Monday, June 29, 2015

Magic Mirror by Michaela Thompson

Florida transplant Georgia Lee Maxwell doesn't take to Paris at first, despite the fact that she's at least leaving a no-good man and a hated job as a society editor. Now she's a Paris correspondent, thank you very much—a dream come true for any journalist.
There's just a slight down side—she arrives in freezing rain, gets caught in a traffic jam caused by a bomb scare, and hates her apartment; but the real Bonjour is finding herself face down on a museum floor during a robbery. "Killed for a boring story!" she thinks. But as it happens, she isn't the one who dies. Three terrifying masked gunmen shoot the unfortunate security guard.
They could have stolen all the treasures of Monte Cristo's cave, so to speak, but it turns out they've made off with only a mirror. True, it once belonged to the French seer Nostradamus, but it may be the museum's least valuable item.
Does it have some prophetic ability? Does someone know something the gendarmes don't? Here's what Georgia Lee knows: If she finds out first, she's a journalistic hero. If she doesn't, she's dead.
From Goodreads.


This is a suspense supposedly about the Mirror of Nostradamus, but there are other things happening as well. It didn't end as I expected but that didn't matter as I basically didn't like the main character.

This book qualifies for:
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2015
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Student Club Roster
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Summertime Mountaineering
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Diagon Alley Supply List

First Frost by Sarah Addison Allen

A magical new novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Lost Lake, featuring characters from her beloved novel Garden Spells.
Autumn has finally arrived in the small town of Bascom, North Carolina, heralded by a strange old man appearing with a beat-up suitcase. He has stories to tell, stories that could change the lives of the Waverley women forever.
From Goodreads.






This wasn't as good as the first book in the series but it was still very enjoyable. Bay knows where things belong and she also knows the boy she belongs with, but for a 15 year old that is not so easy as it sounds.
Claire seems to be so sure of herself but when she seriously doubts her identity she needs the support of her family.
I hope there will be more books about the Waverly family.

This book qualifies for:
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2015
2015 Witches & Witchcraft Challenge
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: House Elves
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Deja Vu Books
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Summertime Mountaineering
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Diagon Alley Supply List
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Pick One For Me
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Dragon Nursery
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Backpacking Around The Globe
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Hogwarts Scavenger Hunt

Sunday, June 28, 2015

A Stitch in Time by Amanda James

A stitch in time saves nine…or does it?
Sarah Yates is a thirty something history teacher, divorced, disillusioned and desperate to have more excitement in her life. Making all her dreams come true seems about as likely as climbing Everest in stilettos.
Then one evening the door bell rings and the handsome and mysterious John Needler brings more excitement than Sarah could ever have imagined. John wants Sarah to go back in time…
Sarah is whisked from the Sheffield Blitz to the suffragette movement in London to the Old American West, trying to make sure people find their happy endings. The only question is, will she ever be able to find hers?
From Goodreads.







Sarah is unhappy with her life, then John turns up and tells her she is a stitch and she needs to go back in time and fix a problem. This means she has to go back in time and save somebody. Both back in time and present time John and Sarah fall in love. This was an okay chic-lit and I might continue the series.

This book qualifies for:
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2015
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Student Club Roster
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Summertime Mountaineering
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Diagon Alley Supply List
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: the 50 States Amazing Book Hunt
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Pick One For Me
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Backpacking Around The Globe

Marked by Sarah Fine

In a broken landscape carved by environmental collapse, Boston paramedic Cacia Ferry risks life and limb on the front lines of a fragile and dangerous city. What most don’t know—including her sexy new partner, Eli Margolis—is that while Cacy works to save lives, she has another job ferrying the dead to the Afterlife. Once humans are “Marked” by Fate, the powerful Ferrys are called to escort the vulnerable souls to either eternal bliss or unending fire and pain.
Unaware of Cacy’s other life, Eli finds himself as mesmerized by his fierce and beautiful partner as he is mistrustful of the influential Ferry clan led by the Charon—who happens to be Cacy’s father. Cacy, in turn, can no longer deny her intense attraction to the mysterious ex-Ranger with a haunted past. But just as their relationship heats up, an apparent hit takes the Charon before his time. Shaken to the core, Cacy pursues the rogue element who has seized the reins of Fate, only to discover that Eli has a devastating secret of his own. Not knowing whom to trust, what will Cacy have to sacrifice to protect Eli—and to make sure humanity’s future is secure?
From Goodreads.


