Lost In Darkness by Michelle Griep

 

As the days get colder, and the nights are longer, what better thing to do than to curl up with a gothic novel? Michelle Griep has written a terrific novel, Lost In Darkness. It is a bit darker in tone than I usually read, but I found myself caught up in the story. I really enjoyed the literary and scientific references sprinkled throughout the book. Amelia and Graham are great main characters and I liked Colin, Betsy, and Nemo. Many other supporting characters add to the story. I loved the theme of redemption and forgiveness. So brew a pot of tea, grab some cookies and settle into your favorite reading nook for a suspenseful, intriguing read.

I was given a copy of this book by NetGalley with no expectations. All thoughts are my own.

From Amazon:

Even if there be monsters, there is none so fierce as that which resides in man’s own heart.
Enchanting Regency-Era Gothic Romance Intertwined with Inspiration from Mary Shelley's Frankenstein  
 
Travel writer Amelia Balfour’s dream of touring Egypt is halted when she receives news of a revolutionary new surgery for her grotesquely disfigured brother. This could change everything, and it does. . .in the worst possible way.
 
Surgeon Graham Lambert has suspicions about the doctor he’s gone into practice with, but he can’t stop him from operating on Amelia’s brother. Will he be too late to prevent the man’s death? Or to reveal his true feelings for Amelia before she sails to Cairo?

About the author:

I hear voices. Loud. Incessant. And very real. Which basically gives me two options: choke back massive amounts of Prozac or write fiction. I've been writing since I discovered blank wall space and Crayolas. I seek to glorify God in all that I write--except for that graffiti phase I went through as teenager

Forgiving Paris by Karen Kingsbury

Ever since I read Redemption, the first Baxter novel, I wondered what happened to Ashley in Paris. Forgiving Paris is as the name says a book about forgiveness. I loved the way the story was balanced between memories and the current time. The love and courage Ashley and Blake showed in facing the past was admirable and demonstrated their faith in God! I adored the way the story ended and don't think any other ending would have been as satisfying. So grab your cozy blanket, a pot of tea, and curl up in your favorite reading nook! You are in for a fabulous read!

I was given a copy of this book by NetGalley with no expectations. All thoughts are my own.

From Amazon:

The #1 New York Times bestselling author of life-changing fiction brings her signature “emotional, heart-tugging” (Woman’s World) prose to this wise and worldly novel of forgiveness and hope in the City of Lights.

In Indiana, Ashley Baxter Blake and her husband are about to take an anniversary trip to Paris, but she is hesitant. More than two decades ago, she made her most grievous mistake in that same city. She has never forgiven herself for what happened there, and she still harbors secrets that she’s afraid will come to light. Just before the trip, Ashley gets a call from her niece. Jessie explains that her French boyfriend’s mother remembers working at a bakery with an American named Ashley. “Could that be you?”

When Alice and Ashley meet, a flood of memories comes for both women, taking Ashley back to a reckless affair and an unexpected pregnancy and Alice to the night she nearly ended it all. Can this reunion bring healing and closure? Maybe it is finally time for Ashley to forgive herself...and Paris.

About the author:

Karen Kingsbury, #1 New York Times bestselling novelist, is America’s favorite inspirational storyteller, with more than twenty-five million copies of her award-winning books in print. Her last dozen titles have topped bestseller lists and many of her novels are under development with Hallmark Films and as major motion pictures. Her Baxter Family books are being developed into a TV series slated for major network viewing sometime in the next year. Karen is also an adjunct professor of writing at Liberty University. In 2001 she and her husband, Don, adopted three boys from Haiti, doubling their family in a matter of months. Today the couple has joined the ranks of empty-nesters, living in Tennessee near five of their adult children.

 

Carved In Stone by Elizabeth Camden

 

Sometimes you read a book that is so lovely that when you reach the end all you can do is sigh. Such a book leaves you so content that you just sit back and look at your to-be-read pile unable to move on. Carved In Stone is such a book. The story is engaging and pulls you along. The characters are delightful, I would love to wander the greenhouse with Gwen, and Patrick is an awesome dude. So brew up a pot of good Irish Tea and grab a few tea cakes, you are in for a fantastic story!

I was given a copy of this book by NetGalley with no expectations. All thoughts are my own.

From Amazon:

Her gilded world holds a deeply hidden secret. 

After years of tragedy, Gwen Kellerman now lives a quiet life as a botanist at an idyllic New York college. She largely ignores her status as heiress to the infamous Blackstone dynasty and hopes to keep her family's heartbreak and scandal behind her.

