“Rainwater”  by Sandra Brown

 

2011 Book Review #38

An antiques store owner's explanation of why he won't sell his beloved pocket watch to a yuppie couple is the basis of this book.

             Publishers Weekly Review

Bestseller Brown brings Depression-era Texas to vivid life in this poignant short novel. At the recommendation of Dr. Murdy Kincaid, Ella Barron, a hardworking woman whose husband deserted her, accepts David Rainwater, a relative of the doctor's, as a lodger at the boarding house she runs in the small town of Gilead, Tex.

As the local community contends with a government program to shoot livestock and the opposition of racist Conrad Ellis, a greedy meatpacker, to poor families butchering the meat, Ella grows closer to David.

 Meanwhile, David becomes a special guardian angel to Solly, Ella's nine-year-old autistic son. Dr. Kincaid has gently suggested Ella put Solly in an institution, but she refuses to do so.

Brown skillfully charts the progress of Ella and David's quiet romance, while a contemporary frame adds a neat twist to this heartwarming but never cloying historical.

My Thoughts:  I will be reading more of Sandra Brown’s books.  Loved this one.

“Sam’s Letters to Jennifer” 

by James Patterson

 

2011 Book Review #29

 Publishers Weekly Review

Though Patterson is best known for his Alex Cross thrillers, one of his biggest-selling titles has been Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas (2001), an affecting love story awash in tragedy and hope. This new, less powerful but compulsively readable novel is cut from the same sentimental cloth, with the narrative hook here being not diary entries but letters that an elderly woman writes to her beloved granddaughter.

When Jennifer, a grieving widow and columnist for the Chicago Tribune, hears that her grandmother Samantha has fallen and is in a coma, she races to Sam's town of Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. At Sam's home on the shores of the lake, she finds a packet of letters addressed to her; their text, recapping Sam's life with an abusive husband but, also, with a mysterious lover she calls "Doc," occupies half the novel.

In counterpart runs Jennifer's romance with a childhood friend, Brendan, she reunites with, only to learn that he is dying of brain cancer…a romance that allows her to heal her grief for her dead husband, Danny, who drowned the year before.

The novel's structure works brilliantly, with Patterson as usual using brief chapters and simple prose to propel the reader onward; more thrust comes from the plot questions: Will Sam survive? Who is Doc? What will become of Jennifer and dying Brendan? The answers will leave readers satisfied but not as stirred as they were with Suzanne. This is a slighter tale, but also one that few if any will put down as Patterson again shows how it is done. 

My Thoughts:  I was surprised that a man wrote a book like this!  I loved this book.  I have not read Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas, but, I will!

"A Deadly Game"
      by Virginia Smith

2011 Book Review #19

Summary: 
"After discovering her boss's dead body, Susanna Trent receives an unusual package from him filled with strange metal tokens and odd clues. 


Then Susanna, who is the guardian of her three-year-old niece, (Lizzie), starts getting anonymous phone calls taunting her with thinly veiled threats. Worried for her life and that of her sister's child, Susanna struggles to trust the one man who can help: wealthy executive Jack Townsend. 


As they work together to solve the mysterious puzzle, Jack and Susanna are led into a dangerous game neither knows how to play. But they do know the stakes...life or death."         
...Publisher's description...   


My Thoughts....What the summary didn't tell you is that Lizzie is kidnapped and the ransom is all ten of the mysterious "tokens".  
I liked this book!  I liked the "treasure hunt" plot!  And...I liked the characters!
...So will you!  

"ECHOES"  By Danielle Steel

2011 Book Review #14

Summary: 
For the Wittgenstein family, the summer of 1915 was a time of both prosperity and unease, as the guns of war sound in the distance. But for eldest daughter, Beata, it was a time of awakening. 

By glimmering Lake Geneva, the Jewish beauty met a young French officer and fell in love. Even though her parents would never accept her marriage to a Catholic, Beata followed her heart anyway. As the two built a new life together, Beata's past would stay with her, and when Europe faces war once again, Beata must watch in horror as Hitler's terror threatens her family, even her daughter Amadea who has taken on the vows of a Carmelite nun. 

As family and friends are swept away without a trace, Amadea is forced into hiding, thus beginning a harrowing journey of survival, first in the Nazi death camps and then in the French resistance.  

My Thoughts: This is a heartbreaking story and one of the best Danielle Steel has ever written.  I haven't read Danielle Steel's books for years, but I'm glad I read this one!   