This is a bit different. The Fates see who has to die and the Kere marks these people. When they have died the Ferry has to help them cross. These two groups of paranormal depend on each other. This is full of love, betrayal and suspense. I will continue this series.

This book qualifies for:
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2015
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Deja Vu Books
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Harry Potter: The Ultimate Series Tour
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: School's Out, Well...Almost
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Summertime Mountaineering
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Diagon Alley Supply List
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: the 50 States Amazing Book Hunt
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Hogwarts Scavenger Hunt

Saturday, June 27, 2015

The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton

On a brisk autumn day in 1686, eighteen-year-old Nella Oortman arrives in Amsterdam to begin a new life as the wife of illustrious merchant trader Johannes Brandt. But her new home, while splendorous, is not welcoming. Johannes is kind yet distant, always locked in his study or at his warehouse office-leaving Nella alone with his sister, the sharp-tongued and forbidding Marin.
But Nella's world changes when Johannes presents her with an extraordinary wedding gift: a cabinet-sized replica of their home. To furnish her gift, Nella engages the services of a miniaturist-an elusive and enigmatic artist whose tiny creations mirror their real-life counterparts in eerie and unexpected ways . . .
Johannes' gift helps Nella to pierce the closed world of the Brandt household. But as she uncovers its unusual secrets, she begins to understand-and fear-the escalating dangers that await them all. In this repressively pious society where gold is worshipped second only to God, to be different is a threat to the moral fabric of society, and not even a man as rich as Johannes is safe. Only one person seems to see the fate that awaits them. Is the miniaturist the key to their salvation . . . or the architect of their destruction?
Enchanting, beautiful, and exquisitely suspenseful, The Miniaturist is a magnificent story of love and obsession, betrayal and retribution, appearance and truth.
From Goodreads.


When Nella gets married she expects a normal marriage but it is not to be as her husband has a major secret.
Nella is given a dolls-house, a copy of their home and starts to collect stuff for it. She orders some things from a miniaturist but what she gets are exact copies of the people and animals in the house. This is a extremely unhappy story, it is actually quite depressing but though it doesn't end happily either, it does end with a promise of a new beginning.

This book qualifies for:
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2015
I love Library books 2015
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Student Club Roster
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Harry Potter: The Ultimate Series Tour
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Summertime Mountaineering
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Diagon Alley Supply List
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: I Like Big Books Bonus Club
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Pick One For Me
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Backpacking Around The Globe 

Friday, June 26, 2015

Anomaly by K.C. King

“I was transfixed as I watched him; his skin was simply luminous in the sunlight, yet not a bead of sweat sheened his face. I could have remained entranced by him for hours, for in this state he was simply magnificent, almost – supernatural.
The spontaneous thought raised goose bumps on my arms as I saw him – I recognised him – for the first time. It wasn’t that there was something unusual about Sebastian, it was that he was entirely unusual. He was beyond human.”
22-year-old Bree Spencer hates prejudice of all kinds – especially the blatant elitism she is subjected to as a resident staffer at her aunt’s exclusive estate, Blackall Manor. So when Bree nearly winds up as road-kill on account of the wealthy Sebastian Templeton, she struggles to reconcile her inexplicable attraction to him. On the surface Sebastian epitomises all that Bree usually despises, yet her draw to him is irrefutable.
Events become decidedly more unusual upon Sebastian’s arrival as a guest at Blackall Manor. Despite her reservations, Bree finds Sebastian intriguing; but his insistence to get to know her triggers a raft of niggling suspicions – heightened by a series of strange dreams and phenomena – until eventually, she learns the truth.
Sebastian is a guardian, a powerful descendant of a sacred ethereal line; and Bree’s uncanny gift has prompted him to find her. But while an anomaly inspired their connection, an ancient prophecy and ethereal lore forbid it. And with Sebastian’s purist brother determined to honour both at any cost, an epic battle with unthinkable stakes could be Bree’s only chance at survival.
From Goodreads.