Patrick O'Neill survived a hardscrabble youth to become a lawyer for the downtrodden Irish immigrants in his community. He's proud of his work, even though he struggles to afford his ramshackle law office. All that changes when he accepts a case that is sure to emphasize the Blackstones' legacy of greed and corruption by resurrecting a thirty-year-old mystery.

Little does Patrick suspect that the Blackstones will launch their most sympathetic family member to derail him. Gwen is tasked with getting Patrick to drop the case, but the old mystery takes a shocking twist neither of them saw coming. Now, as they navigate a burgeoning attraction and growing danger, Patrick and Gwen will be forced to decide if the risk to the life they've always held dear is worth the reward.

Elizabeth Camden's writing is full of . . .

"Richly drawn characters and fascinating American history."-- All About Romance

"Fabulous love stor[ies] wrapped around compelling historical events."--Booklist

"Adventuresome, entertaining romance."--Foreword Reviews

about the author:

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Biography

Elizabeth Camden is best known for her historical novels set in gilded age America featuring clever heroines and richly layered storylines. Before she was a writer, she was an academic librarian at some of the largest and smallest libraries in America, but her favorite is the continually growing library in her own home. Her novels have won the RITA and Christy Award, and she lives in Florida with her husband who graciously tolerates her intimidating stockpile of books.

Seeds Of Change by Lauraine Snelling

 

The Seeds Of Change is a beautiful story of how God can take a bad situation and use it for good. Larkspur "Clark" Nielson is very self-assured and that gets her into trouble. She tries to help out her younger brother and ends up having to become Clark and travel away from all she knows. I loved the strong female characters in this story. And the romance, while not the focus, adds a nice touch. Lauraine Snelling proves once again that she is a master storyteller.

So grab a pot of tea and curl up for a fantastic read!

I was given a copy of this book by NetGalley with no expectations. All thoughts are my own.

From Amazon:

Larkspur Nielsen is ready for a change. Her parents have passed on, and her older brother is successfully running the family business. She bristles at the small-mindedness that permeates life in her small Ohio community, and she sees little chance of a satisfying future there. She has a little money saved, and after turning the tables on a crooked gambler who had fleeced several locals, including her younger brother, she can stake a new start for herself and her three sisters.

As the gambler's threats of revenge echo in her ears, she and her sisters head to
Independence, Missouri, to join a wagon train bound for Oregon. Knowing that four women traveling together will draw unwanted attention, Larkspur dons a disguise, passing herself off as "Clark" Nielsen, accompanying his three sisters. But maintaining the ruse is more difficult than Larkspur imagined, as is protecting her headstrong, starry-eyed sisters from difficult circumstances and eligible young men. Will reaching their goal prove too much for them?

About the author:

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Biography

Award-winning and best selling author Lauraine Snelling began living her dream to be a writer with her first published book for young adult readers, Tragedy on the Toutle, in 1982. She has since continued writing more horse books for young girls, adding historical and contemporary fiction and nonfiction for adults and young readers to her repertoire. All told, she has over eighty books published with more than 4 million copies in print.


Shown in her contemporary romances and women’s fiction, a hallmark of Lauraine’s style is writing about real issues of forgiveness, loss, domestic violence, and cancer within a compelling story. Her work has been translated into Norwegian, Danish, and German, and she has won the Romantic Times Career Achievement award for Inspirational Fiction, the Silver Angel Award for An Untamed Land, and a Romance Writers of America Golden Heart for Song of Laughter.


As a sought-after speaker, Lauraine encourages others to find their gifts and live their lives with humor and joy. Her readers clamor for more books more often, and Lauraine would like to comply ... if only her paintbrushes and easel didn’t call quite so loudly.

Lauraine and her husband, Wayne, have two grown sons and live in the Tehachapi Mountains with a watchdog Basset named Winston. They love to travel, most especially in their forty-foot motor coach, which they affectionately deem “a work in progress”.

A Time To Love by Tracy Higley

 How do I even begin? A Time to Love along with the first two books in the Time Travel Journals of Sarah Aldridge is definitely going to be on my best series of 2021 list. I can not do justice to the adventure, suspense, and romance that Ms. Higley has written. These books have cost me sleep. I have been sitting on the edge of my seat today as I finished reading the last pages of this book. I love all of the characters and the settings...WOW! I am almost dizzy from the plot twists, but I would not change one word of these books. They definitely must be read in order. I am satisfied with Sahara's but now I want Persia's. I also would love to know more about the Tempus Vigilia. Hopefully, Ms. Higley will again choose to dive into the world of time travel and give us more!

So brew up a pot of tea, suspend your unbelief, and curl up somewhere you can block out the world.  You are not going to want to be interrupted once you start reading. I hope you enjoy these books as much as I did.