"The Seventeen Second Miracle" 
by Jason F. Wright

          Review #175

Rex Connor's life is perfect until one fateful afternoon in 1970 when, as a lifeguard, he diverts his gaze for 17 seconds and a life is lost.

Forty years later, the events of that day live on in his son, Cole, who has chosen to share the experience in a unique way. This fall, Cole has invited three struggling teens to learn about Rex and the Seventeen Second Miracle.

Slowly, the group learns how Rex turned those 17 seconds into little miracles. By choosing to live his life believing small instances could change the world, Rex did make it a better place.

The lessons are hard, and each of the students face their own secrets and trials, but over time, they begin to see how perspective and a few seconds can put a smile on even the grumpiest of faces.

Another great book by Jason Wright!

“The Cross Gardener”                                          by Jason F. Wright

Review #165

An automobile accident concludes with John Bevan being born on the side of the road Even as he struggles to live, his mother’s life slips away. He becomes a ward of the state and, at the age of 4, is adopted by an apple farmer with two other adopted sons.

Though John's life starts out in sorrow, he knows mostly joy growing up in a loving home in the Shenandoah Valley. John seems to know where he's going and everything works out according to plan, including marrying his high school sweetheart and working in the orchard.

Another accident, when a deer runs out in front of the family car, results in the death of his beloved wife who is 8 months pregnant with their second child. Suddenly, John's life has no direction. He can hardly care for himself, let alone his surviving five year old daughter.
Caught up in despair, John finds himself returning on a daily basis to the place where his wife and son died. The two cross memorials on the side of the road become a haven and a hindrance. And it's only when a quiet stranger, the cross gardener, happens along that John begins to truly understand his purpose in life.

"The Cross Gardener" is a quiet book with a quiet message of hope when all seems lost.  I cried my way through this book and loved every minute of it!

“Christmas Jars”  by Jason F. Wright

Review #162

This is the story of a newlywed Christmas tradition that evolves into a chain reaction begun by the kindness of a little girl and spanning 26 years.

Hope Jensen begins life by being left in a restaurant by her mother.  There is a note asking that she be given a loving home.  The lady who finds her does just that.  Shortly after Christmas, twenty five years later, Hope is devastated when her adoptive mother dies from ovarian cancer.   To compound her misery, Hope’s apartment is broken into and all of her valuables are stolen including $500 in emergency money.  The police haven’t been gone long when Hope discovers that someone has left her a gift…a glass mason jar labeled "Christmas Jar" and filled with money.

Using her Journalistic investigative skills, she learns that in recent years, several people have reported receiving these mysterious jars in times of need. Hope's search leads her to the Maxwell family and their generous Christmas tradition.

It will take you 3 to 4 hours to read this story.  It’s not a new idea and has some weaknesses in the story line, but Mr. Wright has presented a possible challenge for us and…some very interesting characters.  

“Into the Deep”  by Virginia Smith  (Ginny)

Review #157

What does a dead man (Sergio), a scuba diver (Ben), the mother of 2 year old Joshua (Nikki), a Mexican drug cartel run by a deadly man (Reynosa), a ruthless U.S. Senator and a flash drive hidden in a cave 100 feet below the surface of the ocean, have in common?

That’s easy!  A love inspired, suspense story!

Nikki left Ben in Mexico, with no explanation,  close to 3 years ago.  Now they meet again in Key West, Fl.  where, together, they begin a dangerous journey.  Nikki doesn’t tell Ben he has a 2 year son until Joshua is kidnapped, in Oregon, by the bad guys.  They want the flash drive they think Ben has and they will stop at nothing to get it!  What’s on it, who all wants it and will they get it?

You will travel from Mexico to Oregon and Key West…back to Mexico and then, Salt Lake City, Utah for the culmination of this exciting and surprise filled mystery!

This is Ginny’s 12^th book and it is just as wonderful as the first 11. Start reading this book when you have lots of time because you won’t want to put it down!

“A Daughter’s Legacy” by Virginia Smith

Review #119

Accountant, Kelli Jackson’s estranged mother, Lillian, has died. After the funeral service, Kelli discovers that her mother has put an unusual requirement in her will. Lillian was Director of the Cougar Bay Zoological Park and if Kelli works with the animals in the zoo for six months, she will inherit half of $1.4 million. (The Zoo receives the other half.) If she refuses, Kelli will receive $25,000 and nothing else. If she fails to receive a positive report from Jason Andover, the handsome zoo director who is replacing her mom, then her inheritance will be given to the Zoo to help build a new African Lion Habitat. The major problem with this requirement is that Kelli is terrified of animals due to an event early in her childhood!