A paranormal romance. Bree thinks she is a normal human but she is actually an anomaly in a different world.
Of course she and Sebastian fall in love when it is forbidden and there is a fight between the two different sides of the Guardians. It did not end as I expected. As the next book is free on Kindle Unlimited I might continue the series

This book qualifies for:
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2015
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: I Solemnly Swear
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Summertime Mountaineering
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Diagon Alley Supply List
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Meet a Million Members
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Backpacking Around The Globe

Thursday, June 25, 2015

Young Lord of Khadora by Richard S. Tuttle

A skilled warrior gets entangled in a corrupt political world, his cunning strategies pitted against thousands who seek his death. Marak challenges the clans of Khadora and the Chula, the dreaded cat people of ancient times, in a struggle that will change the fate of the world. Young Lord of Khadora is a tale of magic, military cunning, and political intrigue set in a land where honor is everything yet deceit is everywhere. From Goodreads.





In this world, when you lie you become the slave of whoever you lied to. This is what happened to Marek's mother. Everybody also has to swear vows of service to their lord. Son's of slaves can make the choice to become soldiers instead of being slaves and this is what Marek does.
At the beginning of the book Marek is promoted and purposely sent to failure. The problem is that he does not fail and he manages to communicate with the savages instead.
It ends a bit to neatly but it was still good.

This book qualifies for:
2015 Witches & Witchcraft Challenge
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: June Challenges
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: House Elves
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Harry Potter: The Ultimate Series Tour
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: MARCHing Through Time
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Diagon Alley Supply List
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Backpacking Around The Globe
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Hogwarts Scavenger Hunt

Mordet på Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie

Considered to be one of Agatha Christie's most controversial mysteries, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd breaks all the rules of traditional mystery writing.
The peaceful English village of King’s Abbot is stunned. First, the attractive widows Ferrars dies from an overdose of veronal. Not twenty-four hours later, Roger Ackroyd—the man she had planned to marry—is murdered. It is a baffling, complex case involving blackmail, suicide, and violent death, a cast that taxes Hercule Poirot’s “little grey cells” before he reaches one of the most startling conclusions of his fabled career.
From Goodreads.






I like to read an Agatha Christie mystery sometimes. This was interesting as of course nothing is pointing towards the real murderer.

This book qualifies for:
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2015
I love Library books 2015
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Harry Potter: The Ultimate Series Tour
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: School's Out, Well...Almost
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Diagon Alley Supply List
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Meet a Million Members
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: the 50 States Amazing Book Hunt
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Backpacking Around The Globe
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Clue#2

Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Viking Fire by Andrea R. Cooper

 856 CE, Ireland is a land of myth, magic, and blood. Viking raiders have fought the Irish for over half a century. Rival Irish clans promise only betrayal and carnage.Kaireen, daughter of Laird Liannon, is suddenly forced into an arranged marriage with her sworn enemy, a Viking. She refuses to submit. With no mention of love, only land and the protection of her clan, she endeavors to get her betrothed banished from her country. Will love find its way around her stubborn heart?
Bram, the Viking, finds himself without future or inheritance as a younger son in his family. A marriage to the Laird’s daughter would grant him land if he swears fidelity and if his men will fight along with the Liannons against any foe - Irish or Viking. However, the Laird’s feisty daughter only holds animosity for him and his kind. Is marriage worth the battle scars of such a relentless opponent?
With the blame for a rival Laird’s death treacherously set against the Liannons, Kaireen and Bram must find a way to lay aside their differences as an unforeseen darkness sends death snapping at their heels. From Goodreads.

Karieen is told she has to marry a Viking, someone she sees as the enemy and oppressor of her Irish country. But betrayal and death comes not from the Vikings but from an ally. Being Danish I like that the Vikings are not the bad guys in this book.


