FINISHED -

1. "HARD TO LET GO" (Hard Ink #4) by Laura Kaye (A+++++) Five dishonored soldiers - Former Special Forces - One last mission - These are the men of Hard Ink. Beckett Murda hates to dwell on the past. But his investigation into the ambush that killed half his Special Forces team and ended his Army career gives him little choice. Just when his team learns how powerful their enemies are, hard-ass Beckett encounters the biggest complication yet - seductive, feisty Katherine Rixey. A tough, stubborn prosecutor, Kat visits her brothers’ Hard Ink Tattoo following a bad break-up - and finds herself staring down the barrel of a stranger’s gun. Beckett is hard-bodied and sexy as hell, but he’s also the most infuriating man ever. Worse, Kat’s brothers are at war with criminals her office is investigating. When Kat joins the fight, she lands straight in Beckett’s sights - and his arms. Not to mention their enemies’ crosshairs. Now Beckett and Kat must set aside their differences to work together, because the only thing sweeter than justice is finding love and never letting go.
2. "ROOKIE MOVE" (Brooklyn Bruisers #1) by Sarina Bowen (A+++++) In high school they were the perfect couple - until the day Georgia left Leo in the cold...Hockey player Leo Trevi has spent the last six years trying to do two things: get over the girl who broke his heart, and succeed in the NHL. But on the first day he’s called up to the newly franchised Brooklyn Bruisers, Leo gets checked on both sides, first by the team’s coach - who has a long simmering grudge, and then by the Bruisers’ sexy, icy publicist - his former girlfriend Georgia Worthington. Saying goodbye to Leo was one of the hardest things Georgia ever had to do - and saying hello again isn’t much easier. Georgia is determined to keep their relationship strictly professional, but when a press conference microphone catches Leo declaring his feelings for her, things get really personal, really fast.
3. "THE SNOW GARDEN" by Christopher Rice (abridged audio CD) (new author for me) (A+++) A shocking death exposes dangerous forces of seduction, obsession, and vengeance lurking beneath the idyllic surface of a prestigious New England university. It is more than just the late November weather that has cast a chill over the campus of Atherton University. When the wife of respected professor Eric Eberman is killed in a tragic accident, his secret student lover, Randall Stone, fears the professor tried to avert career suicide by committing homicide. Or do the dead woman’s haunting last words point to an even more damning crime. Fearing the truth, Randall digs into his lover’s hidden history. But what he finds draws him and everyone he cares for into a dark dance of sexual manipulation, twisted retribution, and murderous rage where nothing is as it seems. And no one will escape from it unscathed…if they escape at all.
4. "BRAMBLEBERRY SHORES" THE DADDY MAKEOVER" (Women of Brambleberry House #1) by RaeAnne Thayne (A+++++) Eben Spencer learned long ago to keep his eye on the ball and his emotions under wraps. This philosophy has taken him to the pinnacle of success in business. But in his personal life, it led to a shattered marriage. So it's just him and his little girl...until he meets Sage Benedetto. She's warm, emotional, open - everything Eben is not. Sage's bewitching nature soon has this tycoon rethinking his future. "HIS SECOND-CHANCE FAMILY" (Women of Brambleberry House #2) by Rae Anne Thayne (A+++++) As a teenager Julia Blair found more than fun in the sun at Cannon Beach. She found a home - in the arms of her first love, Will Garrett. A bright future stretched out in front of Julia. Though life hadn't worked out as planned, here she is, back in Cannon Beach, with her two kids in tow. Only to find Will there, too. Julia believes Will can still make her dreams come true, but will he let her into his heart to do the same for him?
5. "15TH AFFAIR" (Women's Murder Club #15) (A+++++) by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro Detective Lindsay Boxer chases an elusive, possibly very dangerous suspect - her husband. Lindsay Boxer has a beautiful baby daughter and a husband she loves unconditionally. The police detective has never been happier - until a brutal murder in a hotel and the disappearance of a blonde woman from the scene intrude upon Lindsay's own life. She can't ignore the disturbing clues that hit too close to home. When an explosive tragedy plunges San Francisco into chaos, Lindsay must investigate a criminal plot that stretches around the globe, and she again finds herself following signs that lead to her own front door. Lindsay turns to the Women's Murder Club for help as she desperately searches for the deadly blonde...before she loses her husband for good.
