Dear Lady

HATCHER, ROBIN LEE

DEAR LADY

Dear Mary,

New Prospects, Montana, is nothing like England -- so terrifying and beautiful at the same time, and much larger than I dared imagine when you and I first embarked on our adventures in the New World.

I have had the good fortune of becoming the town's schoolmistress. Young Janie Steele is as precious as I imagined from her letters. As for her father, Garret Steele...

Oh, I feel like such a fool! I've run halfway around the world to escape a man I loathed, only to discover I'm losing my heart to a man still in love with the wife he buried.

The mayor, kind man, has been most attentive. But I wish he were someone else. I wish he were Garret.

With affection,

Your friend, Beth Wellington

In the big-sky country of Montana, the past doesn't always stay buried. Circumstances have a way of forcing secrets into the open, sometimes bringing hearts together in unlikely ways, and sometimes tearing them apart.

FIRST IN THE COMING TO AMERICA SERIES. ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN 1997 FOR THE GENERAL MARKET, ZONDERVAN APPROACHED ROBYN LEE HATCHER ABOUT REVISING THIS SERIES FOR THE CHRISTIAN MARKET.

HATCHER HAS A KNACK FOR STORYTELLING. I LOVE THE WAY HER WORDS FLOW, HOW EASILY (OR SO IT SEEMS) HER STORY UNFOLDS. MEASURED WORDS CREATE AN IMPACT. THIS IS A LOVELY ROMANCE UNIQUELY TOLD IN MULTIPLE POINT OF VIEWS, INCLUDING LETTER-WRITING. A REFRESHING READ.

A Passion Denied

LESSMAN, JULIE

A PASSION DENIED

Elizabeth O'Connor has been like the little sister John Brady always wanted, sharing his love of literature and his thirst for God. But in the throes of the reckless Roaring Twenties, Lizzie has grown up. Suddenly she wants more from the man who has been her friend since she was a child. When this shy little bookworm blossoms into a beautiful young woman bent on loving John, she discovers that his past won't let him return that love. But Lizzie refuses to give up -- until his shocking secrets push her away.

JULIE HAS CREATED SUCH SOLID CHARACTERS IN THE O'CONNORS THAT IT FEELS LIKE YOU ARE READING ABOUT THE REAL LIFE ESCAPADES OF MEMBERS OF YOUR OWN FAMILY. THIS KIND OF READER-CHARACTER CONNECTION MAKES FOR AN EMOTIONAL, ROLLER COASTER READ. I WAS EXHAUSTED WHEN I FINISHED 'A PASSION DENIED', BUT I COULDN'T PUT THE BOOK DOWN UNTIL I'D FINISHED IT.

THE COMPLICATED PLOT IS INTRICATELY WOVEN AND JULIE MANAGED TO BLINDSIDE ME TWICE! TALK ABOUT ANGST! SHE TACKLES DIFFICULT SUBJECTS WITH SUCH COMPASSION AND CHRIST-LIKE LOVE THAT THIS BOOK COULD BE A STUDY ON PRIDE AND FORGIVENESS IN SPITE OF THE FACT IT IS A WORK OF FICTION. IN FACT IT WOULD BE A GREAT MARRIAGE MANUAL AS WELL! LOL.

I REALLY LOVED THE GLIMPSES INTO THE MARRIED LIVES OF CHARITY AND MITCH AS WELL AS COLLIN AND FAITH. JULIE WRITES 'PURE' PASSION -- THE HONEST PORTRAYAL OF LOVE BETWEEN COUPLES DETERMINED TO KEEP CHRIST AT THE CENTRE OF THEIR LIVES. BUT SHE KEEPS IT REAL BY ALSO PORTRAYING THEIR STRUGGLES AND WEAKNESSES.

LOVED THE TEASING -- LAUGHED OUT LOUD OVER CHARITY AND FAITH COACHING LIZZIE ON HOW TO USE HER WOMANLY WILES TO GET HER MAN. AND KATY AND CLUNY!!! I THINK KATY'S GOING TO BE MORE TROUBLE THEN ALL HER OLDER SISTERS COMBINED! I'M ALMOST AFRAID TO READ HER STORY...BUT, OF COURSE I WILL -- I CAN'T WAIT UNTIL SEPTEMBER!!!!!