This book qualifies for:
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2015
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Guess Who?
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Diagon Alley Supply List
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Meet a Million Members
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Dragon Nursery
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Backpacking Around The Globe
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: The Amazing Book Race

Tuesday, June 23, 2015

Julia by Ashley Merrick

When Julia unexpectedly loses the accounting job she loves, and is unable to find another position doing anything in Boston, she decides to take her best friend Emma up on her offer to come to Montana. Emma’s husband Ethan has eight brothers and one of them, Liam, has his sights set on Julia. Liam seems almost too perfect, but then Julia discovers the secret that he struggles with. Will she stick with him? From Goodreads.





A nice historical romance with a mention of depression, unfortunately saying that a simple tonic can keep it at bay.

This book qualifies for:
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2015
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: June Challenges
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: MASH with a Hufflepuff
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Diagon Alley Supply List
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Meet a Million Members
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: the 50 States Amazing Book Hunt
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Dragon Nursery

The Recovery Room by Ann Ormsby

There’s a storm brewing in the quiet town of Litchfield. A whirlwind of media attention, political debate, and anger is about to sweep through and hold the fate of three women captive. In the eye of the storm are sixteen-year-old Clara Mahoney, a lonesome girl living in a family strained by autism; Pia Fernandez, a battered wife who wants only to escape her abusive husband; and, Loren Elliot, a forty-three-year-old who can barely make ends meet with two kids in college and a husband who just lost his job. Though these women are very different, they have a great deal in common. They are each unexpectedly pregnant, scared, and in positions where they cannot devote themselves to a child. And, they all have appointments at the same abortion clinic in Litchfield. But getting there won’t be easy. Anti-choice forces—headed by a vain socialite and a self-indulgent priest—are mounting a demonstration against the clinic. Can these desperate women brave the chaos? Or will they let the public debate dictate their private decisions? An easy read that raises hard questions and then answers them in a compelling way, The Recovery Room is a book every woman should read. From Goodreads

This was interesting and it showed a few different scenarios of pregnant women. I liked that they all had their free will to decide whether to have the abortion or not. I didn't like the ending but I guess it was to show that that kind of manipulative woman / girl also exists.

This book qualifies for:
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2015
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: June Challenges
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Guess Who?
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: The Pensieve
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: School's Out, Well...Almost
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Diagon Alley Supply List
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: I Like Big Books Bonus Club
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Dragon Nursery
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Clue#2
Novel Books & Reading Challenges - Baby Got Book

Monday, June 22, 2015

Agent with a History by Guy Stanton III

It’s been one long day for Lisa and her headache is living proof of it. Most of it she blamed on the full moon outside. Things always got crazy this time of the month, but this month was exceptional. She needed sleep bad and only hoped the nightmares that haunted her would leave her alone for at least one night. They don’t. She wakes up as usual screaming only to find out that her nightmare has just begun, because she’s not alone in her room.
One man has been gruesomely tortured to death in a ritualistic killing. An entire police precinct has been reconstructed down to the smallest detail in an abandoned warehouse and a mysterious stranger known only as Flint seems to be the cause of it all. It’s a case that is fast turning into one big headache for Lisa Tauranto a detective for the NYPD, but it gets much worse when her past, that she’s tried so hard to bury, rises up to engulf her in its golden grip once again. Lisa is ripped from the existence that she so pain stakingly built for herself into a mixed up world of intrigue, where nothing is as it seems. It’s a fight to survive and to protect what she is sworn to, but will love conquer all? Will she betray her oath to be happy? Does she even have a choice anymore or does a several thousand year old mystery hold enough weight in treasure to drag her down with it? Everyone wants her dead, everyone that is but for one man who is the cause of all her upheaval in the first place. He’s an agent working for someone, but she doesn’t know who. She only hopes he’s as good as his kisses make her believe him to be.
From Goodreads.


I knew this was a Christian book when I started it but it also sounded like quite an adventure. Unfortunately it wasn't good and the end was a rip off of Indiana Jones, including Nazis.

