FINISHED -

1. "A MIRACLE OF HOPE" (The Amish Wonders #1) by Ruth Reid (new author for me) (A++++++)  How far can God's mercy reach? Lindie Wyse is pregnant out of wedlock and thinks an arranged marriage is the only way to preserve her future. Josiah Plank is certain he'll never love again, but he needs someone to care for his eight-year-old daughter, Hannah. The two take on their arrangement tentatively at first but soon realize they are each in for more than they imagined. Lindie experiences a breakthrough with Hannah when she recognizes Hannah's special gifts, but a risky pregnancy and serious health issues threaten to demolish the foundation Josiah and Lindie are building. Will their growing love survive despite their struggles, or will their hearts become as cold as the northern winter?
2. "THE FAMILY GATHERING" (Sullivan's Crossing #3) by Robyn Carr (listened to on an Audible app on my cell phone) (A++++) Having left the military, Dakota Jones is at a crossroads in his life. With his elder brother and youngest sister happily settled in Sullivan’s Crossing, he shows up hoping to clear his head before moving on to his next adventure. But, like every visitor to the Crossing, he’s immediately drawn to the down-to-earth people and the seemingly simple way of life. Dakota is unprepared for how quickly things get complicated. As a newcomer, he is on everyone’s radar - especially the single women in town. While he enjoys the attention at first, he’s really only attracted to the one woman who isn’t interested. And spending quality time with his siblings is eye-opening. As he gets to know them, he also gets to know himself and what he truly wants. When all the Jones siblings gather for a family wedding, the four adults are drawn together for the first time in a way they never were as children. As they struggle to accept each other, warts and all, the true nature and strength of their bond is tested. But all of them come to realize that your family are the people who see you for who you really are and love you anyway. And for Dakota, that truth allows him to find the home and family he’s always wanted.
3. "WISH UPON A WEDDING" (Cricket Creek #10) by LuAnn McLane) (A++++) Heartbroken handyman Avery Dean can’t get away from his ex - who just happens to be the maid of honor in his sister’s upcoming wedding. As the best man, Avery has to grin and bear his sister’s misguided attempts to get them back together, until the perfect excuse presents itself in a pretty out-of-towner. With her time in Cricket Creek, Kentucky, coming to an end, hair stylist Sophia Gordon can’t deny the town’s charms, or her attraction to Avery Dean. That’s why she finds herself saying yes to dinner, and then, a wedding date. Sophia agrees to be Avery’s pretend girlfriend until the big day is over, but when their make-believe fling shows signs of real passion, Sophia starts to wonder if staying in Cricket Creek could make all her wishes come true.
4. "STRONGER" by Jeff Bauman with Bret Witter (new author for me) (A++++++) When Jeff Bauman woke up on Tuesday, April 16th, 2013 in the Boston Medical Center, groggy from a series of lifesaving surgeries and missing his legs, the first thing he did was try to speak. When he realized he couldn't, he asked for a pad and paper and wrote down seven words: "Saw the guy. Looked right at me," setting off one of the biggest manhunts in the country's history. Just thirty hours before, Jeff had been at the finish line of the 2013 Boston Marathon cheering on his girlfriend, Erin, when the first bomb went off at his feet. As he was rushed to the hospital, he realized he was severely injured and that he might die, but he didn't know that a photograph of him in a wheelchair was circulating throughout the world, making him the human face of the Boston Marathon bombing victims, or that what he'd seen would give the Boston police their most important breakthrough. In Stronger, Jeff describes the chaos and terror of the bombing itself and the ongoing FBI investigation in which he was a key witness. He takes us inside his grueling rehabilitation, and discusses his attempt to reconcile the world's admiration with his own guilt and frustration...brave, compassionate, and emotionally compelling, Jeff Bauman's story is not just his, but ours as well. 
5. "THE STORYTELLER" by Jodi Picoult (A++++++) Some stories live forever...Sage Singer is a baker. She works through the night, preparing the day’s breads and pastries, trying to escape a reality of loneliness, bad memories and the shadow of her mother’s death. When Josef Weber, an elderly man in Sage’s grief support group, begins stopping by the bakery, they strike up an unlikely friendship. Despite their differences, they see in each other the hidden scars that others can’t, and they become companions. Everything changes on the day that Josef confesses a long-buried and shameful secret - one that nobody else in town would ever suspect - and asks Sage for an extraordinary favor. If she says yes, she faces not only moral repercussions, but potentially legal ones as well. With her own identity suddenly challenged, and the integrity of the closest friend she’s ever had clouded, Sage begins to question the assumptions and expectations she’s made about her life and her family. When does a moral choice become a moral imperative? And where does one draw the line between punishment and justice, forgiveness and mercy? In this searingly honest novel, Jodi Picoult gracefully explores the lengths we will go in order to protect our families and to keep the past from dictating the future.