At first she refuses, but decides she needs to do this for her grandmother who will need the money as she ages. But, how can she possibly explain her fears and her past to her boss, Jason Andover? How can she trust him? After all, if she fails, the Zoo will get all the money!

I am not, presently, a fan of romance novels, but I liked this book! It is not only interesting and well written, but it's educational too! If you like animals and romance, you will enjoy this book!

"Rooms”   by James L. Rubart

Review #75

This is a tale of a man’s unexpected journey to finding his true self, his true life and God.

Twenty-five-year-old Seattle software tycoon, Micah Taylor receives a mysterious letter from his great-uncle Archie informing him of a home he has had built especially for Micah. He never knew this uncle who has been dead for 12 years (the house was built 5 months ago!) and who his father says was ‘loony toons’. However, his interest is piqued so, Micah takes off from Seattle for Cannon Beach, Oregon to visit his newly acquired 9,000-square-foot house on the beach (providing it really exists)!

At first, he thinks maybe, a house in Cannon Beach would be a perfect weekend getaway place or maybe, he would sell it. He arrives to find...it does exist! It's big and beautiful! But, once he settles in, strange things start happening... things Micah can't explain...things he can barely believe. Strange rooms keep appearing. Rooms he knows were not there when he first arrived! And…each of these rooms has a unique purpose.

What he finds is a shape-shifting, mind-boggling revisiting of his past that jeopardizes his future. With only a handful of letters from Archie as a guide and a new friend, Rick, Micah tries to summon up the courage to face old wounds that somehow are connected to these special rooms.

This is not listed as a science fiction novel, but the ‘Twilight Zone’ writers would have been proud to call this book their own. That doesn’t mean it isn’t a powerful and moving story. It just makes it more intriguing.

It's an excellent book and I would recommend it to anyone!

"Sincerely, Mayla”   by Virginia Smith

Review #51

“Sincerely, Mayla” is a great follow up to “Just As I Am”.  
(See Review #41)

Mayla is back and she has been ‘laid off’ her job! Question time… Why didn’t she go to college right from high school? How is she going to find another job before her severance pay runs out? A friend refers her to a possible position and after an interview in wet, snow soaked clothes (from trying to rescue a pet rabbit off the road), Mayla decides to head to Florida to visit the aunt and grandmother that she has not seen in 13 years (due to her mother's decision to end life support for her father).

In this book you will find a dysfunctional family, a pastor who is the object of Mayla’s affections, a stubborn rabbit, a teenager in trouble, a gay friend with a different point of view on Christianity, and then there's Mayla…right in the middle of everything!

Who else but God can help Mayla deal with life and the various circumstances we often find ourselves in? She's a headstrong Christian with a good heart, bent on straightening out a few things in her life. She's not one to "let things go".

I have always believed the idea illustrated here…our lives touch and influence many other lives as we go on our merry way and, sometimes, we never know just how that will turn out!

Ginny Smith has become another of my favorite authors. I cannot wait to see Mayla in book three…coming out in May!

“Quaker Summer”  by Lisa Samson

Review #49

Heather Curridge feels as though she is not fulfilling God’s purpose for her life. She is a woman who, seemingly, has everything, a mansion on a lake, a loving son, a handsome heart-surgeon husband, yet still feels miserable inside. She doesn’t know what’s wrong with her, but something is wrong and she needs to find out what. When she crashes her truck into a ditch and staggers to a nearby house for help, she meets two elderly sisters, one a Quaker, the other a religions explorer. With her husband’s approval, she decides to stay with the sisters for a while. She stays 3 weeks. With their help along with a number of her friends and a crusty old nun running a downtown homeless shelter, she begins to find her answers. Her journey lasts all summer and into the fall and winter and takes her places she wouldn’t have gone before.

I have included this…From the Publishers Weekly Review because it says it better than I can:

“One of the most powerful voices in Christian fiction, Samson delivers what seems, on the surface, to be just another Christian women's novel, but in reality is a staggering examination of the Christian conscience. Samson's unflinching exploration of childhood bullying, as well as inner-city poverty and drug culture, are rivaled only by her portrayal of the soul-desiccating acquisitiveness in which many Christians engage, often in a misguided attempt to numb both their heartache and their awareness of God's potentially life-upending plans. Unlike many Christian novelists, Samson does not tidily resolve every single problem her heroine faces, but instead paints an emotionally and spiritually luminous portrait of a soul beckoned by God.”