This book qualifies for:
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2015
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Harry Potter: The Ultimate Series Tour
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Diagon Alley Supply List
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Backpacking Around The Globe
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Clue#2

En Heldig Mand by Michael J. Fox

A funny, highly personal, gorgeously written account of what it's like to be a 30-year-old man who is told he has an 80-year-old's disease."Life is great. Sometimes, though, you just have to put up with a little more crap." --Michael J. Fox
In September 1998, Michael J. Fox stunned the world by announcing he had been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease -- a degenerative neurological condition. In fact, he had been secretly fighting it for seven years. The worldwide response was staggering. Fortunately, he had accepted the diagnosis and by the time the public started grieving for him, he had stopped grieving for himself. Now, with the same passion, humor, and energy that Fox has invested in his dozens of performances over the last 18 years, he tells the story of his life, his career, and his campaign to find a cure for Parkinson's.
Combining his trademark ironic sensibility and keen sense of the absurd, he recounts his life -- from his childhood in a small town in western Canada to his meteoric rise in film and television which made him a worldwide celebrity. Most importantly however, he writes of the last 10 years, during which -- with the unswerving support of his wife, family, and friends -- he has dealt with his illness. He talks about what Parkinson's has given him: the chance to appreciate a wonderful life and career, and the opportunity to help search for a cure and spread public awareness of the disease. He is a very lucky man, indeed.
From Goodreads.


I have always liked Michael J. Fox in his various roles and of course had heard about him having Parkinson's Disease. I was surprised to learn of his alcohol abuse and how he nearly lost his family because of it.
But this book is mainly about accepting the disease and moving on to sharing it with the world. I do not read a lot of memoirs but I will read his second book as well.

This book qualifies for:
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2015
I love Library books 2015
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Student Club Roster
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Diagon Alley Supply List
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Dragon Nursery
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Hogwarts Scavenger Hunt

Sunday, June 21, 2015

Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf

On a June morning in 1923, Clarissa Dalloway, the glittering wife of a Member of Parliament, is preparing for a grand party that evening. As she walks through London, buying flowers, observing life, her thoughts are in the past, and she remembers the time when she was as young as her own daughter Elizabeth; her romance with Peter Walsh, now recently returned from India; and the friends of her youth. Elsewhere in London, Septimus Smith is being driven mad by shell shock. As the day draws to its end, his world and Clarissa's collide in unexpected ways. From Goodreads.





I should know by now that some (most) classics are not for me. This was boring and drawn out. I only read it because I needed a feminism book for a challenge. This is one of the very few books I have been close to not finishing.

This book qualifies for:
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2015
I love Library books 2015
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: MARCHing Through Time
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Diagon Alley Supply List
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Meet a Million Members
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Dragon Nursery

Saturday, June 20, 2015

Believe by Celia Juliano

After five years of caring for her father in Italy, Lita Sabatini returns home to San Francisco. Her unexpected meeting with her long-time crush, Lorenzo Calabra, complicates her homecoming, endangering both her heart and the tenuous peace in her family. Lita knows what she wants—marriage and family—and Lorenzo isn’t a likely prospect. Not only is Lorenzo her older brother’s best friend, but he’s also the city’s most infamous bachelor, and the rumors of his corrupt ways are as numerous as his women. Lita won’t compromise her dreams for Lorenzo—but she wants to believe in la grazia dell’amore, the grace of love.
For three years, Lorenzo has fought his feelings for Lita. But she’s an angel, untouchable from the hell that is his life. When she returns home, he resolves to change. His family and friends don’t believe in him, but when Lita does, he acts. Their pasts and future collide, making them each doubt themselves and their relationship. Will Lorenzo and Lita lose each other, or will they finally believe in the grace of love?
From Goodreads.


Lita is still fairly innocent while Lorenzo, under pressure from his father, has done a lot - not quite illegal but close. Nice enough romance but a bit too unbelievable for my taste. 

