids to drift further into the virtual world . . . While also offering suggestions and solutions that could help protect a new generation of kids.� —Shannon Carlin, ,i>TIME, 100 Must-Read Books of 2024

After more than a decade of stability or improvement, the mental health of adolescents plunged in the early 2010s. Rates of depression, anxiety, self-harm, and suicide rose sharply, more than doubling on many measures. Why?

In The Anxious Generation, social psychologist Jonathan Haidt lays out the facts about the epidemic of teen mental illness that hit many countries at the same time. He then investigates the nature of childhood, including why children need play and independent exploration to mature into competent, thriving adults. Haidt shows how the “play-based childhood� began to decline in the 1980s, and how it was finally wiped out by the arrival of the “phone-based childhood� in the early 2010s. He presents more than a dozen mechanisms by which this “great rewiring of childhood� has interfered with children’s social and neurological development, covering everything from sleep deprivation to attention fragmentation, addiction, loneliness, social contagion, social comparison, and perfectionism. He explains why social media damages girls more than boys and why boys have been withdrawing from the real world into the virtual world, with disastrous consequences for themselves, their families, and their societies.

Most important, Haidt issues a clear call to action. He diagnoses the “collective action problems� that trap us, and then proposes four simple rules that might set us free. He describes steps that parents, teachers, schools, tech companies, and governments can take to end the epidemic of mental illness and restore a more humane childhood.

Haidt has spent his career speaking truth backed by data in the most difficult landscapes—communities polarized by politics and religion, campuses battling culture wars, and now the public health emergency faced by Gen Z. We cannot afford to ignore his findings about protecting our children—and ourselves—from the psychological damage of a phone-based life.]]> 400 Jonathan Haidt 0593655036 J 5 ]]> 4.35 2024 The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Caused an Epidemic of Mental Illness
author: Jonathan Haidt
name: J
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/05/18
date added: 2024/12/06
shelves:
review:
Important read for anyone that has children babies through 20's.

]]> The 5th Christmas Kiss 48714345 Refuse a kiss and be cursed for a year.
A year!
But mistletoe does not come with a warning, and Azura found out the hard way that Christmas spirit is not something to ignore. She has to find every guy she refused under the mistletoe and give him his kiss before midnight on Christmas or she’s doomed to deal with clumsiness and bad luck.
For a whole year.
Tracking down missed kisses is hard enough as it is, but when cursed with constant Christmas clumsiness? It’s next to impossible. Thank goodness she has Crew on her side—the guy who ran her off the road and has been driving her crazy ever since.
But he’s also all kinds of adorable when he’s not reveling in the holiday spirit. He’ll do whatever it takes to convince Azura that he’s the one who can crush the mistletoe curse. And maybe while he’s at it, change her mind about him.
One little kiss could save Christmas.]]> 197 Wendy Knight J 3 4.25 2019 The 5th Christmas Kiss
author: Wendy Knight
name: J
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2019
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/05
date added: 2024/12/05
shelves:
review:

]]> 'Tis the Damn Season 212020753 This year, their families can deck the bloody halls themselves...

Old friends Shelley, Lena and Pearl have reached their limit with the festive preparation that has always fallen to them, and five days before Christmas, they’ve booked a mini break� without their families. Up until Christmas Eve, they’ll be sipping prosecco in the Highlands while their kids wrap bacon around 100 chipolatas and their partners brave the supermarkets.