My daughter, Marcy, recommended this book to me. I enjoyed it very much!

"The Wednesday Letters”                            by Jason F. Wright

Review #45

Jack and Laurel Cooper are two hardworking, loving Christian pillars of the community who die (of natural causes) in each other's arms one night in the bed-and-breakfast that they own and operate. The event calls their three grown children home for the funeral, including their youngest son, a fugitive from the law who must face an outstanding warrant for his arrest and confront his one true love, now engaged to another man.

While making arrangements for the funeral, the children discover boxes of "Wednesday letters", notes that Jack wrote to his wife every single week of their 39 years of married life. It’s a history of those 39 years…some not known to their children. As they read, the children brush across the fabric of a devoted marriage that survived a devastating event kept secret all these years.

It's a lovely story: heartening, wholesome, humorous, suspenseful and redemptive. It resonates with the true meaning of family and the life-healing power of forgiveness all wrapped up in a satisfying ending.

I liked this book very much.

"JUST AS I AM"    By Virginia Smith

Review #41

I apologize for stealing some of other people’s words to describe this book because I can’t think of any better way to describe it.

“When purple-haired Mayla Strong struts down the center aisle of Salliesburg Independent Christian Church, the bug-eyed congregation strains to get a peek at her pierced nose and lip.” She has come to be baptized. “Determined to make her heavenly Father proud, Mayla's sincere and often hilarious attempts to let Him change her from the inside out takes her into some difficult and sometimes, painful places.”

While dealing with the older folks who disapprove of her hair color and piercings, her long time friends who can’t believe she has become ‘religious’ and a new friend who is in a hospital dying of AIDS, Mayla manages to grow in faith and wisdom and always in a way that is distinctly Mayla.

I…Love…This...Book! I…Love…Mayla! I laughed with and at her. I cried a river with her! I saw members of my family in this book and I couldn’t put it down!
AND…guess what…there is another Mayla book out (Sincerely Mayla) and another one on it’s way in May!

AGE BEFORE BEAUTY”                                        by Virginia Smith

Review #39 

Allie Harrod has always been an independent woman and insists on working to pay “her share” of the bills. She considers herself a career woman and she's determined not to let having a husband or a baby change that, no matter how much she wants to be at home with her 8-week old daughter. When Allie sees an opportunity to work at home, she takes it.

She signs on with a home party company and dives in, head first. But the pressures of launching a business (and the expense), her mother-in-law's unexpected extended visit, her husband's moodiness and personal attention to a coworker, and her inability to control her eating habits take their toll. Before long, things start falling apart and her marriage is in peril. If she’s not careful, she’ll lose the very things she's been trying to hold on to.

Although light and humorous in tone, the issues Allie faces are real and they are dealt with in a real way, as are the subplots in the novel.

This is the second book in Ginny’s “Sister to Sister” series.
I have already read and reviewed the first and third books of the trilogy.

I like this one too!

THIRD TIME'S A CHARM"                                 By Virginia Smith 
Review #32

Main Characters:
Tori Sanderson,
Tori's 2 sisters, Allie and Joan
Ryan Adams, hardware salesman
Mitch Jackson, co-worker and competitor

“Third Time's a Charm” is the last novel in Virginia Smith's SISTER-TO-SISTER series. The first two being, “Stuck in the Middle” and “Age Before Beauty”.

Tori Sanderson has been given an opportunity to become an Account Executive and replace her present workaholic boss as she moves up the ladder. But her co-worker, Mitch Jackson, has been given the same opportunity. They have a limited time to complete an assignment that will determine which one of them gets the position. Besides the job, Mitch may also have his eye on Tori! Meanwhile, her matchmaking sisters are coaching Ryan Adams, a handsome hardware man, in how to woo Tori!

In the middle of having her sister Joan getting married, her plans to get that Account Executive position by presenting the very best campaign in a very short period of time, Mitch's and Ryan’s attentions and her boss's constant demands, Tori decides to search out the father who deserted her and her sisters fifteen years ago. The time has come for answers. How can she love and trust any man with the rest of her life when she couldn’t trust her own father to stay around?

This a heartwarming story of sisters, retail therapy, and love that endures.