This book qualifies for:
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2015
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Diagon Alley Supply List
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: the 50 States Amazing Book Hunt
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Backpacking Around The Globe
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Clue#2

The Bakery By The Seaside by De-ann Black

After splitting up with her boyfriend of four years, April leaves the city behind to start a new life by the sea.
When she arrives at the small coastal town on the West Coast of Scotland, she takes a chance and leases the old-fashioned bakery house at the seaside. She has the spring and summer to try and build up her bakery business and make it work. Baking bread is her favourite - fresh crusty bread, white bloomers, whisky loaves and tea bread, along with pink-iced sticky buns.
Romance isn't part of her business plan, but then Shawn the local eye candy and boat repair man, and Campbell the owner of the mansion on the large country estate, vie for her affections. And April has to decide which side her bread is buttered.
In the beautiful seaside town with its local gossips and scandalmongers, there's only one thing for sure - no one knows the name of Alec the chicken.
From Goodreads.




Another sweet, light and short romance from De-ann Black. Easily read in a couple of hours.

This book qualifies for:
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2015
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Harry Potter: The Ultimate Series Tour
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Diagon Alley Supply List
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Backpacking Around The Globe

Friday, June 19, 2015

All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot

Take an unforgettable journey through the English countryside and into the homes of its inhabitants-- four-legged and otherwise-- with the world's best-loved animal doctor.
For over 25 years-- since All Creatures Great and Small was first published-- readers have delighted to the storytelling genius of James Herriot, the Yorkshire veterinarian whose fascinating vignettes brim with the wonder of life, animal and human.
Whether struggling mightily to position a calf for birthing, or comforting a lonely old man whose beloved dog and only companion has died, Herriot's heartwarming and often hilarious stories of his first years as a country vet perfectly depict the wonderful relationship between man and animal-- and they intimately portray a man whose humor, compassion , and love of life are truly inspiring.
  From Goodreads.





I have always enjoyed these stories set in the Yorkshire Dales in northern England. I remember seeing the show on TV and it was always funny. 

This book qualifies for:
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2015
I love Library books 2015
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: June Challenges
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Student Club Roster
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Guess Who?
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: MARCHing Through Time
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Summertime Mountaineering
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Diagon Alley Supply List
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: I Like Big Books Bonus Club
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Meet a Million Members
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: the 50 States Amazing Book Hunt
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Dragon Nursery
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Backpacking Around The Globe
Novel Books & Reading Challenges - Baby Got Book

The Vintage Sewing and Knitting Bee by De-ann Black

Ilona leaves Edinburgh city and goes to live in a lovely little cottage in rural Scotland. She enjoys living quietly until she joins the local vintage sewing and knitting bee run by Flora. Although Ilona becomes friends with the ladies and is welcomed into their bee, they also get up to mischief making, especially when it comes to men and romance.
The ladies are intrigued to find out that one of their neighbours, handsome dancer Etive, dances half naked in his garden at night. And then there’s the well-built builder Greig to contend with.
While making sparkly vintage dresses for parties and dinner dances, knitting everything from shawls and tea cosies to scarves and skirts, Ilona and the ladies get up to all sorts of mischief and mayhem.
From Goodreads.






Another short, cute and cosy romance from De-ann Black. I still like the way the stories are set in Scotland and also that they are quite creative. I am not very good at either sewing or knitting but it is cosy to read about it.

This book qualifies for:
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2015
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Harry Potter: The Ultimate Series Tour
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Diagon Alley Supply List
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Backpacking Around The Globe
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Hogwarts Scavenger Hunt

Tuesday, June 16, 2015

Murder at Jade Cove by Dianne Harman

Was it the environmental activist enamored with spotted owls, someone from the local Native American tribe, Jeff’s son, Jeff’s wife, or his wife’s lover? Join Kelly, the owner of Kelly’s Koffee Shop, her boxer dog, Rebel, and her fiancé, Mike, the county sheriff, as they try and catch the person who killed Jeff Black.
Well, it’s not as if no one wanted Jeff dead. He had enemies. There were a lot of people who didn’t want to see his property turned into a commercial hotel and spa. Finding suspects won’t be hard to do, but finding out who killed him will be. No one would ever nominate Jeff for the “Most Popular Citizen Award.” This is going to be a nightmare for Mike. I wonder how I can help him, Kelly thought.
From Goodreads.








It is not long ago that I read the first book in this series and this was not very different from the first. Kelly still got too involved in solving a murder and butts into her boyfriend's, the sheriff, case. It was okay.