It’s exactly what they need� until they’re snowed in. Facing the prospect of Christmas 500 miles from home, each woman is forced to confront her real reasons for needing to escape: the fiancé with the obnoxious family; the son’s new girlfriend who is taking over their home; the family who take their mother for granted all year round�

Will the friends make it home before Christmas day? And if they do, can they really go back to their old lives?]]> 287 Fiona Gibson 1836172184 J 4 3.92 2024 'Tis the Damn Season
author: Fiona Gibson
name: J
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/02
date added: 2024/12/02
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Town Named Christmas: Plus the Christian novella, "One Last Christmas"]]> 36576807
Chris O’Reilly never would have guessed what he’d find in the town of Christmas, Minnesota. He’d only planned to stop there long enough to find his old Army buddy’s family. Then he was headed to Duluth to look for his childhood friend and the love of his life, Bethany Cummings. Scarred, battered, and emotionally struggling, Chris would love nothing better than to find the peace and happiness he’d once known as a youngster -- to get his life on track and find the peace that could only come from a relationship with God. Would he find everything he’d been looking for—right there in the town named Christmas?

AND ALSO INCLUDED IN THIS BOOK: “One Last Christmas� a Christian Christmas Novella After the death of Cate Thomas� dear grandmother, she and the rest of the family are planning a special Christmas celebration in her Grams� old house. Then a stranger shows up in town with claims of a family secret that could turn their Christmas celebration upside down. Is the handsome young man telling them the truth, or is Cate going to have her heart broken one more time? “One Last Christmas� is a story about faith, family, and God’s never-ending love for us.]]> 330 Ruth Kyser 1978256981 J 3 4.33 The Town Named Christmas: Plus the Christian novella, "One Last Christmas"
author: Ruth Kyser
name: J
average rating: 4.33
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/01
date added: 2024/12/01
shelves:
review:
Sweet Christian Christmas story.
]]> <![CDATA[The Girl in Town (A Chesapeake Valley Mystery Book 1)]]> 217744288 After the murder of her mother, Eve left Chesapeake Valley behind, hoping for a fresh start.
But home has a way of calling you back...

Former NSA agent Eve Wicker has faced many hardships and tragedies in life.
Needing to be closer to her ailing father, Eve takes a position as her hometown Sheriff.
A position she never imagined would open many old wounds from her past.

When she receives a phone call about a body in the woods,
She drives up to the crime scene.
There, she grabs the attention of the town’s mountain recluse.
Roman Pike, a big burly ex-marine who’s as abrasive as he is brash.

Eve is no stranger to ego-driven men. What she didn’t foresee, though, is that they would go from butting heads to finding common ground.
Unfortunately, the friendship is short-lived when a case from Roman’s past and another murder converge � the murder of his ex-girlfriend.

It seems Chesapeake Valley is no longer the sleepy Colorado town of yesteryears.
It turns out, in these mountains, the most dangerous creature is an enigma that’s easy on the eyes and has murder on his mind...
From the local bakery to the Sheriff’s office, there’s never a dull moment in the Valley. ]]> 267 Elle Gray J 2 This was a hard one to finish. I didn't care about any of the characters.
I won't be reading more.]]> 4.34 2024 The Girl in Town (A Chesapeake Valley Mystery Book 1)
author: Elle Gray
name: J
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2024
rating: 2
read at: 2024/11/25
date added: 2024/11/25
shelves:
review:
I read this book because I read two other series from Elle Gray.
This was a hard one to finish. I didn't care about any of the characters.
I won't be reading more.
]]> The Lost Bookshop 65137920 The Keeper of Stories meets The Lost Apothecary in this evocative and charming novel full of mystery and secrets.

â€The thing about books,â€� she said â€is that they help you to imagine a life bigger and better than you could ever dream of.â€�

On a quiet street in Dublin, a lost bookshop is waiting to be found�

For too long, Opaline, Martha and Henry have been the side characters in their own lives.

But when a vanishing bookshop casts its spell, these three unsuspecting strangers will discover that their own stories are every bit as extraordinary as the ones found in the pages of their beloved books. And by unlocking the secrets of the shelves, they find themselves transported to a world of wonder� where nothing is as it seems.]]> 432 Evie Woods 0008609209 J 2 nf 4.03 2023 The Lost Bookshop
author: Evie Woods
name: J
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2023
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 2024/11/24
shelves: nf
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Whispers in the Falls (A Sweetwater Falls Mystery Book 11)]]> 217747311 Some say this world is built upon lies. The most dangerous of them are the ones people kill to keep.

