My Stubborn Heart, book #16

 

Here I am half way through the alphabet!  

Super cute book with lots of God and lots of fun and some honest and realistic people.  10/10.

Kate Donovan is burned out on work, worn down by her dating relationships, and in need of an adventure. When her grandmother asks Kate to accompany her to Redbud, Pennsylvania, to restore the grand old house she grew up in, Kate jumps at the chance, takes a leave of absence from her job as a social worker, and the two of them set off.  Upon her arrival in Redbud, Kate meets Matt Jarreau, the man her grandmother has hired to renovate the house. From the first moment she meets Matt, Kate can't help but be attracted to him--he's got a combination of good looks and charisma that draw and tug at her. But she knows there's zero chance of a romance between them. Matt's in love with his dead wife, and even if he weren't, Kate realizes that she's way too ordinary for him. For Matt Jarreau is no ordinary guy. Kate discovers that he was once a great NHL hockey player who left the sport when his wife--an honest-to-goodness former Miss America--was diagnosed with brain cancer. Matt's been hiding from people, from God, and from his past ever since. Yet Kate is absolutely determined to befriend him, to try to reach him, to help him in some small way.  No, Kate's not looking for love. She knows better than that by now. But when the stilted, uncomfortable interactions between Kate and Matt slowly shift into something more, is God finally answering the longing of her heart? Or will Kate be required to give up more than she ever dreamed?  (picture and description at Amazon)

Several "N" books to chose from, wonder what will be next?!?

Keep reading!

Melissa

Love Unexpected, book #15

 

I wasn't sure I was going to like this book initially, but in the end I absolutely loved it.  Yes, some things need to be kept in the past, but some things need to be said.  Sweet story of good things for undeserving people finally coming around.

All Emma Chambers ever wanted was a home, but when her steamboat sinks just outside Presque Isle, she's left destitute and with no place to stay.  An unlikely solution arises when the lighthouse keeper arrives in town. He's just lost his wife and is having a difficult time caring for his child. So a traveling preacher gets the idea that the keeper and Emma might be the answer to each other's dilemma. After a hasty marriage, she finds herself heading to the lighthouse with this handsome but quiet stranger. Nothing in her aimless life, though, has prepared her for parenting a rambunctious toddler, as well as managing a household.  Emma soon suspects Patrick may be hiding something from her, and then she hears a disturbing rumor about the circumstances surrounding his late wife's death. It seems as if her wish for a home and family of her own could end up leading her once more into turbulent waters.  (pictures and description at Amazon)

Happy Spring and Sunshine!  Keep reading!

Melissa

Kiss the Bride : Three Summer Love Stories, book #14

 

I had a really hard time finding a "K" book because apparently I only had one in my vast collection!! And I even looked at my "real books" too!  I guess if I make it back around again some time I'll just have to read a book on Korea or something.  😆

Meet the people who make it all happen—the photographers, chefs, and the writers who have helped orchestrate and document the perfect day for countless couples—as they find their own happy endings in three sweet novellas.

Picture Perfect Love: A June Wedding Story by Melissa McClone

When image becomes everything, it’s up to love to refocus the heart. Photographer Jenna Harrison wants every bride and groom to look picture perfect on their special day. But her own heart is still broken, the unworn wedding dress hanging in her closet a reminder that relationships aren’t always as perfect as they look through her camera lens. Attorney Ashton Vance is the one that got away, but he wrongly blamed Jenna for ruining his political aspirations. Even if Jenna can forgive him, dare he hope for a second chance at her love?

I Hope You Dance: A July Wedding Story by Robin Lee Hatcher

Will a sworn bachelor determined to stay single fall in love with his dance teacher? Grant Nichols is a genius in the kitchen and a klutz on the dance floor. But his friend’s wedding is shaping up to be a shindig the likes of which Kings Meadow has never seen—including dancing. Lots of dancing. Former rodeo queen Skye Foster is offering dance lessons for the wedding party. Grant and Skye are no match on paper. But when they step onto the dance floor, they create a melody all their own.

Love on a Deadline: An August Wedding Story by Kathryn Springer

MacKenzie “Mac” Davis returns to her hometown of Red Leaf, Wisconsin, and takes a job at the weekly newspaper writing about social events. When Hollis Channing, Mac’s high school nemesis, returns to Red Leaf to marry her celebrity fiancé, the editor asks Mac to cover all the festivities for the newspaper. The last thing Mac wants to do is reconnect with the person who made her life miserable when she was a teenager . . . unless it’s spending time with Ethan Channing, the bride’s older brother—and Mac’s first crush.  (picture and description at Amazon)

Luckily my next book was easier to pick out!

Keep reading!

Melissa

Juliette and the Monday ManDates, book #13

 

Katie drew this one for me as well and it was another winner!  Cute, funny, serious, silly, all the things I love in a book.  Except, OOPS!  Its the first in a series and now I want to read all of them!!