This book qualifies for:
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2015
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: House Elves
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Harry Potter: The Ultimate Series Tour
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Diagon Alley Supply List
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Dragon Nursery
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Backpacking Around The Globe
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Hogwarts Scavenger Hunt

Monday, June 15, 2015

Brotherhood of the Fin: A Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer's Story by Gerald R. Hoover

When survivors began crawling up through the hole, I saw that things could get out of hand quickly. I signaled for Scott to join me and went to talk to the apparent leader.
"How many in this building?"
"I don't know, twenty-five, maybe one hundred."
More heads popped up through the hole as I listened. We needed some control to prevent someone from being blown off the roof and to stave off panic. Scott was disconnecting from the hook when I realized we were not going to be able to rescue everyone. There were just too many.
When Scott reached me I told him, "I'm going to find as many elderly and sick as possible. Find out how many we can take."
Jerry Hoover retired from the Coast Guard in May 2006 with more deployments than any other rescue swimmer in the history of the program. His career ended with the greatest searchand- rescue effort in the history of mankind, Katrina. In Brotherhood of the Fin, Jerry recounts his transformation from ordinary Joe to seasoned life-saving veteran.
Narrow escapes and heartbreaking life-and-death decisions are a part of every swimmer's life. Jerry puts us in the middle of the action as we discover how he learns to overcome the fear of his own death, put mission above personal feelings, and live with the responsibility of being someone's last hope.
From Goodreads.

I sometimes find it scary the way disaster pulls me in and I just want to know more. Luckily this book about the birth of the Coast Guard and how it has developed since was a lot more about the rescues. I have a lot of respect for these guys both the swimmers and the rest of the crews on the rescue helicopters that goes out in any weather to save people.

This book qualifies for:
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2015
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Dragon Nursery
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Backpacking Around The Globe
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: The Amazing Book Race

The Whale Rider by Witi Ihimaera

Eight-year-old Kahu, a member of the Maori tribe of Whangara, New Zealand, fights to prove her love, her leadership, and her destiny. Her people claim descent from Kahutia Te Rangi, the legendary "whale rider." In every generation since Kahutia, a male heir has inherited the title of chief. But now there is no male heir, and the aging chief is desperate to find a successor. Kahu is his only great-grandchild--and Maori tradition has no use for a girl. But when hundreds of whales beach themselves and threaten the future of the Maori tribe, it is Kahu who saves the tribe when she reveals that she has the whale rider's ancient gift of communicating with whales. From Goodreads.





The main character in this book is eight year old Kahu but I like the way it is told from her uncle Rawiri's point of view.
Having lived in Greenland and seen a few whales I liked the description of whales. It was also cute with Kahu loving her grandfather so much even though he didn't want anything to do with her. And then Nanny Flowers, the grandmother, is quite a character and she made me giggle several times.

This book qualifies for:
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2015
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: June Challenges
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Meet a Million Members
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Backpacking Around The Globe
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: The Amazing Book Race
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Clue#2
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Hogwarts Scavenger Hunt

Sunday, June 14, 2015

Captured In Ink by Donna McDonald

When a one-night stand turns out to be the woman of his dreams, 27 yr old Shane Larson ends up taking a giant detour as the universe sends him to 34 yr old Reesa Callahan’s front door. There he finds not just the woman he wants, but a whole family that seems to need him.
Being in love with Reesa is just as rewarding as his father predicted, but does he have what it takes to love them all?
From Goodreads.






I really liked this book. Shane has to work hard to prove his love for both Reesa and her four charges. It is interesting to see the difference in the way the four kids are coping with the loss of their parents and seeing them desperate to stay together.
Reese only had enough energy for a one night stand as she is battling her charges' grandparents who want to split the kids and trying to prove an income big enough to support her and the kids. There is no room in her life for a permanent boyfriend and especially a guy too young to be a responsible person.
I will definitely read more books by Donna McDonald.

