Tuesday, November 30, 2010

2010 Support Your Local Library Reading Challenge

I signed up to read 100 books for this challenge and I have just completed reading my 100th book. WOO HOO!!!!!!!!!!

I am so grateful to have a great selection of library books to choose from at the different libraries that I visit.

1 - The Perfect Christmas - Debbie Macomber
2 - A Friend Like Henry - Nuala Gardner
3 - Alone Together Making An Asperger Marriage Work - Katrin Bentley
6 - Winter Roses - Diana Palmer
7 - Search For A New Dawn - Barbara Delinsky
8 - While My Sister Sleeps - Barbara Delinsky
9 - The Rancher's Doorstep Baby - Patricia Thayer
10 - Bought: One Damsel In Distress - Lucy King
11 - The Secret Between Us - Barbara Delinsky
12 - The Dream - Barbara Delinsky
13 - The Dream Unfolds - Barbara Delinsky
14 - The Dream Comes True - Barbara Delinsky
15 - Looking For Peyton Place - Barbara Delinsky
16 - Louder Than Words - Jenny McCarthy
17 - Facets - Barbara Delinsky
18 - Fireproof - Eric Wilson
19 - Cindy And The Prince - Debbie Macomber
20 - Some Kind Of Wonderful - Debbie Macomber
21 - Almost Paradise - Debbie Macomber
22 - The Rancher's Request - Stella Bagwell
23 - Family Tree - Barbara Delinsky
24 - Parents In Training - Barbara McMahon
25 - Hearts Divided
5-B Poppy Lane - Debbie Macomber
Liberty Hall - Lois Faye Dyer
The Apple Orchard - Katherine Stone
25 - 92 Pacific Boulevard - Debbie Macomber
26 - Virgin River - Robyn Carr
27 - The Memory Keepers Daughter - Kim Edwards
28 - Mending Fences - Sherryl Woods
29 - Accidentally Yours - Susan Mallery
30 - Not My Daughter - Barbara Delinsky
31 - Shelter Mountain - Robyn Carr
32 - Whispering Rock - Robyn Carr
33 - A Virgin River Christmas - Robyn Carr
34 - Second Chance Pass - Robyn Carr
35 - The Telling - Beverly Lewis
36 - Through My Eyes - Barbara Delinsky
37 - Temptation Ridge - Robyn Carr
38 - Sizzling - Susan Mallery
39 - House Rules - Jodi Picoult
40 - The Ocean Between Us - Susan Wiggs
41 - Summer By The Sea - Susan Wiggs
42 - Paradise Valley - Robyn Carr
43 - That Holiday Feeling
Silver Bells - Debbie Macomber
The Perfect Holiday - Sherryl Woods
Under The Christmas Tree - Robyn Carr
44 - Forbidden Falls - Robyn Carr
45 - Hannah's List - Debbie Macomber
46 - Prey - Lurlene McDaniel
47 - Shades Of Blue - Karen Kingsbury
48 - Protector Of One - Rachel Lee
49 - Life Among The Dead - Lisa Williams
50 - Just Breathe - Susan Wiggs
51 - Dear To Me - Wanda E Brunstetter
52 - Allison's Journey - Wanda E Brunstetter
53 - Love In Bloom - Sheila Roberts
54 - Dear John - Nicholas Sparks
55 - All Together Now - Monica McInerney
56 - On A Snowy Night - Debbie Macomber
The Christmas Basket
The Snow Bride
57 - The Lacemakers Of Glenmara - Heather Barbieri
58 - Fields Of Grace - Kim Vogel Sawyer
59 - A Lawman For Christmas - Maria Ferrarella
60 - Merry Christmas, Cowboy! - Cindy Kirk
61 - Crossing Paths - Dianne Blacklock
62 - Nineteen Miniutes - Jodi Picoult
63 - Once In Every Life - Kristin Hannah
64 - Waiting For The Moon - Kristin Hannah
65 - Can't Wait to Get To Heaven - Fannie Flagg
66 - The attleman's Adopted Family - Barbara Hannay
67 - Cowboy & Wills - Monica Halloway
68 - Silver Bells - Ferm Michaels
Dear Santa - JoAnn Ross
Christmas Past - Mary Burton
A Mulberry Park Christmas - Judy Duarte
69 - The Scoop - Fern Michaels
70 - Exclusive - Fern Michaels
71 - Executive: Expecting Tiny Twins - Barbara Hannay
72 - The Sheikh And The Christmas Bride - Susan Mallery
73 - The Heart Mender - Andy Andrews
74 - A Summer In Sonoma - Robyn Carr
75 - Lifted - Wendy Toliver
76 - Cancer Is A Bitch - Gail Konop Baker
77 - The Perfect Mother - Margaret Leroy
78 - Talk Before Sleep - Elizabeth Berg
79 - The Newborn Gift - Nikki Logan
80 - Magic Hour - Kristin Hannah
81 - Attitude Plus - Tony Christiansen
82 - Honk If You Love Real Men
Naughty Girl - Carrie Alexander
Wanted : One Hot Blooded Man - Pamela Britton
Have Mercy - Susan Donovan
Reno's Choice - Lora Leigh
83 - Mr and Miss Anonymous - Fern Michaels
84 - 1022 Evergreen Place - Debbie Macomber
85 - The Thorn - Beverly Lewis
86 - Family Ties - Danielle Steel
87 - A Morning Like This - Deborah Bedford
88 - A Cousin's Promise - Wanda E Brunstetter
89 - A Cousin's Prayer - Wanda E Brunstetter
90 - A Cousin's Challenge - Wanda E Brunstetter
91 - Call Me Mrs Miracle - Debbie Macomber
92 - Unwrapping Christmas - Lori Copeland
93 - Mixed Blessings My Psychic Life - Diane Lazarus
94 - The Gift - Nora Roberts
Home For Christams
All If Want For Christmas
95 - Unlocked - Karen Kingsbury
96 - The Inn At Eagle Point - Sherryl Woods
97 - Flowers On Main - Sherryl Woods
98 - The Sound Of Sleigh Bells - Cindy Woodsmall
99 - Welcome To Harmony - Jodi Thomas
100 - Shadow Of Lancaster County - Mindy Starns Clark