6. "THE SHIFTERS" (The Keepers #2) by Alexandra Sokoloff (new author for me) (A+++++) Charged with overseeing the shapeshifters of New Orleans, Caitlin MacDonald has her reasons for being wary of their kind. So when charismatic bounty-hunting shifter Ryder Malloy blows into town claiming to be on the trail of a horde of malevolent entities called Walk-Ins, Caitlin has no reason to trust him - with her city or her heart. But as tourists start dropping dead from supernatural possession, Cait must team with Ryder to navigate his shadowy, ephemeral world. Fiercely independent, Ryder usually hunts alone - but this case requires an exception. To prevent a supernatural massacre, he needs the beautiful Keeper on his side - and, if possible, even closer. In his world, appearances can be deceiving and deadly. And the only way they'll survive is if this woman who tempts him like no other trusts in him completely.
7. "ACCIDENTAL BRIDE" (Summer Island #2) by Christina Skye (A+++++) Love can find you in the most unlikely of places...
   When her friends order her to take a vacation, celebrity chef Jilly O'Hara is skeptical. She may be overwhelmed by her sudden success, but a trip to the mountains is not her idea of fun. Especially when a snowstorm forces her to fill in for an absentee bride in a lavish television wedding taking place at the resort. But then the ruggedly handsome make-believe groom arrives. Walker Hale has kept to himself since his return from active duty-but the next thing he knows, he's reluctantly playing along with the wedding charade. Even this jaded loner isn't immune to Jilly's quirky charm...or her beauty. But Jilly has to return home to Summer Island, leaving Walker to decide if the feelings between them were something more than pretend.
8. "COWBOY, IT'S COLD OUTSIDE" (Twilight Texas #8) by Lori Wilde (A+++++) Everyone in town knows that Christmas in Twilight has a way of bringing lovers together...but will its magic bring this pair from “I won’t” to “I do”? Wearing a too-tight “Santa Baby” costume held in by a double pair of Spanx, Paige MacGregor runs headlong into a gorgeous, grey-eyed hunk of a long, tall cowboy. And not just any cowboy, but country-western star Cash Colton, visiting Twilight to perform in a charity concert. Most women would melt at his feet, but Paige knows all too much about self-assured men with cocky attitudes, so she tells him to get lost. Cash is in town, nursing his own broken heart, but Paige has knocked him off his feet. He’s convinced she’s perfect - someone to inspire his music and share his now-empty bed. True, he’s not marriage material, but he’s determined to convince her that they’re perfect together - at least for a while. But what he doesn’t count on is falling in love with the one woman who isn’t about to give him the time of day!
9. "LUCKY STIFF" (Lucky O'Toole #2) by Deborah Coonts (A+++++) Lucky O'Toole - head of Customer Relations at premier megaresort the Babylon - thinks it's just another night in Las Vegas. A tractor-trailer has spilled its load of a million honeybees, blocking not only the Strip but the entrance to her hotel. The diatrict attorney for Clark County - apparently the odd man out of a threesome on the twelfth floor - is hiding in the bugg in one of the hotel's laundry rooms. And Numbers Neidermeyer - one of Vegas's less-than-savory oddsmakers - is throwing some major attitude at Las Vegas's ace private investigator, the beautiful Jeremy Whitlock. The next day, Lucky discovers Ms. Neidermeyer has been tossed into the shark tank at the Mandolay Bay Resort as a snack for the tiger shark. When the police show up at the Babylon with a hastily prepared search warrant, applied for by the district attorney himself, and Jeremy lands in the hot seat, Lucky realizes her previous night was far from routine. Amid the chaos of fight weekend, the Babylon's hiring of an eccentric new French chef, and her madam mother's scheme to auction off a young woman's virginity, Lucky is drawn into a deadly game where no one is what they seem, a game that will end only when she discovers who made fish food out of Numbers Neidermeyer. Lucky O'Toole and fabulous Las Vegas - life doesn't get any better.
10. "RIGHT WHERE WE BELONG" (Silver Springs #4) by Brenda Novak (A+++++) Savanna Gray needs a do-over. Her "perfect"  life unraveled when, to her absolute shock, her husband was arrested for attacking three women. With her divorce settled, she takes her two children home to Silver Springs to seek refuge between the walls of the farmhouse where she was born. It needs a little TLC, but she's eager to take control of something. Gavin Turner understands the struggle of starting over. Abandoned at a gas station when he was five, it wasn't until he landed at New Horizons Boys Ranch as a teen that he finally found some peace. He steps up when Savanna needs help fixing things - even when those things go beyond the farmhouse. Despite an escalating attraction to Gavin, Savanna resolves to keep her distance. She trusted her ex, who had a similarly tragic background, and is unwilling to repeat her past mistakes. But it's hard to resist a man whose heart is as capable as his hands.