Ransome's Honor

DACUS, KAYE

RANSOME'S HONOR

When young Julia Witherington doesn't receive the proposal for marriage she expects from William Ransome, she determines to never forgive him. They go their separate ways -- she returns to her family's Caribbean plantation, and he returns to the Royal Navy.

Now, twelve years later, Julia is about to receive a substantial inheritance, including her beloved plantation. When unscrupulous relatives try to gain the inheritance by forcing her into marriage, she turns to the only eligible man to whom her father, Admiral Sir Edward Witherington, will not object -- his most trusted captain and the man who broke her heart, William Ransome. Julia offers William her thirty thousand pound dowry to feign marriage for one year, but then something she could never have imagined happens. She starts to fall in love with him again.

Can two people overcome their hurt, reconcile their conflicting desires, and find a way to be happy together? Duty and honor, faith and love are intertwined in this intriguing tale from the Regency era.

KAYE'S WRITING REMINDS ME OF VICTORIA HOLT OR PHYLLIS A. WHITNEY. THIS IS A GREAT REGENCY ROMANCE READ. JULIA IS A MEMORABLE HEROINE -- UNORTHODOX AND SPUNKY. WILLIAM MAKES AN INTRIGUING (IF MISGUIDED) BROODING HERO. KAYE'S VILLAIN'S ARE JUST PLAIN EVIL AND SHE EXPERTLY WEAVES THEIR DIABOLICAL PLOT TO A POWERFUL CLIMAX. WONDERFUL SECONDARY CHARACTERS AND I'M PARTICULARLY INTRIGUED BY CHARLOTTE -- WHICH IS GOOD SINCE THE NEXT BOOK IN THE SERIES BELONGS TO HER.

A Passion Redeemed

LESSMAN, JULIE

A PASSION REDEEMED

Charity O'Connor is a woman graced with physical beauty, though shallow of heart and she is a woman who knows what she wants. She sets her sights on the cantankerous Mitch Dennehy, editor at the Irish Times, who has unwittingly stolen her heart. Mitch is a no-nonsense newspaperman who wants nothing to do with her. Charity burned him once, destroying his engagement to the only woman he ever truly loved. He won't play with matches again. But Charity has a plan to turn up the heat, hoping to ignite the heart of the man she loves. And she always gets what she wants -- one way or another.

Or does she? Will her best-laid schemes win his love? Or will her seductive ways drive him way forever.

Book 2 of the Daughters of Boston series will captivate your heart and stir your soul with a story of faith and redemption rising from the ashes.

ANOTHER EMOTIONAL READ. THERE ARE SO MANY LAYERS TO THE CHARACTERS AND RELATIONSHIPS IN THIS BOOK. I DIDN'T WANT TO LIKE CHARITY. I THOUGHT SHE WAS A SPOILED BRAT IN 'A PASSION MOST PURE' AND I COULDN'T IMAGINE READING A WHOLE BOOK ABOUT HER AND YET I DEVOURED IT. LESSMAN SUCCEEDED IN DELVING DEEP AND REVEALING, LAYER BY LAYER, THE REASON CHARITY BEHAVES AS SHE DOES AND THEN TAKES IT A STEP FURTHER AND SHOWS US WHAT KIND OF WOMAN CHARITY CAN BE WHEN SHE ALLOWS GOD INTO HER LIFE.

MITCH IS A COMPELLING HERO AND THE PERFECT FOIL FOR CHARITY -- EVEN IF THEY DON'T FIGURE THAT OUT UNTIL THE VERY LAST PAGE!!! THEY WERE BOTH SO STUBBORN I WANTED TO SMACK THEM UPSIDE THE HEAD MULTIPLE TIMES THROUGHOUT THE BOOK.

I ENJOYED GETTING A GLIMPSE OF FAITH AND COLLIN, CATCHING UP WITH PATRICK AND MARCY AND THE HINT OF ROMANCE TO COME WITH BETH AND BRADY...AT LEAST I THINK THAT'S WHERE THE NEXT BOOK IS GOING. GUESS I'LL HAVE TO READ IT TO FIND OUT.

The Hunger Games

COLLINS, SUZANNE

THE HUNGER GAMES

Could you survive on your own in the wild, with every one out to make sure you don't live to see the morning?