Juliette is perfectly content with her quiet nights at home alone, especially when they include Mr. Yu's takeout and sappy RomComs.  But her sisters think she’s teetering on the brink of spinsterhood. So they've come up with an intervention plan: weekly blind dates until their Jules finds her knight in shining armor… or until they run out of single guy friends.  They’re calling it The Monday ManDates.  Survival skills kicking in, Juliette secretly names each new Monday man. There’s TheraPaul, Frisky Frank, and TAZ the Rock Star, for starters. Then there’s the Officer Manly Man, the policeman with a penchant for pulling Juliette over when she’s at her very worst.  With a lineup like that, positively identifying her happily-ever-after seems like a long shot.  Then again, maybe, just maybe, she’s looking for love in all the wrong places. (picture and description at Amazon)

Next up is a "K" book and it has been a bit of a challenge as I had ONE "K" book.  I even checked in my "The " books and "A " books -- none.  I even went through my lenghty Book List on Amazon and looked through all the books on my shelves.  So I guess I will read this one and then I'll won't be able to read "K" books after this, unless I can find another one!

Happy Reading!

Melissa

The Inn at Ocean's Edge, book #12

 

Oh my word!!  Katie was home this past week on Spring Break, so I let her pick my next two books.  She is definately just as good of a picker as Roger is because this one HIT THE BALL OUT OF THE PARK!!!  It has been a while since I read a Colleen Coble book and I had forgotten how good she was.  This one will have you sitting on the edge of your seat - or bed! - through out the entire thing.

In 1989, Claire Dellamare disappeared from her own fourth birthday party at the Hotel Tourmaline on the island of Folly Shoals, Maine. She showed up a year later at the same hotel, with a note pinned to her dress but no explanation. Nobody knows where Claire spent that year—and until now, Claire didn’t even know she had ever been missing.  But when Claire returns to the Hotel Tourmaline for a business meeting with her CEO father, disturbing memories begin to surface . . . despite her parents’ best efforts to keep them forgotten.  Luke Rocco lost his mother under equally mysterious circumstances—at the same time Claire disappeared. After a chance encounter reveals the unlikely link between them, Claire and Luke set out together to uncover the truth about what happened that fateful year.  With flashbacks swimming just beneath her consciousness and a murderer threatening her safety, Claire’s very life depends on unscrambling her past . . . even if her family refuses to acknowledge it. Someone—maybe everyone—is hiding something from Claire, and it could cost her everything to drag the truth out into the light.  (book and description from Amazon)

I hope the next one Katie picked out is just as amazing!

Keep Reading!

Melissa

Heart's Awakening, book #11

 

I wasn't sure if I was going to like this or not, it's got a pretty basic plot line: pioneer/out west etc widower man with kid/kids needs help, marries "in name only" a widow/spinster etc but then they probably end up falling in love.

Yes, that is how this one ended up also (of course, no surprises) but the way they get there is always a ride.  I'd recommend it, even if you might be bored with the story type.

With no means to support herself, Ellie Kilmer agrees to work as a housekeeper for the young widower who lives on Dillon Island, hopeful she can obtain a proper reference. But Jackson Smith quickly realizes that Ellie's presence may solve his own problems--both the rearing of his young boys and the scandal that surrounds his first marriage. When a marriage of convenience is offered, Ellie is initially humiliated. Though she is past the age most women marry, she has more pride than to agree to his outlandish suggestion. Yet what options does she have? To marry would mean a home and stability. So despite the rumors circling Jackson and his first wife, Ellie accepts this unlikely proposal... (picture and description at Amazon)

As I venture into an "I" book, it occurred to me I need to adjust a little how I am going about this.  In my large and somewhat clunky spreadsheets I simply have all the books whose title starts with "The" under T.  So no wonder sometimes there weren't very many books for a particular letter.  From now on, I'm going to adjust my "picking list" to include books that start with "The" where the second word starts with whatever letter I am working on at the time.  

Keep Reading!

Melissa

Georgia on Her Mind, book #10

 

After the intensity of the other one, this was a fun, quick read.  Rachel Hauck never fails to entertain.  Although it was like eating cotton candy, it was still yummy!

On a sunny Monday morning, Macy Moore was on the fast track to success. By noon, all of her dreams were derailed.  Macy Moore skedaddled from her hometown of Beauty, Georgia to Florida in order to make her own way in the world. Successful and happy, she couldn’t be more proud of her corporate executive job, her just-perfect boyfriend and her beach side condo. But it all falls apart when reads the first email of the day. She’s demoted to the lowest rung on the corporate ladder . . . and dumped! She goes from being “someone” to a being “nobody,” all on the eve of returning home to emcee her high school reunion.  Thank goodness for the “Single Saved Sisters.” With loyal friends Lucy, Adriane and Tamara by her side, Macy retreats to the House of Joe for coffee, consolation and heart-to-heart consultation. Can they help her put her life back together? Yet it's when her former heartthrob, Dylan, shows up on her doorstep, that Macy begins to realize that leaving Beauty, Georgia took her away from everything in life she really loved. (picture and description from Amazon)

Keep Reading!

Melissa