11. "CAN'T LET GO" (Original Heartbreakers #5) by Gena Showalter (A+++++) With trust issues a mile long, Ryanne Wade has sworn off men.  Then Jude Laurent walks into her bar and all bets are off.  The former Army Ranger has suffered unimaginably, first being maimed in battle then losing his wife and daughters to a drunk driver. Making the brooding widower smile is priority one. Resisting him? Impossible. To Jude, Ryanne is off limits. And yet the beautiful bartender who serves alcohol to potential motorists tempts him like no other. When a rival bar threatens her livelihood, and her life, he can’t turn away.  She triggers something in him he thought long buried, and he’s determined to protect her, whatever the cost. As their already scorching attraction continues to heat, the damaged soldier knows he must let go of his past to hold on to his future...or risk losing the second chance he desperately needs.
12. "MEMORY MAN" (Amos Decker #1) by David Baldacci (abridged audio CD) (A+++++) Amos Decker's life changed forever - twice. The first time was on the gridiron. A big, towering athlete, he was the only person from his hometown of Burlington ever to go pro. But his career ended before it had a chance to begin. On his very first play, a violent helmet-to-helmet collision knocked him off the field for good, and left him with an improbable side effect - he can never forget anything. The second time was at home nearly two decades later. Now a police detective, Decker returned from a stakeout one evening and entered a nightmare - his wife, young daughter, and brother-in-law had been murdered. His family destroyed, their killer's identity as mysterious as the motive behind the crime, and unable to forget a single detail from that horrible night, Decker finds his world collapsing around him. He leaves the police force, loses his home and winds up on the street, taking piecemeal jobs as a private investigator when he can. But over a year later, a man turns himself in to the police and confesses to the murders. At the same time a horrific event nearly brings Burlington to its knees, and Decker is called back in to help with this investigation. Decker also seizes his chance to learn what really happened to his family that night. To uncover the stunning truth, he must use his remarkable gifts and confront the burdens that go along with them. He must endure the memories he would much rather forget. And he may have to make the ultimate sacrifice.
13. "PRIMROSE LANE" (Harmony Harbor #3) by Debbie Mason (A+++++) Love is the best medicine...Olivia Davenport has finally gotten her life back together. She's left her painful past behind, started over in a new town, and become Harmony Harbor's most sought-after event planner. But her past catches up to her when Olivia learns that she's now guardian of her ex's young daughter. With her world spinning, Olivia must reconcile her old life with her new one. And she doesn't have time for her new next door neighbor, no matter how handsome he is. Olivia may act like she's got everything under control, but Dr. Finn Gallagher knows a person in over her head when he sees one. He'd really like to be the shoulder she leans on, but Olivia makes it clear she doesn't want his help. Since he's returned to town, his waiting room has been full of single women feigning illness. Yet the one woman he's interested in is avoiding him. But with a little help from some matchmaking widows and a precocious little girl, Finn might just win Olivia over.
14. "A MILLION LITTLE THINGS" (Mischief Bay #3) by Susan Mallery (A+++++) Zoe Saldivar is more than just single - she's alone. She recently broke up with her longtime boyfriend, she works from home and her best friend Jen is so obsessed with her baby that she has practically abandoned their friendship. The day Zoe accidentally traps herself in her attic with her hungry-looking cat, she realizes that it's up to her to stop living in isolation. Her seemingly empty life takes a sudden turn for the complicated - her first new friend is Jen's widowed mom, Pam. The only guy to give her butterflies in a very long time is Jen's brother. And meanwhile, Pam is being very deliberately seduced by Zoe's own smooth-as-tequila father. Pam's flustered, Jen's annoyed and Zoe is beginning to think "alone" doesn't sound so bad, after all.
15. "PUSHING THE LIMITS" (Pushing the Limits #1) by Katie McGarry (new author for me) (A+++++) So wrong for each other...and yet so right. No one knows what happened the night Echo Emerson went from popular girl with jock boyfriend to gossiped-about outsider with "freaky" scars on her arms. Even Echo can't remember the whole truth. But when Noah Hutchins, the smoking-hot, girl-using loner in the black leather jacket, explodes into her life with his surprising understanding, Echo's world shifts in ways she could never have imagined. They should have nothing in common. Yet the crazy attraction between them refuses to go away. And Echo has to ask herself just how far they can push the limits and what she'll risk for the one guy who might teach her how to love again.
16. "POWER GAME" (GhostWalker #13) by Christine Feehan (A+++++) When radical terrorists take hostages in Indonesia, Captain Ezekiel Fortunes is called to lead the rescue team. Part of a classified government experiment, Zeke is a supersoldier with enhanced abilities. He can see better and run faster than the enemy, disappear when necessary and hunt along any terrain. There are those in the world willing to do anything for power like that. A formidable spy genetically engineered to hide in plain sight, Bellisia rarely meets a man who doesn't want to control her or kill her. But Zeke is different. His gaze, his touch - they awaken feelings inside her that she never thought possible. He's the kind of man she could settle down with - if she can keep him alive.