Former FBI Agent Spenser Song knows the risks of deceit. It resulted in the death of her husband, the arrest of her partner, and her departure from the bureau. She moved to Sweetwater Falls for a new beginning, as the town’s Sheriff.

While out on a hike, she crosses paths with a grieving mother. A woman that is desperate to find the truth behind her daughter’s horrific murder. The teen girl was found dead in the woods, her body showing signs of abuse. With many whispers and rumors swirling around the girl’s death. Attempting to solve the case could tear the town further apart.

With the desire to protect the town she has grown to love, Spenser takes on a cold case. Interviewing the victim’s mother reveals another layer of mystery to the case. It seems someone is attempting to scare the woman from looking into her daughter’s case.

High school bullies, a long-held grudge, and a devastating tragedy. Lies have power, but they also have devastating consequences. In Sweetwater, it seems the many whispers are an untamable wildfire in the making. ]]> 287 Elle Gray J 4 4.62 2024 Whispers in the Falls (A Sweetwater Falls Mystery Book 11)
author: Elle Gray
name: J
average rating: 4.62
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/23
date added: 2024/11/23
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Beyond Reasonable Doubt (Keera Duggan, #2)]]> 205098968 A master manipulator accused of murder. An attorney sworn to defend her. Keera Duggan returns in a riveting novel of suspense by New York Times bestselling author Robert Dugoni.

When Jenna Bernstein, disgraced wunderkind CEO of a controversial biotech company, is accused of murdering her former partner and lover, she turns to Seattle attorney Keera Duggan to defend her. Keera is more than a master chess player who brings her intuitive moves into court—she’s Jenna’s childhood friend. But considering their history, Keera knows that where Jenna goes, trouble follows.

Three years earlier, Keera’s father successfully defended Jenna when she was tried for the killing of her company’s chief medical scientist who threatened to go public with allegations of corporate fraud. Keera knows Jenna too well. When she was a kid, Keera saw Jenna for what she a manipulative and frighteningly controlling sociopath. Now, with only circumstantial evidence against Jenna, Keera is willing to bury any trepidation she might have to defend a woman she believes, this time, to be innocent.

As the investigation gets underway and disturbing questions arise, Keera puts her trust in a client who swears nothing but the truth. If this is all just another devious game, Keera might be working to set a murderer free.]]> 365 Robert Dugoni 1662500238 J 4 4.38 2024 Beyond Reasonable Doubt (Keera Duggan, #2)
author: Robert Dugoni
name: J
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/22
date added: 2024/11/22
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Woman in Cabin 10 (Lo Blacklock, #1)]]> 28187230 341 Ruth Ware 1501132938 J 3 3.73 2016 The Woman in Cabin 10 (Lo Blacklock, #1)
author: Ruth Ware
name: J
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2016
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2024/11/21
shelves:
review:

]]> Mary, Mary (Alex Cross, #11) 84736 Right from the beginning, this case is like nothing Alex has ever been confronted with before. Is this the plan of an obsessed fan or a spurned actor, or is it part of something much more frightening? Now members of Hollywood's A-list fear they're next on Mary's list, and the case grows by blockbuster proportions as the LAPD and FBI scramble to find a pattern before Mary can send one more chilling update.