This book qualifies for:
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2015
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: June Challenges
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Guess Who?
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Harry Potter: The Ultimate Series Tour
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Meet a Million Members
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Dragon Nursery
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Backpacking Around The Globe
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Clue#2

Saturday, June 13, 2015

Marked by Elisabeth Naughton

THERON – Dark haired, duty bound and deceptively deadly. He’s the leader of the Argonauts, an elite group of guardians that defends the immortal realm from threats of the Underworld.
From the moment he walked into the club, Casey knew this guy was different. Men like that just didn’t exist in real life—silky shoulder-length hair, chest impossibly broad, and a predatory manner that just screamed dark and dangerous. He was looking for something. Her.
She was the one. She had the mark. Casey had to die so his kind could live, and it was Theron’s duty to bring her in. But even as a 200-year-old descendent of Hercules, he wasn’t strong enough to resist the pull in her fathomless eyes, to tear himself away from the heat of her body.
As war with the Underworld nears, someone will have to make the ultimate sacrifice.
From Goodreads.






This was okay and the mix of mythology and modern day is good. I liked Casey who dealt with things well even when she didn't understand them. I didn't like the Argoleans much and I am not sure if I am going to continue this series.

This book qualifies for:
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2015
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: June Challenges
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Student Club Roster
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Deja Vu Books
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: The Game of Life
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: School's Out, Well...Almost
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Summertime Mountaineering
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Diagon Alley Supply List
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Meet a Million Members
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Dragon Nursery
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Backpacking Around The Globe
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Hogwarts Scavenger Hunt

Wednesday, June 10, 2015

The Beemaster’s Cottage. by De-ann Black

Aurora comes back to live in a cottage in the Scottish Highlands, leaving her life as a magazine editor in London behind. She plans to start up an exciting new online magazine featuring sewing, knitting, papercrafts, embroidery, colouring in, scrapbooking and all sorts of popular crafts.
Although she grew up in the area, she had a reputation as a trouble maker.
The women from the local sewing and knitting bee are sceptical of her reasons for coming back, but soon become involved in Aurora’s new craft magazine. She also attracts the attention of the handsome beemaster, Bredon.
There’s romance news about Mairead and the flower hunter — and about the dressmaker’s apprentice, Tiree. The dressmaker contributes an exclusive tea dress pattern to Aurora’s magazine. The dressmaker also thinks that someone will get married this year. None of the women think they’ll be setting a date for a wedding — but the dressmaker is never wrong.
From Goodreads.


Another cute short romance story from De-ann Black. It is a cosy and quick read.

This book qualifies for:
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2015
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Harry Potter: The Ultimate Series Tour
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Diagon Alley Supply List
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: the 50 States Amazing Book Hunt
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Backpacking Around The Globe

Tuesday, June 9, 2015

Summer at Sea by Beth Labonte

Four jackets of varying weights, enough socks for the entire Confederate Army, three umbrellas, most of the antacid aisle from the local pharmacy, and six pairs of old people sneakers that all look exactly the same.
Have you ever helped your parents pack for a weeklong cruise?
No? I didn't think so. So shut it.
So begins vacation for Summer Hartwell - twenty-six years old, living with her anxiety-ridden parents, and unwillingly booked by her brother on a weeklong cruise to Bermuda. Despite the nightmare of being trapped aboard a cruise ship with Mom and Dad, Summer sees a rare opportunity to fulfill The Prophecy – her mother’s declaration that she will live at home until she gets married. With two thousand passengers onboard, at least one of them must be husband material, right?
The only problem is Graham Blenderman – her brother’s best friend who is joining them for the week, in all of his tall, blonde, extroverted glory. Graham doesn’t believe Summer needs a husband in order to break free from her parents. He thinks she just needs a little bit of nerve. And to Summer’s introverted horror, he’s willing to spend the entire week proving that he’s right.
 
From Goodreads.

This was a very light, slightly funny and very quick read. Nothing special but still okay.

This book qualifies for:
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2015
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: June Challenges
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: House Elves
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Guess Who?
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Summertime Mountaineering
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Meet a Million Members
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: the 50 States Amazing Book Hunt
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Pick Your Fate Adventure Challenge
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Backpacking Around The Globe
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Clue#2