The Bend in Redwood Road (Missing Pieces #1) - by Danielle Stewart

 

Most days it's manageable. No more than a quiet wondering around the edges of her mind.
 
What has become of the baby she left behind?
 
Smiling through the pain and suffering in silence, Leslie Laudon marches forward. Embracing the life skillfully designed by her husband Paul. Living right could be penance for an impossible choice made with an uneasy heart. Dutiful and anchoring, Leslie poured herself into her other children. Nurturing them through infancy, protecting them as toddlers, guiding them as teens. As her youngest child heads off to college with her suitcases and coordinating dorm room accessories, so goes Leslie’s identity. The chaotic life of a busy working mother threatens to become dangerously quiet. Quiet enough to hear the voices she’s tried to silence for decades.
 
Gwen Fox was adopted by two perfect people. Noel and Millie have always treated her the same as their two biological sons. Her parents love is strong and unwavering, yet a soul-deep ache still lingers. Plagued by an unnamed, hard to explain, longing Gwen could never shake.
 
Riddled with doubt and dragged down by the undertow of unanswered questions, Leslie and Gwen both find their lives suddenly upended. One seeks the truth about the day she was born. The other seeks herself, the woman she was before motherhood. Before she made a choice to leave a piece of her heart lying asleep in the hospital nursery.
 
In this complex journey for answers, blame is abundant. Guilt is thick enough to choke on. Marriages are brought to the brink of disaster. As the ripples of the past vibrate through their lives, Gwen and Leslie realize there is no turning back. What they have put into motion cannot be stopped. The road toward the truth will be littered with casualties.

First published in 2019    Kindle Edition : 306 Pages

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There is a style of writing that seems to be coming more and more common these days - chapters looking at the story from the point of view of 2 characters in the book. I am getting used to it ... it's an interesting style to write to get a complete rounded story out there.

Anyway .... this story is about loss, and discovery. Heartbreak and Love ... this story tells us that everything is not as it seems ... to the outsider and even to those on the inside who think that they know everything they need to know about their family.

I think that the way this story unfolded was well done. We get to see inside Leslie's mind and learn all the heartbreak she had to go through years earlier, to give her children a life that she thought they deserved, with a man who she believed that she loved more than anything. Time and events will change the way we all look at things through our lives, and Leslie does learn this.

Gwen has always known she was adopted and she has been fine with it - up until 2 years ago, when events made her start questioning who her parents were, why they gave her up, where are they now ... and so she does a DNA test that starts a rollercoaste ride for everyone in her life.

There is a twist ... and it's a good one ... 

Do yourself a favor and read this book ... I thoroughly enjoyed it :)

RATING : ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Traded : Brody and Kara (Cliffside Bay Book 1) - Tess Thompson

 

She can’t afford to be found. His life is on public display. Will her dangerous past destroy their chance for love?

Nurse Kara Boggs lost everything because she stood up for what’s right. After turning state’s evidence against her mobster father, she’s forced to go underground with an assumed name. But taking a job for a handsome celebrity quarterback could shine a very dangerous public spotlight.

After leading his team to a Super Bowl win, Brody Mullen should be on top of the world. But he’s shocked when his quiet seaside homecoming reveals his mother in a cast, and her housekeeper dying from a brain tumor. Frantic to get the best care for the women he adores, he hires a gorgeous nurse… despite her strange request to stay publicly invisible.

As Kara’s attraction to the charming jock grows, she becomes trapped by her own high-stakes secrets and the constant threat of exposure. And Brody’s famously strict “no women” rule means falling hard for the beautiful woman could ruin his career.

Will they be sidelined by their own rules, or will they complete a pass to passion?

Traded: Brody and Kara is the touching first book in the Cliffside Bay small-town romance series. If you like courageous heroines, steadfast heroes, and heartfelt stories of friendship and family, you’ll adore Tess Thompson’s emotional saga.

Print Length : 444 Pages   Publication Date : 15th February 2018

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Imagine having to uproot your life and move across the country, using a new name and a new past and not allowing anyone to get close - you have to constantly be on your guard and be careful who you can trust - no pictures, no past info - nothing.

That is exactly what Kara does - but her new job does open up her heart and the very real possibility that she could be putting herself and Brody and his wonderful family and friends in very real danger.

The story is good - all about second chances ...  I truly do want to read the rest of the stories that are in the series - all the characters are great ... so I definately will buy the rest of these books.

RATING : ♥ ♥ ♥

Sisters (Sun Valley Series : Book 1) - Kellie Coates Gilbert

 

 Set in America’s original ski resort, Sun Valley, Idaho—SISTERS offers a thought-provoking look at three women . . . and the choices they make when they realize their lives aren’t exactly what they expected.

Karyn Macadam is starting over after losing her husband to a skiing accident. A chance encounter with a back country pilot might be this young widow’s one shot at a new beginning, but only if she can let go of the past.

Leigh Ann Blackburn is the perfect wife, until her husband grows more distant and she believes the worst. An outrageous plan to save her marriage turns the situation on its head and she soon learns not everything is as it seems.

Joie Abbott, who always finds a way to mess up her life, has done it yet again. This time a bitter betrayal threatens to expose a heartache she desperately wants to keep secret, especially from her family.

Through romance and heartbreak, laughter and tears . . . life is always better with your sisters at your side.

Published : 1st March 2017   Print Length : 320 Pages  

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I did find this book was easy to settle down to read ... I enjoyed the sisters being different from each other and also leading different lifestyles ... instead of them being totally in sync with each other in so many ways. They did always know when something was wrong with the an other sister but they did spend a lot of time dealing with their own lives and jobs which I did like.

Book 1 .. I did enjoy it .... the writing of the story felt real, not forced and being able to keep the 3 very different sisters lives and loves felt so true and the romance that started to show through their stories was great.