]]> 413 James Patterson 0446619035 J 3 3.96 2005 Mary, Mary (Alex Cross, #11)
author: James Patterson
name: J
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2005
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2024/11/18
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[London Bridges (Alex Cross, #10)]]> 13151
Minutes after soldiers evacuate a Nevada town, a bomb completely destroys it. On vacation, FBI agent Alex Cross gets the call: the blast was perpetrated by the Wolf. A supercriminal and Cross's deadliest nemesis, the Wolf threatens to obliterate major cities, including London, Paris, and New York. Then evidence reveals the involvement of a ruthless assassin known as the Weasel. Could these two dark geniuses be working together? Now with just four days to prevent an unimaginable cataclysm, Cross is catapulted into an international chase of astonishing danger --- and toward the explosive truth about the Wolf's identity, a revelation that Cross may not survive.]]> 403 James Patterson 0446613355 J 3 3.94 2004 London Bridges (Alex Cross, #10)
author: James Patterson
name: J
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2004
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2024/11/18
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Big Bad Wolf (Alex Cross, #9)]]> 6588 400 James Patterson 0446610224 J 4 4.00 2003 The Big Bad Wolf (Alex Cross, #9)
author: James Patterson
name: J
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2003
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/11/18
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Four Blind Mice (Alex Cross, #8)]]> 53625
Drawing on their years of street training and an almost telepathic mutual trust, Cross and Sampson go deep behind military lines to confront the most terrifying-and deadly-killers they have ever encountered.

On his visits home, Alex must confront another, more harrowing mystery: what's the matter with Nana Mama?]]> 416 James Patterson 0747266921 J 4 4.01 2002 Four Blind Mice (Alex Cross, #8)
author: James Patterson
name: J
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2002
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/11/18
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Violets Are Blue (Alex Cross, #7)]]> 79379 Detective Alex Cross must confront his most terrifying nemesis ever-and his own deepest fears-in this electrifying new thriller from the master of suspense, James Patterson. Alex Cross has never believed in vampires. But when two joggers are found slain in a manner that suggests a macabre ritual, he has to reconsider. Someone believes in vampires enough to have committed a series of bizarre murders that appear to be the work of one. Local police are horrified, and even the FBI is baffled.

Cross takes on the case and plunges into a netherworld of secret clubs and role-players, a world full of poseurs and playactors-and someone demented enough to have crossed the line from dark ritual to real blood. At the same time, a lethal super-criminal from Cross's past known as the Mastermind is stalking him, taunting him, and threatening everything he holds dear. Cross has never been closer to defeat, or in greater danger. In a shocking conclusion, Alex Cross must survive a deadly confrontation-only to discover at last the awful secret of the Mastermind.

]]> 391 James Patterson 0446611212 J 4 3.97 2001 Violets Are Blue (Alex Cross, #7)
author: James Patterson
name: J
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2001
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/11/18
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Roses Are Red (Alex Cross, #6)]]> 79378 In this heart-pounding but touchingly romantic thriller, Detective Alex Cross pursues the most complex and brilliant killer he's ever confronted - mysterious criminal who calls himself the Mastermind. In a series of crimes that has stunned Washington, D.C., bank robbers have been laying out precise demands when they enter the building - and then killing the bank employees and their families if those instructions are not followed to the letter.

Detective Alex Cross takes on the case, certain that this is no ordinary bank robber at work - the pathological need for control and perfection is too great. Cross is in the midst of a personal crisis at home, but the case becomes all-consuming as he learns that the Mastermind is plotting one huge, last, perfect crime.

]]> 416 James Patterson 0446605484 J 4 4.05 2000 Roses Are Red (Alex Cross, #6)
author: James Patterson
name: J
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2000
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/11/18
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Pop Goes the Weasel (Alex Cross, #5)]]> 13143 461 James Patterson 0446608815 J 4 4.01 1999 Pop Goes the Weasel (Alex Cross, #5)
author: James Patterson
name: J
average rating: 4.01
book published: 1999
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/11/18
shelves:
review:

]]> Cat & Mouse (Alex Cross, #4) 21436
Out of prison and dying from the AIDS virus he contracted there, Soneji wants revenge on Cross before he dies.

There's more. We are introduced to a new pair of rivals whose paths cross those of Cross and Soneji. Thomas Augustine Pierce has been chasing his demon, Mr. Smith, since the savage murder of his fiancée. Smith is a unique monster, with interactions between him and his victims so insane, so unimaginable, that he is thought of as "not of the earth." Pierce, known in the business as St. Augustine because of his track record for catching killers and his invaluable status to the FBI and Interpol, may even be better than Cross. When things heat up and Alex is in a near-death coma following a strange attack, Pierce goes to Washington to help investigate. But then he is summoned to Paris with a postcard from Smith inviting him to a very special killing.