17. "BRIGHT EYES" (Kendrick/Coulter/Harrigan #5) by Catherine Anderson (A+++++) Zeke Coulter has no intention of getting married - until he buys a ranch next door to Natalie Patterson, a sexy divorcee with two kids, a zany extended family and a philandering ex-husband involved in shady business dealings. When Natalie's twelve-year-old son vandalizes Zeke's property and she is unable to pay for the damages, Zeke offers to let the boy work off the debt. As Zeke struggles to instill a sense of responsibility and self-worth in the troubled youngster, he finds his life being turned upside down by Natalie, whose sultry singing voice and striking eyes disguise her underlying lack of belief in herself or in her dream of becoming a professional singer. With rugged determination, Zeke undertakes to bolster her confidence, revive her ability to trust men...and thoroughly seduce her. But just as their attraction begins to blossom, a twist of fate gravely threatens their life together.
18. "THE CHRISTMAS WISH" by Nora Roberts "ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS" (A+++++) Identical twin boys Zeke and Zach want only one gift from Santa this year: a new wife for their lonely single dad, Mac Taylor, a builder who fixes things up in their small town. But convincing their love-wary dad that their music teacher, Nell Davis, is not only part of Santa's plan but Mac's soul mate isn't quite as easy as they'd hoped."FIRST IMPRESSIONS" (A++++) When Vance Banning moves to rural Maryland, all he wants is peace and quiet. The last thing he needs is his outspoken - yet infuriatingly sexy - neighbor, a beautiful woman named Shane Abbott, getting into his business. But he has no idea how determined Shane is when it comes to giving a helping hand - or a loving heart.
19. "DEAR LADY" (Coming to America #1) by Robin Lee Hatcher (new author for me) (A+++++) June 1, 1897 - 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
20. "RIDE HARD" (Raven Raiders #1) by Laura Kaye (A+++++) Brotherhood. Club. Family. They live and ride by their own rules. These are the Raven Riders...Raven Riders Motorcycle Club President Dare Kenyon rides hard and values loyalty above all else. He’ll do anything to protect the brotherhood of bikers - the only family he’s got - as well as those who can’t defend themselves. So when mistrustful Haven Randall lands on the club’s doorstep scared that she’s being hunted, Dare takes her in, swears to keep her safe, and pushes to learn the secrets overshadowing her pretty smile. Haven fled from years of abuse at the hands of her criminal father and is suspicious of any man’s promises, including those of the darkly sexy and overwhelmingly intense Ravens’ leader. But as the powerful attraction between them flares to life, Dare pushes her boundaries and tempts her to want things she never thought she could. The past never dies without a fight, but Dare Kenyon’s never backed down before.
21. "A WALK FOR SUNSHINE: a 2,160 mile expedition for charity on the Appalachian Traill" by Jeff Alt (new author for me) (A+++++) Jeff Alt takes you along every step of his 2,160-mile Appalachian Trail adventure. This entertaining journey includes bears, bugs, blisters, captivating characters, skunk bedmates, and hilarious food cravings. Alt walked more than five million steps in tribute to his brother, who has cerebral palsy and lives in a home called Sunshine. This trail adventure has inspired an annual event that has raised more than $200,000 for Sunshine. It includes hiking tips for the whole family. Walk alongside Alt and experience the joy of turning dreams into goals and then achieving them. His lessons from the trail celebrate family, stewardship of the earth, good health, and the American spirit.
22. "ONE PERFECT SPRING" by Irene Hannon (A+++++) Claire Summers is a determined, independent single mother who is doing her best to make lemonade out of the lemons life has handed her. Keith Watson is a results-oriented workaholic with no time for a social life. As the executive assistant to a local philanthropic businessman, he’s used to fielding requests for donations. But when a letter from Claire’s eleven-year-old daughter reaches his desk, everything changes. The girl isn’t asking for money, but for help finding the long-lost son of an elderly neighbor. As Keith digs reluctantly into this complicated assignment, he has no idea how intertwined his life and Claire’s will become – nor how one little girl’s kindhearted request will touch so many lives and reap so many blessings. Through compelling characters and surprising plot twists, Irene Hannon offers readers this tenderhearted story of family connections that demonstrates how life is like lilacs – the biggest blooms often come only after the harshest winters. 