Anyone that picks this up will find it very enjoyable.

RATING : ♥ ♥ ♥

Dead Girls Can't Tell Secrets .... by Chelsea Ichaso

 

Piper's fall was no accident. Did someone want her dead? It's up to her sister to discover the truth in this shocking new thriller with an unreliable narrator, from the acclaimed author of Little Creeping Things.

Piper Sullivan was in a strange hiking accident last month and has been in a coma ever since. Her older sister, Savannah, can't pretend to be optimistic about it; things look bad. Piper will likely never wake up, and Savannah will never get any answers about what exactly happened.

But then Savannah finds a note in Piper's locker, inviting Piper to a meeting of their school's wilderness club...at the very place and on the very day that she fell. Which means there was a chance that Piper wasn't alone. Someone might've seen something. Worse, someone might've done something. But who would want to hurt the perfect Piper Sullivan...and why?

To discover the truth, Savannah joins the club on their weekend-long camping trip on the same mountain where her sister fell. But she better be careful; everyone in the club is a suspect, and everyone seems to be keeping secrets about that tragic day.

And Savannah? She's been keeping secrets, too...

Thanks NetGalley

Expected Publication Date : April 5th 2022

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Thanks to the publisher for providing an eARC .

I have to say this book was fantastic. From the minute that I started reading this book, I found myself sucked in to the world of Savannah and her endless search to get to the truth ... she does not believe that Piper, her sister, tried to kill herself ... but that she was pushed off the cliff, from the moment she starts to look into what actually happened on that day. Having Piper's phone with the mysterious text messages is what starts the trek to find the truth.

Throughout this story, we come across more than 1 lie, betrayals of trust, broken hearts and promises. And one secret after another - each time when Savannah thinks she has found the truth, there is another twist that pushes another person up to be the number 1 suspect.

I feel for Savannah - her parents in their own grief, do not even stop to think about her feelings, partly I guess because they didn't see past Piper and her talents ... to even appreciate Savannah, which as you can imagine didn't help the sisters to have a healthy relationship.

Friendships are tested throughout the book - and only the strong will survive at the end. A lot of what happens with the friends could happen on any day. There is a twist - a good one that I didn't see coming ... it's a really enjoyable book. I think this will be a popular book.

RATING : ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

The Rest Falls Away (The Gardella Vampire Hunters : Victoria Book 1) - by Colleen Gleason

 

Beneath the glitter of dazzling nineteenth century London Society lurks a bloodthirsty evil…
Vampires have always lived among them, quietly attacking unsuspecting debutantes and dandified lords as well as hackney drivers and Bond Street milliners. If not for the vampire slayers of the Gardella family, these immortal creatures would have long ago taken control of the world.

In every generation, a Gardella is called to accept the family legacy, and this time, Victoria Gardella Grantworth is chosen, on the eve of her debut, to carry the stake. But as she moves between the crush of ballrooms and dangerous moonlit streets, Victoria’s heart is torn between London’s most eligible bachelor, the Marquess of Rockley, and her dark, dangerous duty.

And when she comes face-to-face with the most powerful vampire in history, Victoria must ultimately make a choice between duty and love. 

Published : September 15th 2014    298 Pages   ISBN 13: 978-1931419567

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This was an enjoyable book to read - no pretty vampires in this book at all ... and once Victoria decides to take the step to become a Vampire Hunter, she relishes it and takes the roll very seriously.

Her cousin Max tries to dissuade her from getting romantically involved with anyone, let alone marrying, as he believes it's too hard to keep the life a secret ... but Victoria decides to take the plunge and marry - beginning a long spiral of events that threaten her life as well as her new husband.

The story does feel a little like it is on repeat - Victoria gets dressed up to take part in all the society events expected of her to then find an excuse to leave early to head off and go vampire hunting. It works for awhile ... but the husband begins to notice and a journey begins that even he can't climb out of.

The story was good .... I enjoyed it, once we moved on from the repetitive story.  I will definately read more of this series - it will be interesting to see where it goes ...

RATING : ♥ ♥ ♥

Immortal Memory : Book One .... by Sylvia Frances

 

 

Simra Reece, owner of Reece Alzheimer's Care Facility, is determined to prolong her grandmother's life at the home and find a cure for the horrendous illness. Nothing will stop her from taking care of her precious grandmother, who is the only family she has left. 

 

But Simra's world comes crashing down when her ex-fiance', Tristan, returns with a deadly obsession on forcing her into marriage. Tristan is a danger to Simra and her grandmother, but he isn't just any normal man. He is dark and powerful. The only chance Simra has of survival is placing her trust in his tall and handsome twin brother, Zach Hanley, who seems to have a hidden, dark past with her grandmother. Together, she and Zach must release their guilt of the past, learn to forgive, and place all their trust in Christ for their protection against the evil forces surrounding them...

 

First Published : December 8th 2014   Read on Kindle 

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I will say that this book was a little confusing in the beginning - getting my head around twin angels - one good, one bad ... both obsessed with Simra and not realising that her and her grandmother Lucinda are the only ones that can see them ...

 

There is intrigue, fantasy, inspirational moments, and moments of despair .... the story ended up with a twist at the end that brought all the romance together BUT I did feel that the book itself could have been better if we did not have to be content reading about Simra's fears all the way through the book. We knew them, so didn't need the constant reminder.

 

I did enjoy this ... but I imagined darkness all through the read of the book. I do not know if that was the intent of the author, but even the odd description of a pretty scene did not help me move on from the dark feel this book gave me.

 

RATING : ♥ ♥ ♥ 

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FREE - Summer Lake Romance Boxed Set (Books 1-3)

 

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