The body count is high, the tension the highest, and the two killers on the loose are watching every move their pursuers make. Who is the cat, and who is the mouse? What and where is the final trap? And who survives?]]> 416 James Patterson J 4 4.01 1997 Cat & Mouse (Alex Cross, #4)
author: James Patterson
name: J
average rating: 4.01
book published: 1997
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/11/18
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Kiss the Girls (Alex Cross, #2)]]> 13148
In Los Angeles, a reporter investigating a series of murders is killed.

In Chapel Hill, North Carolina, a beautiful medical intern suddenly disappears.

And in Washington D.C., Cross needs to find the solution to the most baffling and terrifying murder case ever. Two clever pattern killers are collaborating, cooperating, competing - and they are working coast to coast. Is Alex Cross up to the challenge?]]> 481 James Patterson 0446677388 J 4 3.99 1995 Kiss the Girls (Alex Cross, #2)
author: James Patterson
name: J
average rating: 3.99
book published: 1995
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/11/18
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Along Came a Spider (Alex Cross, #1)]]> 13145
Gary Soneji wants to commit the crime of the century. Alex Cross is the brilliant homicide detective pitted against him. Jezzie Flanagan is the first female supervisor of the Secret Service. They complete one of the most unusual suspense triangles in any thriller you have ever read.

Alex and Jezzie are about to have a forbidden love affair—at the worst possible time for both of them. Because Gary Soneji is playing at the top of his game. The latest of the unspeakable crimes happens in Alex Cross's precinct and it happens under the nose of Jezzie and her men.

Alex faces the ultimate test: how do you outmaneuver a brilliant psychopath?]]> 449 James Patterson 0446692638 J 4 4.13 1993 Along Came a Spider (Alex Cross, #1)
author: James Patterson
name: J
average rating: 4.13
book published: 1993
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/11/18
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Cross Country (Alex Cross, #14)]]> 1713912
As the killing spree escalates, Alex and Brianna realize they are not dealing with any ordinary killer, but one who has brought his personal war of vengeance to America's capital. But just when the detectives think they're closing in on the elusive murderer, the Tiger disappears into thin air. Unable to let the killer get away with this narrow escape, Alex makes it his duty to bring the brutal butcher to justice. He knows that he must follow the Tiger. Alone.

When Alex arrives in Nigeria, he discovers a world where justice is as foreign as he is. Unprotected and alone in a strange country, bombarded on all sides by the murderous threats of The Tiger, Alex must draw on his fiercest instincts just to survive in a lawless world.
]]> 480 James Patterson 0316024643 J 0 3.86 2008 Cross Country (Alex Cross, #14)
author: James Patterson
name: J
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2008
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/18
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Double Cross (Alex Cross, #13)]]> 552887 389 James Patterson 0316015059 J 0 4.02 2007 Double Cross (Alex Cross, #13)
author: James Patterson
name: J
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2007
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/18
shelves:
review:

]]> Cross (Alex Cross, #12) 13128
Years later, still haunted by his wife's death, Cross is making a bold move in his life. Now a free agent from the police and the FBI, he's set up practice as a psychologist once again. His life with Nana Mama, Damon, Jannie, and little Alex is finally getting in order. He even has a chance at a new love.

Then Cross's former partner, John Sampson, calls in a favor. He is tracking a serial rapist in Georgetown, one whose brutal modus operandi recalls a case Sampson and Cross worked together years earlier. When the case reveals a connection to Maria's death, Cross latches on for the most urgent and terrifying ride of his life.

From the man USA TODAY has called the "master of the genre," CROSS is the high-velocity thriller James Patterson and Alex Cross's fans have waited years to read - and the pinnacle of the bestselling detective series of the past two decades.