I’m sorry this is the last in the Sister to Sister series. I am not a big fan of romance novels, but I loved this series and the sisters! I know you will enjoy it too!

NOTE: "Stuck in the Middle" was my Review #22

STUCK IN THE MIDDLE   By  Virginia Smith
                                    
Review #22
Main Characters: Joan Sanderson, sisters, Allie and Tori, Dr. Ken Fletcher
This is Book 1 of the 3-book “Sister-to-Sister” series written by Smith.

As the title suggests, Joan is the middle daughter and feels dwarfed by her older sister's happy family and her younger sister's beauty and success while she manages a furniture store and lives at home with her mother and grandmother.

She struggles with feeling abandoned by her father and angry that her mother forced him to leave when she was young. She tries hard to keep peace with her mother and to take care of her elderly grandmother to prevent her from being sent to an
assisted living home...by her mother!

AND…Joan has been dumped by her long-time boyfriend (now known as Roger the Rat) and can't quite figure out what to do with her life. Then a single doctor, who is terribly good-looking and very serious about his faith, moves in next door. Dr. Ken Fletcher sparks her interest and the feeling seems to be mutual until younger sister, Tori, begins her relentless flirting routine.
*******************************
I haven’t been a fan of romance novels for 25 years now, but I found this one very well written, funny in places, with an interesting story line… a “couldn’t put it down” sort of book. It is a fun story of romance, family, and faith, with a picture of sibling rivalry that will keep you engaged and smiling.

Age Before Beauty is Book 2 of the “Sister-to-Sister” series.

Third Time's a Charm, the third book in this series was just recently released. I found it on Amazon.com and in the Public Library!

NOTE: Virginia Smith also writes inspirational, suspense, romance novels.
I like these too! Check them out.

MURDER AT EAGLE SUMMIT                     By Virginia Smith                                                                   

Review #19 
Inspirational, romantic, suspense novel.
Main Characters: Liz Carmichael and Deputy Sheriff, Tim Richards

A murder at a romantic, Utah ski resort turns everyone there into suspects.
Liz Carmichael has come from Kentucky for her cousin's wedding. At 3 o'clock in the morning, unable to sleep, she goes out on her balcony and sees a shawdowy figure on the ski lift. One that should not be running. When that figure turns out to be a murder victim, Liz finds herself giving a statement to her former fiance, Deputy Tim Richards about what she saw.

Does Liz have something the killer wants?
Can Liz finally make things right with Tim? Or...will the killer find her first?

I enjoyed this book. It is well written, free of vulgar language and holds your attention throughout! You won't want to put it down until you find out what's going on!

MURDER BY MUSHROOM                             by  Virginia Smith

Review #18
Main Character: Jackie Hoffner, Social Worker
Christian, romantic, suspense

Someone laces the left-over casserole Jackie brought to the church potluck picnic with poisonous mushrooms. Fellow churchgoer and town fussbudget, Alice Farmer, is the recipient of the deadly dish and is now pushing up daisies.  

Jackie believes she is the prime suspect and sets out to prove her innocence. With help from the Pastor's wife, Margaret and with Trooper Dennis Walsh's helpful efforts, she starts bumbling her way to a solution.

In the mean time, the town's mysterious poisoner seemed to have more victims in mind.  Teenager, Samantha Carlson is run down by a car...Jackie's car.

You'll like this book. It is funny at times, suspenseful, of course, and there's romance in the air! It's at the library and it's in paperback. What else could you ask?

THE LOST SYMBOL     by Dan Brown

Review #16
Main Character.....Robert Langdon


He saved the Church from a fundamentalist radical in Angels & Demons and exposed the world's greatest cover-up in The Da Vinci Code. Now, symbologist and Harvard professor, Robert Langdon, returns to uncover another mystery.


Langdon receives an invitation to give a lecture in Washington, DC, but discovers an empty chamber when he arrives at the lecture hall. He quickly learns that he's been summoned for his knowledge rather than his oratory skills. His friend, Peter Solomon, has been abducted, his tattooed right hand mounted to a wooden base and left for Langdon to find and "read". To save Peter's life, Langdon must follow a set of clues and uncover a treasure hidden somewhere in the nation's capitol.


A mysterious clue leading to a series of puzzles; a ruthless villain who will stop at nothing; ancient secrets; mysterious organizations that link past to present are all elements of this exciting novel.


If you liked the controversial book, The Da Vinci Code, you will like this one.