THIS CHALLENGE IS NOW COMPLETE


Shadows Of Lancaster County - Mindy Starns Clark

Shadows Of Lancaster County - Mindy Starns Clark
Centre Point Large Print
Amish Fiction
ISBN : 978-1-60285-398-0
Hardback Largeprint : 507 pages

BOOK SNYOPSIS:

Anna thought she left the tragedies of the past behind when she moved from Pennsylvania to California, but when her brother vanishes from the genetics lab where he works, Anna has no choice but to head back home. Using skills well-honed in Silicon Valley, she follows the high-tech trail her brother left behind, a trail that leads from the simple world of Amish farming to the cutting edge of DNA research and gene mapping.

Anna knows she must depend on her instincts, her faith in God, and the help of the Amish community to find her brother. She also must finally face her own shadows - and pray that she's stronger than the grief that threatens to overwhelm them all.

This is the first book I have read by Mindy Starns Clark and it won't be the last. This was a suspenseful stand alone mystery featuring the Amish. I always enjoy reading about the Amish and was an interesting change to read one with a mystery theme.

The story opens with Bobby being chased in the dark on his motorbike which he had borrowed by an unknown car which seems to want him dead for some reason. He takes a calculated risk which sees the motorbike he is riding leave the road and catapults him over a concrete fence as thoughts run through his head wondering if this is going to be his last moments alive on earth.

Bobby has a wife Lydia and son Isaac. Lydia rings Bobby's sister Anna in a panic concerned as to what to do as Bobby has gone missing and contacted her to insist that she move to stay with her Amish family where she will be able to be kept safe and to contact Anna as she will know what to do and work out how to find Bobby.

Anna had adopted a new identity and created a life for herself as a skip-jumper after an incident in her youth which left her with a criminal record. She is rather reluctant to have to return home to face all the memories from the past and know that the media will have a field day wanting to drag up her past and mix it in with the present day disappearance of her brother Bobby.

After the phone call from Lydia their is an intruder in the house of Lydia's friend Kiki where she has been staying and he injuries Kiki and then attempts to attack Anna as he demands to know where the Beauharnais Rubies are. Anna is totally unaware of anything about the Beauharnias Rubies and so her journey begins.