This novel was originally published under the title Cross. The movie tie-in editions are published under the title Alex Cross. (less)]]> 393 James Patterson 0316159794 J 0 4.02 2006 Cross (Alex Cross, #12)
author: James Patterson
name: J
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2006
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/18
shelves:
review:

]]> Jack & Jill (Alex Cross, #3) 13140
Meanwhile, Washington, D. C., homicide detective Alex Cross is called to a murder scene only blocks from his house. Far from the corridors of power where he spends his days. The victim: a beautiful little girl, savagely beaten--and deposited in front of the elementary school Cross's son, Damon, attends.

Could there be a connection between the murders? As Cross tries to put the pieces together, the killer - or killers - strike again. And again. No one in Washington is safe - not children, not politicians, not even the President of the United States. Only Cross has the skills and the courage to crack the case, but will he discover the truth in time?

A relentless roller coaster of heart-pounding suspense and jolting plot twists, 'Jack and Jill' proves that no one can write a more compelling thriller than James Patterson--the master of the nonstop nightmare.]]> 466 James Patterson 0446692654 J 4 3.98 1996 Jack & Jill (Alex Cross, #3)
author: James Patterson
name: J
average rating: 3.98
book published: 1996
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/11/18
shelves:
review:

]]> Baby City 25522692
Nobody knows this truth better than Emily McCoy, a third year resident working in Baby City, the affectionate nickname for the busy Labor and Delivery unit at a New York City hospital. On a typical day in Baby City, Emily delivers more babies than the number of hours of sleep she manages to squeeze in that night. And definitely more than the number of dates she's been on since she started her training in OB/GYN two years earlier.

As Emily works tirelessly to safely herald baby after baby after baby (after baby) into the world, she becomes well acquainted with the three hard facts of Baby

1) Babies never come when you want them to.

2) Babies always come when you don't want them to.

3) You don't know who your true friends are until your baby is sliding down the birth canal.]]> 426 Freida McFadden J 3 3.79 2015 Baby City
author: Freida McFadden
name: J
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2015
rating: 3
read at: 2024/11/15
date added: 2024/11/15
shelves:
review:

]]> Summer Romance 198563734
There aren’t enough labeled glass containers to contain the mess that is Ali Morris’s life. Her mom died two years ago, then her husband left, and she hasn’t worn pants with a zipper in longer than she cares to remember. She’s a professional organizer whose pantry is a disgrace.

No one is more surprised than Ali when the first time she takes off her wedding ring and puts on pants with hardware—overalls count, right?—she meets someone. Or rather, her dog claims a man for her in the same way he claimed his favorite of her three children: by peeing on him. Ethan smiles at Ali like her pants are just right—like he likes what he sees. The last thing Ali needs is to make her life messier, but there’s no harm in a little Summer Romance. Is there?]]> 321 Annabel Monaghan 0593714083 J 3 4.01 2024 Summer Romance
author: Annabel Monaghan
name: J
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/11/08
date added: 2024/11/08
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Camino Ghosts (Camino Island #3)]]> 199550833 292 John Grisham 0385545991 J 4 3.92 2024 Camino Ghosts (Camino Island #3)
author: John Grisham
name: J
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/06
date added: 2024/11/06
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[From Here to the Great Unknown]]> 204880158
A month later, Lisa Marie was dead, and the world would never know her story in her own words, never know the passionate, joyful, caring, and complicated woman that Riley loved and grieved.

Riley got the tapes that her mother had recorded for the book, laid in her bed, and listened as Lisa Marie told story after story about smashing golf carts together in the yards of Graceland, about the unconditional love she felt from her father, about being upstairs, just the two of them. About getting dragged screaming out of the bathroom as she ran towards his body on the floor. About living in Los Angeles with her mother, getting sent to school after school, always kicked out, always in trouble. About her singular, lifelong relationship with Danny Keough, about being married to Michael Jackson, what they shared in common. About motherhood. About deep addiction. About ever-present grief. Riley knew she had to fulfill her mother’s wish to reveal these memories, incandescent and painful, to the world.