In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV.

Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister's place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before -- and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win she will have to start making choices that weigh survival against humanity and life against love.

VERY GRIPPING SCI-FI READ. A SOCIAL COMMENTARY ON WAR AND VIOLENCE AND OUR DETACHED ABSORPTION OF REALITY TV. THE ACTION SCENES ARE TAUT AND INTENSE, BUT NOT OVERLY GRAPHIC. KATNISS IS ONE OF THE STRONGEST HEROINES IN YA FICTION THAT I'VE EVER READ. DEFINITELY DESTINED TO BE A CLASSIC.

A Curse Dark as Gold

BUNCE, ELIZABETH C.

A CURSE DARK AS GOLD

The gold thread shimmers in the fading light. It promises Charlotte Miller a way out of debt, a chance to save her family's beloved woolen mill. It promises a future for her sister, livelihood for her townsfolk, security against her sinuous and grasping uncle. It might even promise what she didn't know she needed: lasting hope and true love.

But at what cost?

To get the thread, Charlotte must strike a bargain with its maker, the mysterious Jack Spinner. But the gleam of gold conjures a shadowy past -- secrets and bonds ensnaring generations of Millers. And Charlotte's mill, her family, her friends, her love...What do those matter to a powerful stranger who can spin straw into gold?

In her brilliant debut, Elizabeth Bunce weaves a spellbinding fairy tale, spun with mystery and shot through with romance.

Winner of the William C. Morris YA Debut Award

THIS RETELLING OF RUMPLESTILSKIN IS INGENUIOUS!!!! BUNCE HAS CREATED A FAIRY TALE WORLD WITH BELIEVABLE FOLKLORE. HER LYRICAL WRITING CREATES THE MOOD OF SETTLING IN TO READ A CLASSIC FAIRY TALE -- BUT THIS IS SO MUCH BETTER. IT'S A STORY FILLED WITH COMPASSION AND FORGIVENESS AND HAS ENOUGH TWISTS AND TURNS TO KEEP YOU GUESSING TO THE VERY END. AND, HOORAH -- SHE HAS ANOTHER BOOK COMING OUT IN THE FALL!!!!!!

Deadly Vows

MCCOY, SHIRLEE
DEADLY VOWS


Olivia Jarrod was newly placed in witness protection when she discovered she was pregnant. First rule of the program: no contact with anyone from her former life. That includes her estranged husband, Ford Jensen—the unknowing father of her unborn child. Despite their rocky marriage, Olivia still loves him deeply. And when Ford shocks her by tracking her down, she knows the mobster pursuing her can't be far behind. But now their baby's very life depends on both of them staying alive—and together.


PHEW! WHAT A PAGE TURNER. AND SO MUCH ACTION!!! THIS IS THE FOURTH IN THE PROTECTING THE WITNESSES SERIES AND I'VE ENJOYED THE CROSSOVER WITH PREVIOUS CHARACTERS FROM OTHER BOOKS. THIS READ WAS ONE ADRENALINE RUSH FROM START TO FINISH. I COULD SEE IT PLAYING OUT ON THE BIG SCREEN. CAN'T WAIT TO CONTINUE THE SERIES IN MAY.

Twin Targets

PERRY, MARTA

TWIN TARGETS

The Witness Protection Program was supposed to keep Jade Summers's sister safe. So why is U.S. Marshal Micah McGraw saying her twin is dead? Jade doesn't get the chance to ask because their meeting is interrupted by Ruby's killers. The Mob is after Jade…but neither Micah nor Jade know why. Somehow, it's connected to a decades-old crime. Finding the truth could be disastrous, but lives depend on it. Several women are in danger…and Jade is the first one in the killer's sights.

THIS IS THE FIRST OF A SERIES OF FIVE BOOKS WRITTEN BY DIFFERENT AUTHORS. I READ DEBBY GIUSTI'S ( THE SECOND IN THE SERIES) AND WAS HOOKED SO I HAD TO READ THE OTHERS.

PERRY EXCELS AT FAST-PACED ACTION SCENES. I WAS HOLDING MY BREATH AND SPEED-READING MY WAY THROUGH EACH TENSE MOMENT. I LIKED THE WAY THE RELATIONSHIP SLOWLY DEVELOPED AS THEY DEALT WITH ONE OBSTACLE AFTER ANOTHER. A RIVETING, TENSE READ. GREAT SUSPENSE.

