The Heart Only Knows by Kerry Blair

This is the last of Kerry Blair's "Heart" series. This book added intrigue to the romance of tghe previous two. I really enjoyed this book and stayed up way to late reading on several occasions.

Description:

When your fiancé is an incredibly handsome, professional baseball player, it's hard to find time to be alone. Not that Andi Reynolds is complaining. It's just that everyone wants a piece of superstar Greg Howland--from the news-hungry media, to his adoring fans. The only thing that keeps Andi sane is the knowledge that in a few short months, Greg will be taking her to the temple, and then he'll be all hers . . . Until next season, of course.

But when someone begins stalking and threatening Greg, he fears that Andi will get hurt--if not killed. In an attempt to protect her, Greg distances himself from Andi. But in the process, she starts to feel alienated, and wonders if it's even worth it. When the stalker kidnaps Andi and her younger brother, Greg must make one of the most important decisions of his life--who will live, and who will die.

With insight and emotion, Kerry Blair brings to life a tale of an uncommon love between two people, and the dangerous deception that threatens to tear them apart. Between the breathtaking adventure and gentle romance, one thing is certain--The Heart Only Knows will be one of your favorite books of the year.

The Heart Has Forever by Kerry Blair

Very enjoyable LDS romance. Kept me captured and I am looking forward to the third book in the series.

Description:

Andi Reynolds always knew she'd marry Sterling Channing when he came home from his mission. Who would have guessed that just four days before his return, she would meet Greg, a professional baseball player, and fall reluctantly, but joyfully in love?

But Greg is surrounded by people who want to exploit his fame and wealth, and it's a constant battle to find time for his new faith and for Andi. Meanwhile Sterling's attempts to win her back nearly cost Andi everything.

Andi's sister Clytie is also discovering the magic of love but hers is nothing like Andi's whirlwind romance. Thaddeus--intelligent, cynical, and funny--is dying from a terminal illness. Even though Clytie knows that she will soon be alone with only a memory of love, she willingly gives him her heart.

House of Secrets by Jeffery S. Savage

This is the first of Jeffery Savage's Shandra Covington Mysteries. I really enjoyed this book and couldn't put it down.

Description:

Shandra Covington simply assumed her grandmothers' house was sold after her grandmother hastily moved in with Shandra and her mother two decades ago. Yet, here it was, deeded to Shandra in her grandmother's will.

Shandra, single, aggressive, and an accomplished journalist, has tender memories of the time spent as a young girl in the old house on the hill, and her curiosity and sentimentality lead her to a final visit to the forgotten home. What she discovers shocks Shandra to her very core. Not only is the house still filled with her grandmother's old belongings, but there is also a body, long since dead, and covered with the same thick layer of dust as the rest of the items in the house.

Returning with the sheriff and his handsome deputy, Clay, they find the body missing. In its place is another body-this one dead less than 12 hours. And all evidence points to Shandra.

Desperate to clear her name and uncover the truth behind these troubling mysteries, Shandra puts her journalistic training to use. Between the reluctant townspeople, ominous warnings, and physical threats, Shandra learns the truth, little by little-knowing full well that someone is determined to keep old secrets buried, even it means burying Shandra as well . . .

The Persian Pickle Club

I read this book by Sandra Dallas in just a few hours over 2 days. It helped that I was on a deadline for my book group that met last night. I didn't quite finish it before we met but even after discussing it and getting a good idea for how it ended, I still wanted to finish it.

This book is set in 1930's Kansas. The Persian Pickle Club is a group of ladies that meet to quilt. They use whatever scraps of material they can find--even old flour sacks--and share materials for all of their quilts. They have formed a real sisterhood among themselves despite the age difference between many of them. They have a bond that can't be broken.

I had no expectations from this book when I started except that I had read another book by this author and really enjoyed it (The Diary of Mattie Spenser). This book follows the same tone with a woman character narrating the story. Queenie is a young woman whose best friend has just left town to go to California so she is looking for a new friend. The new wife of a friend, Rita, seems like she'll be perfect. I thought the story would be about this but about halfway through the book, a body is found buried in the field of one of the Pickles (Ella). Now there is a murder and Rita is trying to make it big as a correspondent for a paper in Topeka so she starts digging around to find out who killed this man.

There are themes of friendship, rural living, domestic abuse, and justice. I found it a very enjoyable read and something I could recommend to just about anyone. On a personal note, I really enjoyed how the Pickles stuck together in times of crisis with casseroles, cakes, and sewing. It really makes me think of the Relief Society and while some of us may think that taking casseroles is old fashioned, sometimes in the face of tragedies or illness you just have to do what you know. If you can't do anything else but bake, you bake. If you can't do anything else but make a quilt, make a quilt.

The Heart Has Its Reasons by Kerry Blair

Loved this book!! Wonderful LDS romance. I read it in two days and am looking forward to getting the sequel.

Description:

The Heart has its reasons that reason knows nothing of.

Andi Reynolds has a plan for everything in her life, and Sterling Channing fits it perfectly. Then Andi meets Greg Howland four days before Sterling returns from his mission and finds that her “checklist for eternal happiness” is suddenly more of a puzzle than an iron-clad plan.

Greg has found success that he never imagined possible, but what started as a dream has fast become a nightmare. Still mourning the death of his brother, Greg is also paying a painful price for his brother’s mistakes. When he meets Andi he feels a whisper of hope for a better life—but is there room in her life for someone like him?

“A romance that any girl would love to curl up with. This is definitely one book I would like to see a sequel to.” The Daily Herald—from a professional review

Tears of the Giraffe by Alexander McCall Smith

This was a very enjoyable book about life in Botswana, Africa. It is in the mystery sections of the library but I would call it more of a cultural book.

Description:

The No.1 Ladies´ Detective Agency introduced the world to the one and only Precious Ramotswe -the engaging and sassy owner of Botswana´s only detective agency. In Tears of the Giraffe Mma Ramotswe faces a new challenge: resolving a mother´s pain for her son who is long lost on the African plains. Mma Ramotswe´s own impending marriage to the most gentlemanly of men, Mr J.L.B. Matekoni, the promotion of Mma´s secretary to the dizzy heights of Assistant Detective, and the arrival of new members to the Matekoni family, all brew up the most humorous and charmingly entertaining of tales.

Before I Wake by Dee Henderson

Great book. Intense crime thriller that you can't put down and no garbage to distract from the action.

Description:

Female visitors to Justice, Illinois, are being quietly murdered in their sleep---tourists in nice hotels, their money and jewelry left behind. And the sheriff isn't pleased to find a private detective named Rae Gabriella working the case. Rae's staying in the same hotel as one of the victims---could she be targeted next?