To make her mother known.

This extraordinary book is written in both Lisa Marie’s and Riley’s voices, a mother and daughter communicating—from this world to the one beyond—as they try to heal each other. Profoundly moving and deeply revealing, From Here to the Great Unknown is a book like no other—the last words of the only child of an American icon.]]> 284 Lisa Marie Presley 0593733894 J 3 4.39 2024 From Here to the Great Unknown
author: Lisa Marie Presley
name: J
average rating: 4.39
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/11/03
date added: 2024/11/03
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Camino Winds (Camino Island, #2)]]> 49123131
Just as Bruce Cable’s Bay Books is preparing for the return of bestselling author Mercer Mann, Hurricane Leo veers from its predicted course and heads straight for the island. Florida’s governor orders a mandatory evacuation, and most residents board up their houses and flee to the mainland, but Bruce decides to stay and ride out the storm.

The hurricane is devastating: homes and condos are leveled, hotels and storefronts ruined, streets flooded, and a dozen people lose their lives. One of the apparent victims is Nelson Kerr, a friend of Bruce’s and an author of thrillers. But the nature of Nelson’s injuries suggests that the storm wasn’t the cause of his death: He has suffered several suspicious blows to the head.

Who would want Nelson dead? The local police are overwhelmed in the aftermath of the storm and ill equipped to handle the case. Bruce begins to wonder if the shady characters in Nelson’s novels might be more real than fictional. And somewhere on Nelson’s computer is the manuscript of his new novel. Could the key to the case be right there—in black and white? As Bruce starts to investigate, what he discovers between the lines is more shocking than any of Nelson’s plot twists—and far more dangerous.]]> 304 John Grisham 0385545940 J 3 3.85 2020 Camino Winds (Camino Island, #2)
author: John Grisham
name: J
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2024/10/31
shelves:
review:

]]> The Boyfriend 208503280 She's looking for the perfect man. He's looking for the perfect victim.

Sydney Shaw, like every single woman in New York, has terrible luck with dating. She’s seen it men who lie in their dating profile, men who stick her with the dinner bill, and worst of all, men who can't shut up about their mothers. But finally, she hits the jackpot.

Her new boyfriend is utterly perfect. He's charming, handsome, and works as a doctor at a local hospital. Sydney is swept off her feet.

Then the brutal murder of a young woman―the latest in a string of deaths across the coast―confounds police. The primary suspect? A mystery man who dates his victims before he kills them.

Sydney should feel safe. After all, she is dating the guy of her dreams. But she can’t shake her own suspicions that the perfect man may not be as perfect as he seems. Because someone is watching her every move, and if she doesn’t get to the truth, she’ll be the killer’s next victim...

A dark story about obsession and the things we’ll do for love, #1 New York Times bestselling author Freida McFadden proves that crimes of passion are often the bloodiest…]]> 368 Freida McFadden 1728296226 J 4 Well, I wasn't going to let Freida fool me this time! I'm reading slowly to catch clues and darn it! This lady makes me feel stupid. Fun read!]]> 3.95 2024 The Boyfriend
author: Freida McFadden
name: J
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/31
date added: 2024/10/31
shelves:
review:
The Boyfriend by Freida McFadden
Well, I wasn't going to let Freida fool me this time! I'm reading slowly to catch clues and darn it! This lady makes me feel stupid. Fun read!
]]> <![CDATA[The Perfect Crime (Blake Wilder FBI Mystery Thriller Book 25)]]> 216166818 They say the streets will chew you up and leave you for dead.
Here a young girl’s dream is a mere memory.
A bleak and hope-draining existence.
A place where a man’s cruelty hides behind a veil of deceit and smiles.

