BOOKS! (AKA What I've Read Recently)

 Hey Y'all!

I've got four to share this time, and there were none I didn't like (yay). All these are from a pallet of books we split with our friends while in Ohio. Out of the 8 large totes we kept one, and there were 3 nobody was interested in, so those are listed on Facebook Marketplace.

Let's get started!

1) Fatal Flaw, Ginna Gray

A serial killer is targeting the women of Mears, Colorado, and so far the police have nothing to go on. Detective Casey O’Toole is assigned to jump-start the investigation, and she discovers two unsettling facts: the victims were all patients of a prominent plastic surgeon, and each of them bears an uncanny resemblance to herself.

Ruled out as a suspect, Dr. Mark Adams offers to assist Casey in any way he can and, despite her resistance, their relationship quickly turns personal. The pressure on Casey to find the killer mounts steadily as terror grips the small mountain community. Then a stunning twist leads Casey to the deadly truth—and to the face of a killer nearly as familiar as her own.

Unlike some of the reviews, I didn't catch on to who the killer was as easily (though it was obviously not the doctor). I enjoyed the look at both sides of Casey's life- work, and family. I could have done with more of the actual police work, and less lead up to romance but it was a decent balance. This is the first book I've read by the author, and it's a good enough read I'd easily pick up another.

2) Looking For Alaska, John Green

I've seen movies based on his books before, but never read any of his work.

I didn't know this book was adapted to a mini-series, maybe I'll check that out. I did enjoy the book, even though it's YA. The characters are well written, and I could really "see" then and their surroundings. The end however, is kinda crap.

 First drink. First prank. First friend. First love.

Last words.

Miles Halter is fascinated by famous last words—and tired of his safe life at home. He leaves for boarding school to seek what the dying poet François Rabelais called the “Great Perhaps.” Much awaits Miles at Culver Creek, including Alaska Young, who will pull Miles into her labyrinth and catapult him into the Great Perhaps.

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Before. Miles “Pudge” Halter is done with his safe life at home. His whole life has been one big non-event, and his obsession with famous last words has only made him crave “the Great Perhaps” even more (Francois Rabelais, poet). He heads off to the sometimes crazy and anything-but-boring world of Culver Creek Boarding School, and his life becomes the opposite of safe. Because down the hall is Alaska Young. The gorgeous, clever, funny, sexy, self-destructive, screwed up, and utterly fascinating Alaska Young. She is an event unto herself. She pulls Pudge into her world, launches him into the Great Perhaps, and steals his heart. Then. . . .
After. Nothing is ever the same.

3) Morning Glory, LaVyrle Spencer

This too was a first from the author for me. I really enjoyed it. It was just a nice heartfelt story. The characters were written so well you really start to care for them and what happens, I was emersed it the odd coupling of Will & Elly. I do think the letters back and forth went on for longer than necessary, but it was easy to get through that chapter quickly.

LOVE IN A STRANGER'S EYES...

ELLY
In town, they called her "Crazy Widow Dinsmore." But Elly was no stranger to their ridicule--she had been an outsider all her life, growing up in a boarded-up old house under the strict eye of her eccentric grandparents. Now she was all alone, with two little boys to raise, and a third child on the way.

WILL
He drifted into Whitney, Georgia, one lazy afternoon in the summer of 1941, hoping to put his lonely past behind him. He yearned for the tenderness he had never known, the home he'd never had. All he needed was for someone to give him a chance.

Then he saw her classified ad: WANTED--A husband. When he stepped across Elly Dinsmore's cluttered yard, Will Parker knew he had come home at last ...

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On the eve of World War II, two people are brought together by fate and discover an unexpected passion
Tall, dark and handsome Will Parker has served time for the killing of a Texas prostitute, but keeps losing jobs as his reputation becomes known. In the small town of Whitney, Ga., at the beginning of WW II, he answers the advertisement of a pregnant widow and mother of two, the abused and reclusive Eleanor Dinsmore, who is looking for a husband. Soon in love with ostensibly plain, bedraggled Ellie, Parker dotes on her two boys, and works to support the family. Fittingly for this sort of bucolic idyll, Will and Ellie, despite their rudimentary educations, love books and develop a special friendship with wise old Miss Beasley, the local librarian. Alas, brazen and rapacious Lula Peak, the town floozie, sets her sights on Will, waylaying him in the library; meantimes, Lula is blackmailing her lover, the cowardly Harley Overmire, who is no friend of Will. The clearly drawn characters fulfill their imperatives including Will, who becomes a war hero and all is neatly and pleasingly resolved.

4) 16 Lighthouse Road, Debbie Macomber

I know I've read some from the Cedar Cove series many, many years ago- and while this one was vaguely familiar I don't think I've ever read book one. At that time I probably didn't know it was a series, or if so what order they went it. (I've not seen the show.) While it was easy enough to follow along, I don't know that I'm a huge fan of so many different storylines happening at once. While this was Olivia Lockheart's book, I feel like we "visited" her the least. I did still enjoy the book, and plan to read the rest, in order.

Welcome to Cedar Cove, where the extraordinary bonds that hold family and friends together are only the beginning.

Family court judge Olivia Lockhart has seen a lot of couples in her courtroom. Most divorce petitions are open-and-shut, but when Olivia meets a young couple whose grief appears to be overshadowing their love, she makes a controversial ruling that gets everyone in her close-knit hometown talking.

Olivia is no stranger to having family and friends weigh in on anything and everything. From her mother to her best friend to her daughter, navigating life and love in Cedar Cove has always taken a village. But when new-to-town newspaper editor Jack Griffin takes a personal interest in Olivia’s ruling—and in Olivia herself—she is surprised by just how welcome the attention is. Matters of the heart may be messy, surprising and more than a little complicated, but in Cedar Cove, they’re always unforgettable.

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Family court judge Olivia Lockhart has seen a lot of couples in her courtroom. Most divorce petitions are open-and-shut, but when Olivia meets a young couple whose grief appears to be overshadowing their love, she makes a controversial ruling that gets everyone in her close-knit hometown talking.

Olivia is no stranger to having family and friends weigh in on anything and everything. From her mother, to her best friend, to her daughter, navigating life and love in Cedar Cove has always taken a village. But when new-to-town newspaper editor Jack Griffin takes a personal interest in Olivia’s ruling—and in Olivia herself—she is surprised by just how welcome the attention is. Matters of the heart may be messy, and surprising, and more than a little complicated, but in Cedar Cove, they’re always unforgettable.

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Olivia Lockhart
Cedar Cove, Washington

Dear Reader,

You don't know me yet, but in a few hours that's going to change. You see, I'm inviting you to my home and my town of Cedar Cove because I want you to meet my family, friends and neighbors. Come and hear their stories—maybe even their secrets!

I have to admit that my own secrets are pretty open. My marriage failed some years ago, and I have a rather…difficult relationship with my daughter, Justine. Then there's my mother, Charlotte, who has plenty of opinions and is always willing to share them.

Here's an example. I'm a family court judge and she likes to drop in on my courtroom. Recently I was hearing a divorce petition. In my mother's view, young Cecilia and Ian Randall hadn't tried hard enough to make their marriage work—and I actually agreed. So I rendered my judgment: Divorce Denied.

Well, you wouldn't believe the reaction! Thanks to an article by Jack Griffin, the editor of our local paper (and a man I wouldn't mind seeing more of), everyone's talking.

Cedar Cove—people love it and sometimes they leave it, but they never forget it!

See you soon….
Olivia

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I liked all these, and now I'm picked more from the giant stack in that bin to read next!

Have a great day,

Craftin' Wife