All thoughts are my own.

From Amazon:

For a Time Traveler, the Future is Never Guaranteed.

Sahara Aldridge, a young Egyptologist in 1922, is mastering the genetic surprise of time travel.

She’s survived a murderous vizier in King Tut’s Egypt, and taken on ancient Roman aristocrats bent on deposing Nero.

She’s even managed to open her heart to the charming Jack Moretti, despite the shocking secret he’s finally divulged.

But when the next clue to finding her parents lands her in an ancient Egyptian assassination attempt, Sahara’s tinkering with the past just might erase her future.

Skimming across the lofty pyramids of ancient Egypt to the elegant canals of 18th century Venice, the answers to Sahara’s desperate search for belonging seem only a breath away.

But an old score must be settled, and an old feud reconciled before she can face a truth more than thirty years in the making, and a secret she was never meant to learn.

How can love be enough, when fear and hate are fierce?

OTHER BOOKS BY TRACY HIGLEY: THE TIME TRAVEL JOURNALS OF SAHARA ALDRIDGE A Time to Seek (Book One)
A Time to Weep (Book Two)

THE SEVEN WONDERS NOVELS: Isle of Shadows
Pyramid of Secrets
Guardian of the Flame
Garden of Madness
So Shines the Night

THE BOOKS OF BABYLON: Chasing Babylon
Fallen from Babel (coming soon)

THE COMING OF THE KING SAGA: The Queen's Handmaid
The Incense Road

THE LOST CITIES NOVELS: Pompeii: City on Fire
Petra: City in Stone

About the author:

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Biography

I've been writing adventure stories since the time I first picked up a pencil. I still have my first "real" novel--the story I began at the age of eight during a family trip to New York City.

Through my childhood, I wrote short stories, plays for my friends to perform (sometimes I had to bribe them), and even started a school newspaper (OK, I was the editor, journalist, and photographer since no one took that bribe to join me). Then there were the "drama years" of junior high when I filled a blank journal with romance and poetry. Sigh.

In my adult years, I finally got serious about publishing suspense fiction, and have since authored twelve novels in twelve years.

When I'm not writing, life is full of other adventures--running a business, raising kids, and my favorite pastime: traveling the world.

I started traveling to research my novels and fell in love with experiencing other cultures. It's my greatest hope that you'll feel like you've gotten to travel to the settings of my books, through the sights, sounds, smells, colors, and textures I try to bring back from my travels and weave into my stories.

To experience my travel journals and see the romantic settings of my books, I hope you'll visit my website at TracyHigley.com or meet up with me on Facebook at facebook.com/tracyhigley.

Remember 9/11/2001 and 9/11/2012

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3iy2L9VeUfc

A Lady In Attendance by Rachel Fordham

 

A Lady In Attendance is a lovely story full of romance and suspense in late 1800s New York. I loved the witty dialogue and intriguing plot. Rachel Fordham is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. She tells delightful Faith-filled stories that draw you in, causing you to forget ordinary things like cooking supper or washing dishes. Unfortunately, since I have finished her book I will have to return to those mundane duties...My family will be pleased! So when you have a block of time available, brew a pot of tea, grab a cozy blanket and curl up for a wonderful tale.

I was given a copy of this book with no expectations. All thoughts are my own.

From Amazon:

Five years in a New York state reformatory have left a blemish on Hazel's real name. So when she takes a job as Doctor Gilbert Watts's lady in attendance in 1898, she does so under an alias. In the presence of her quiet and pious employer, Hazel finds more than an income. She finds a friend and a hope that if she can set her tarnished past in order, she might have a future after all.

As Gilbert becomes accustomed to the pleasant chatter of his new dental assistant, he can't help but sense something secretive about her. Perhaps there is more to this woman than meets the eye. Can the questions that loom between them ever be answered? Or will the deeds of days gone by forever robbing the future of its possibilities?

Rachel Fordham pens a tender tale of a soft-spoken man, a hardened woman, and the friends that stand by them as they work toward a common purpose--to expunge the record of someone society deemed beyond saving--and perhaps find love along the way.

About the author:

 Following

Biography

Rachel Fordham has long been fascinated by all things historical or in the words of her children “old stuff”. Often the historical trivia she discovers is woven into her children's bedtime tales. Despite her love for good stories she didn’t attempt writing a novel until her husband challenged her to do so (and now she’s so glad he did). Since that time she’s often been found typing or researching while her youngest child naps or frantically writing plot twists while she waits in the school pick-up line. In addition to her passion for storytelling, she enjoys reading, being outdoors, and seeing new places. Rachel lives with her husband and children on an island in Washington state.

Learn more about current projects at rachelfordham.com