A Father for Zach

HANNON, IRENE

A FATHER FOR ZACH

How to help a fatherless boy deal with painful memories? Widowed mother Catherine Walker hopes a fresh start and a new home on Nantucket Island is the answer. But when she hires a handsome carpenter to help with renovations, she soon discovers that Nathan Clay's tool set also includes a smile maker. Suddenly her son is happier. And so if she. Yet Nathan has a painful past of his own, once that may keep them apart. Unless they can both rebuild their hearts and lives.

THIS IS SO MUCH MORE THAN A LOVE STORY! IT CHALLENGES YOU TO THINK ABOUT HOW OVERCOMING PREJUDICE AND JUDGEMENT IN FAVOUR OF FORGIVENESS CAN PLAY A HUGE ROLE IN RESTITUTION AND REBIRTH -- FOR BOTH THE ONE SEEKING FORGIVENESS AND THE ONE REFUSING TO GIVE IT. A VERY, MEMORABLE, TENDER STORY.

Beguiled

GIST, DEEANNE
BERTRAND, J. MARK

BEGUILED

Rylee Monroe, a dogwalker in Charelston's wealthiest neighbourhood, never feared the streets at night. But now a thief is terrorizing the area and worse, someone seems to be targeting her.

Reporter Logan Woods is following the break-ins with the hope of publishing his coverage as a true-crime book. The more he digs, the more he realizes this beguiling dogwalker seems to be at the center of everything.

As danger draws ever closer, Logan must choose: chase the girl, the story, or plunge into the shadows after the villian who threatens everything?

RIVETING READ. A GREAT BLEND OF SUSPENSE AND ROMANCE. I REALLY LIKED THE WAY THE MYSTERY WAS BUILT -- GIVING THE READER PIECES BIT BY BIT. I WAS ABLE TO PARTIALLY SOLVE IT, BUT THE ENDING WAS A REAL SURPRISE. A FAST-PACED PLOT THAT MAKES IT SEEM LIKE A QUICK READ BUT I WAS DISAPPOINTED WHEN IT WAS OVER. I WANTED MORE! LOVED THE EPILOGUE!!!

Montana Rose

CONNEALY, MARY

MONTANA ROSE

Cassie Griffin has always dressed in silks. Her free-spending husband expects nothing less. But now he has died, leaving her unprotected, heavily in debt, and pregnant. As any single woman doesn't remain so for long in Divide, Montana, Cassie wonders if marrying one of the local cowboys might be her only choice. After seeing her choices, she then wonders if joining her husband might be even better.

Red Dawson has always had a soft spot in his heart for Cassie, even though most of the townspeople see her only as a silk-clad china doll. When she's left a widow, only one thing keeps him from immediately sweeping her off her feet -- she's a nonbeliever.

As the other cowboys lay claim to Cassie, the most powerful rancher in the area steps forward to demand what he thinks rightly belongs to him...and the property that goes with her. Red struggles with figuring out what to do but decides he can't allow Cassie to suffer a fate worse than death and marries her himself.

Will Red win over this seemingly fragile and spoiled china doll's heart...and survive her unique brand of ranch help in the meantime? Will Cassie find true love with her cowboy -- and his God -- when she exchanges smooth silk for coarse calico?

EVERYTIME I READ A CONNEALY BOOK I THINK SHE CAN'T POSSIBLY TOP IT AND THEN I READ THE NEXT ONE AND SHE DOES! PHENOMENAL READ!!!! SO OFFBEAT AND FUNNY BUT ACHINGLY ROMANTIC. IT HAS THE MOST INTIMATE, HEART MELTING LOVE SCENE I'VE EVER READ. INCREDIBLY CREATIVE TWIST TO THE CLASSIC WESTERN ROMANCE...IT BOGGLES MY MIND HOW THIS AUTHOR CAN CONSISTENTLY BE SO FRESH! AND IT'S BOOK 1 OF THE MONTANA MARRIAGES SERIES SO THAT MEANS THERE'S MORE STORY TO READ!!!!