CURRENTLY READING -

1. "Gastien: From Dream to Destiny" (Gastien #2) by Caddie Rowland (reading on a Kindle app on my computer)
2. "Close Contact" (Body Armor #3 #2) by Lori Foster

CURRENTLY LISTENING TO -

1. "Dark in Death" (In Death #46) by J.D. Robb (listening on an Audible app on my cell phone)
2. "The Bone Tree" (Penn Cage #5) by Greg Isles (unabridged audio CD)

I am about a third of the way into The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett.  Not sure I am loving it.  It's terse, spare noir.  The plot seems kind of contrived to me, as the search for the falcon just sort of fell abruptly and unsought into Sam Spade's life sort of like a McGuffin. I'd hoped for better, since it's famed as such a classic. But I plod on......

Clara's War, a memoir about a Jewish girl in Poland during WW2, and how her neighboors hid 3 families. Very good read.

Julie -  My book club read Clara's War  a couple of years ago.  It was a good read.  One of our members was a young girl in Germany during the war, and she has a lot of stories from that time.

Finished in June:  Stitches  by:  David Small  for book club

                           The World I Made For Her  by:  Thomas Moran

Currently Reading:  The House At Riverton  by:  Kate Morton

Hope to get to:  Camino Island  by:  John Grisham  for book club

                        Not A Sparrow Falls  by:  Linda Nichols

                        The Memory Of Love  by:  Linda Olsson

                        Always Watching    by:  Chevy Stevens

I think I have read The Maltese Falcon about 2 or 3 times. For me the book has always been closely tied to the movie. When I discovered that Huston used the dialog from the book as the dialog in the movie it sort of connected the book and the movie more strongly for me. Over time I think I have gradually come to like and appreciate Hammett a little more than Chandler.

Reading:

The Cigarette Century:  The Rise, Fall, and Deadly Persistence of the Product That Defined America by Allan Brandt

The Blue Tatttoo:  The Life of Olive Oatman by Margot Mifflin

V is for Vengeance by Sue Grafton

Point of Balance by JG Jurado

Finished:

The Wild Numbers by Philibert Schogt

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

Miss Wyoming by Douglas Coupland

The Last Days of Video by Jeremy Hawkins

Travels with Barley by Ken Wells

Gunmetal Gray by Mark Greaney

Provence, 1970 by Luke Barr. history.

the Virgin River series by Robyn Carr

Karen,    One of my most favorite romance series ever!   Would love to be reading it for the first time....Last year I collected all the copies and reread it for the second time.  Enjoy!

I am reading Ruth Ozeki's books this summer.  Great writer and every novel has different and very interesting material.  Characters are interesting and well drawn.  My favorite so far is All Over Creation.   Perfect read for this difficult gardening season.

I'm currently reading The Orphan of Florence, by Jeanne Kalogridis. I have a game I play with myself, where I just go down the aisle in a book store, or library and I search for an interesting title, cover, or author's name. I've actually found quite a few good books this way. 

I just finished "Before We Were Yours", which I really enjoyed, and I am almost done with "Pretending to Dance" which is easy read.  Tommorrow I go to a wine tasting to meet Diane Chamberlain which I am excited about!

Margaret, i read Pretending to Dance last month.  I love Dianne Chamberlain.  Come back and  tell us about the meeting. 

The Journals of Lewis and Clark ed by John Bakeless. This book is shorter I think than the one by Bernard DeVoto.

Crazy '08 by Cait Murphy. interesting baseball history.

Confess I threw in the towel on The Maltese Falcon.  It just did not grab me.  Since, I have read 2 more of the very enjoyable No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series books, and am now into The Last Days of Dogtown, by Anita Diament, who also wrote The Red Tent (one of the best books I ave ever read, ever).  So I have high hopes for "Dogtown".

I loved The Last Days Of Dogtown, read it several years ago.

i am currently readin Only Child, told through the eyes of a young boy who lived through a school shooting. Very heartbreaking.

also reading Shadow Child by Rahna Rizzuto about twins who were so close they went by one name, and then something happens and they don’t speak for years. Not really getting into it but I’ll keep trying.

Girl Sleuth: Nancy Drew and the Women who created Her. by Melanie Rehak.