Anna begins searching for her brother and intertwined in the story is how the Beauharnais Rubies came to be and what they are to mean to Anna and her family. Bobby's work involves DNA and his friends Doug and Reed were also involved working with the same DNA company. Bobby has revealed some illegal gene mapping that has occurred and due to snooping to find out more is how his good friend Doug ended up dead and how he nearly ended up the same way himself. The book reveals some rather interesting twists and turns involving Bobby and Lydia's son Isaac, their old Amish neighbours and a genetic gene that has killed several Amish children.

This is a well written story where Mindy gives us an insight into the Amish and their forgiving Christian nature, romance between Anna and her friend Reed from the Dreiheit Five as they struggle with the romance between them which began in their youth, the mystery of the Beauharnais Rubies and DNA research where Bobby, Doug and Reed worked.

To learn more about Mindy Starns Clark you can check out here blog here.....


and a video clip on You Tube promoting her book here....








Saturday, November 20, 2010

The Inn At Eagle Point - Sherryl Woods

The Inn At Eagle Point - Sherryl Woods
Mira Books
Contemporary Romance
ISBN : 978 1 741 16850 1
Paperback : 384 pages
Book 1 - Chesapeake Shores

BOOK SYNOPSIS:

It's been years since Abby O'Brien Winters set foot in Chesapeake Shores. The Maryland town her father built has too many sad memories and Abby too few spare moments, thanks to her demanding Wall Street career, the crumbling of her marriage and energetic twin daughters. Then one panicked phone call from her youngest sister brings her racing back home to protect Jess's dream of renovating the charming Inn at Eagle Point.

But saving the inn from foreclosure means dealing not only with her own fractured family, but also with Trace Riley, the man Abby left ten years ago. Trace can be a roadblock to her plans.or proof that second chances happen in the most unexpected ways.

This is book 1 in the Chesapeake Shores series.

The story opens with Abby a then 17 year old catching her mother sneaking out to leave the family for good. Abby is shocked how she could just walk out and abandon her and her brothers.

The story goes on to explain their lives 15 years later. Abby has been left in change along with her gran to raise her sisters and brothers while her father Mick is away a large percentage of the time with his business. Abby has made a name for herself as a financial whiz at Wall Street in New York. She is divorced with five year old twin girls.

One day Abby receives a phone call from her sister Jess requesting that she return home to Chesapeake Shore and help out with an urgent matter. She doesn't want to have to explain the situation on the telephone but needs Abby's help. Abby along with her girls arrive at Chesapeake Shores curious as to what the problem is.

Jess is the member of the family that has never really settled into do anything seriously. Little do the other family members know but she has bought a house she is in the process of renovating and turning into an inn. Due to her ADD tendencies Jess does not always follow through with things like she should have and being late and skipping mortgage payments etc... ends up with having the bank considering her a high risk and talking of foreclosure of the inn. Jess does not want to put her dream of opening an inn at risk and with Abby being a financial whiz has called on her help in her time of need to find a working solution and be able to help her keep the inn.

The O'Brien family are quite surprised with Jess buying the inn and the great job she has been doing renovating and making a real go of it. The O'Brien family have been somewhat dysfunctional but all start to draw together again to help Jess and her inn.

In the meantime Abby is having to face her old flame Trace Filey. He has also been requested from his family to return to Chesapeake Shores as his father wants him to take over the bank and run it. One of Trace's first jobs at the bank is to take over the case file of the foreclosure on Jess and her inn. It is through a bank meeting that Trace and Abby come to meet up again after so many years apart. Trace realises that no matter how much time has passed he still hasn't managed to get over Abby being the love of his life.

The story goes on to reveal what happens with Jess and the inn, Abby and Trace and the rest of the O'Brien family members.

A great read that had me turning the pages to find out what would happen next. There was a great mix of characters in the book that blended together well. You could easily imagine the events in the story happening to any family and always interesting to see how different issues that arise are able to be resolved and how they go about achieving this especially where affairs of the heart are involved.

I look forward to reading the rest of the books in this series.

If you would like to find about more about Sherryl Woods and her books then you can check out her website here....