Winter's End

HERNE, RUTH LOGAN

WINTER'S END

After growing up in foster care, nurse Kayla Doherty's finally found a faith to rely on and a job she loves. But that's all put to the test when she's called to care for surly Marc DeHollander's dying father. Marc's struggling to keep his cattle farm afloat while dealing with his father's illness. He doesn't have time to fall for the beautiful hospice nurse. But as the frigid New York winter turns to spring, can he find a place for Kayla -- and the Lord -- in his heart?

LOVED THIS!!!!!!!! GREAT NEW AUTHOR. GOOD COMBINATION OF COMEDY AND DRAMA. BELIEVABLE CHARACTERS. ROMANTIC DEVELOPMENT STARTS FROM THE FIRST SENTENCE (AND INSTANT DISLIKE). SEAMLESS BLEND OF FAITH. KAYLA IS QUIRKY AND SPUNKY AND BELIEVABLEY FLAWED. MARC IS A CLASSIC BROODING HERO. SPARKS AND SIZZLE. EMOTIONAL SUBJECT UPLIFTS AND COMFORTS. INCREDIBLY WELL WRITTEN. FRESH DESCRIPTIONS.

Too Close to Home

EASON, LYNETTE

TOO CLOSE TO HOME

When missing teens begin turning up dead in a small Southern town, the FBI sends in Special Agent Samantha Cash to help crack the case. Her methods are invisible, and she never quits until the case is closed.

Homicde detective Connor Wolfe has his hands full. His relationship with his headstrong daughter is in a tailspin, and the strng of unsolved murders has the town demanding answers. Connor is running out of ideas -- and time.

Samantha joins Connor in a race against the clock to save the next victim and the killer starts to get personal.

VERY SUSPENSEFUL. READS LIKE A CSI OR CRIMINAL MINDS SHOW. GRITTIER THAN OTHER CHRISTIAN SUSPENSE I'VE READ. THE ROMANTIC DEVELOPMENT IS SLOW...NO EASING IN THE CASE TO DEVELOP THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SAM AND CONNOR BUT THEY DO GET TOGETHER AT THE END. I LOVE THAT SAMANTHA WASN'T RESCUED BY CONNOR -- SHE HELD HER OWN. EASON HAS SET THE SCENE FOR HER SECOND IN THE SERIES AND I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO READING IT.

A Bride in the Bargain

GIST, DEEANNE

A BRIDE IN THE BARGAIN

In 1860s Seattle, redwoods were plentiful but women scarce. Yet a man with a wife could secure 640 acres of timberland for free.

Joe Denton doesn't have a wife, though. His died before she could follow him to Seattle, and now the local judge is threatening to take away his claim. In desperation, he buys himself a Mercer bride -- one of the eastern widoes and orphans brought to the Territory by entrepreneur As Mercer.

Anna Ivey's journey west with Mercer is an escape from the aftermath of the Civl War. She signed on to become a cook -- not a bride. When she's handed over to Denton, her stubborn refusal to wed jeopardizes his land. With only a few months before he loses all he holds dear, can he convince this provoking, but beguiling, easterner to become his lawfully wedded wife?

JOE IS THE PRIME EXAMPLE OF A PERFECT HERO. HE'S INFURIATINGLY SLOW IN SOME WAYS, BUT SENSITIVE, CARING, DECENT AND DETERMINED. WHEN HE SETS OUT TO WOO ANNA...OY! GREAT ROMANTIC DEVELOPMENT --SIZZLES. VERY UNIQUE TAKE ON A 'CLICHE' PLOT. IT READS FRESH AND FAST.

In Harm's Way

HANNON, IRENE

IN HARM'S WAY

FBI special Agent Nick Bradley has seen his share of kooks during his fifteen years with the Bureau. But Rachel Sutton is an enigma. She seems normal when she shows up at his office -- until she produces a tattered Raggedy Anne doll and tells him about a strange feeling of terror it gives her when she touches it. Nick dismisses her, only to stumble across a link between the doll and an abducted child, setting in motion a chain of events that uncovers startling connections -- and put Rachel's life on the line.

THIRD IN HEROES OF QUANTICO SERIES. EXCEPTIONAL. THE PLOT IS TIGHT AND RIVETING AND MOVES AT A FAST PACE. ROMANTIC DEVELOPMENT IS INCREDIBLE. A REALLY, REALLY, REALLY GOOD READ.