FBI agent Blake Wilder has spent her best years taking down the most depraved souls.
Even though she has seen great evil, it has not taken away the sparks of hope she has.
Hope that helps her endure and continue the fight for the good guys.

When she receives a call from a detective in New Orleans regarding multiple missing women, she faces a perplexing case with no bodies, spanning multiple decades.
The only clues to the potential crimes are shoes bound with a red bow on the beds of female victims, ones who are never heard from again.

Upon arrival in the vibrant city, she is met with both appreciation and scorn by the police precinct.
Unfazed by the unwelcoming environment, Blake searches for clues to find the missing women.
From the swamplands to the marshlands, there are no concrete clues to the disappearances.
It seems the perp has committed a series of perfect crimes.
With no trails or even body parts to go on, the red ribbon case feels like an unsolvable riddle.
One that only leads to dead ends and defeat.

Deaths, desperation, and vanishing working girls.
Some truths are to cover up the illusion of something far more sinister. ]]> 250 Elle Gray J 4 4.66 2024 The Perfect Crime (Blake Wilder FBI Mystery Thriller Book 25)
author: Elle Gray
name: J
average rating: 4.66
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/25
date added: 2024/10/25
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Waiting (Harry Bosch, #25; Renée Ballard, #6; Harry Bosch Universe, #39)]]> 206119050 LAPD Detective Renée Ballard tracks a terrifying serial rapist whose trail has gone cold, with the help of the newest volunteer to the Open-Unsolved Unit: Patrol Officer Maddie Bosch, Harry’s daughter.

Renée Ballard and the LAPD’s Open-Unsolved Unit get a hot shot DNA connection between a recently arrested man and a serial rapist and murderer who went quiet twenty years ago. The arrested man is only twenty-three, so the genetic link must be familial. It is his father who was the Pillowcase Rapist, responsible for a five-year reign of terror in the city of angels. But when Ballard and her team move in on their suspect, they encounter a baffling web of secrets and legal hurdles.

Meanwhile, Ballard’s badge, gun, and ID are stolen—a theft she can’t report without giving her enemies in the department the ammunition they need to end her career as a detective. She works the burglary alone, but her solo mission leads her into greater danger than she anticipates. She has no choice but to go outside the department for help, and that leads her to the door of Harry Bosch.

Finally, Ballard takes on a new volunteer to the cold case unit. Bosch’s daughter Maddie wants to supplement her work as a patrol officer on the night beat by investigating cases with Ballard. But Renée soon learns that Maddie has an ulterior motive for getting access to the city’s library of lost souls.]]> 407 Michael Connelly 031656379X J 5 Keep them coming!!!]]> 4.16 2024 The Waiting (Harry Bosch, #25; Renée Ballard, #6; Harry Bosch Universe, #39)
author: Michael Connelly
name: J
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/10/22
date added: 2024/10/22
shelves:
review:
The Waiting started out slow for me. I was wondering if I was going to rate my first 3 star for this series but no, another great double story from Michael Connelly.
Keep them coming!!!
]]> The Situationship 217885191 Find out how Maddy and Doug met in this sweet and hilarious short story from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Just for the Summer.

Travel nurse Maddy doesn't have time for a relationship, not even with the ruggedly handsome farmer who she feels a spark of attraction to.

Doug is a walking green flag. After a run in with Maddy thanks to the Wakan townĚýmascot, Kevin Bacon the pig, he can't help but feel the spark too.

Even though she doesn't plan on staying in Minnesota forever, Maddy believes she and Doug can still have a flingâ€� or maybe they’ll just find themselves in a situationship.Ěý

“The Situationship�was originally published as a bonus chapter in the Target exclusive edition of Just for the Summer. This ebook original also includes a first look at Abby’s new release, Say You’ll Remember Me.]]> 37 Abby Jimenez 1538773724 J 2 3.94 2024 The Situationship
author: Abby Jimenez
name: J
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2024
rating: 2
read at: 2024/10/18
date added: 2024/10/18
shelves:
review:

]]>