6. "HIS LOVE ENDURES FOREVER" by Beth Wiseman (Land of Canaan #3) (A+++++) An unplanned pregnancy. An absent father. Can love really endure all things? Danielle Kent is anything but Amish. Just her luck to fall in love with an Amish guy. Now she’s 18, pregnant, and hopeful that the child’s Amish father - Matthew Lapp - will do the right thing and marry her. She knows Matthew plans to leave his Colorado settlement for a life in the Englisch world. But that plan never included a baby. When Matthew walks away from her and their unborn child, she has nowhere to turn. Her unlikely friendship with Levi offers some comfort - yet they have so little in common. This wasn't the plan she had for her life, and she's never felt so alone. She doesn’t want to be pregnant. Doesn’t want to be Amish. Doesn’t want to trust God. And yet. God has plans beyond what her mind can imagine...loving plans to show a lost young woman that His love never goes away but endures forever.
7. "SWEET RETURN" (West Texas #3) by Anna Jeffrey (A+++++) He's traveled the world, but renowned photojournalist Dalton Parker has his reasons for staying away from one location: his family's Lazy P ranch.  Now a calamity drags him back to Hatlow, Texas, to help out - and to face his past. But he's appalled to find that the cattle ranch has become home to a bunch of chickens.  And he knows who's to blame: Joanna Walsh, the most challenging woman he's ever met.
8. "MERRY COWBOY CHRISTMAS" (Lucky Penny Ranch #3) by Carolyn Brown (A+++++) This Christmas, Santa's wearing a Stetson...Tis the night before Christmas and all through the house is the presence of one wickedly hot cowboy who's come to stay for the holiday. Fiona Logan is downright shocked to return to her childhood home and find that the tall blond stranger who came to her rescue on an icy road will be sleeping just across the hall from her bedroom. Talk about temptation...Jud Dawson never believed the Lucky Penny Ranch would live up to its name until now. Fiona is gorgeous, smart, funny, and everything he thought he'd never find. Now all he has to do is convince her to stick around town instead of hightailing it back to Houston. But with wild weather, nosy neighbors, and a new baby in the family, getting her to admit that she's falling in love might just take a Christmas miracle.
9. "SUNSHINE BEACH" (Beach Road #4) by Wendy Wax (A++++++) There’s nothing that a fresh coat of paint and a few glasses of wine can’t fix…After losing their life savings in a Ponzi scheme, Maddie, Avery, and Nikki have banded together to make the most of what they have left, using their determination, ingenuity, guts, and a large dose of elbow grease. It’s Maddie’s daughter Kyra who stumbles across a once glorious beachfront hotel that has fallen into disrepair. The opportunity to renovate this seaside jewel is too good to pass up - especially when they come up with the idea of shooting their own independent television show about the restoration. What could possibly go wrong? Everything. With the cameras rolling, Maddie’s second-chance romance with her all-too-famous new boyfriend gets complicated, Avery struggles with grief over the loss of her mother, and Nikki’s reluctance to commit to the man who loves her could leave her to face the biggest challenge of her life. Even the hotel seems to be against them, when their renovation uncovers a decades-old unsolved murder which just might bring their lives tumbling down all over again.
10. "THE LIGHTKEEPER" by Susan Wiggs (A+++++) Once, the sea took everything he loved…Jesse Morgan is a man hiding from the pain of his past, a man who has vowed never to give his heart again. Keeper of a remote lighthouse along a rocky and dangerous coast, he has locked himself away from everything but his bitter memories. Now, the sea has given him a second chance. A beautiful stranger washes ashore, the sole survivor of a shipwreck. Penniless and pregnant, Mary Dare is a woman who carries painful memories of her own. With laughter, hope and joy, Mary and her child bring light into the dark corners of Jesse's world. But when their friendship turns to passion and passion becomes love, secrets from the past threaten to take it all away.
11. "FULL DISCLOSURE" by Dee Henderson (A+++++) Ann Silver is a cop's cop. As the Midwest Homicide Investigator, she is called in to help local law enforcement on the worst of cases, looking for answers to murder. Hers is one of the region's most trusted investigative positions. Ann Silver has long lived alone with her secrets. As the official Midwest Homicide Investigator who helps local law enforcement on the worst of cases, it's her job to unravel the secrets she uncovers. She also guards them on behalf of the high-profile connections she's made through the years...except there are some she fears she can never reveal. Paul Falcon is the FBI's top murder cop in the Midwest. If the victim carried a federal badge or had a security clearance, odds are good Paul and his team see the case file or work the murder. Paul Falcon is the FBI's top murder cop in the midwest, specializing in cases involving law enforcement. When Ann gives him a new lead in his decades-long hunt for a serial killer, he is immediately intrigued by the tip - and by Ann herself. He suspects she not only has something more to offer to his case but also to his personal life. When Ann gives him a new lead in his decades-long hunt for a serial killer, he is immediately intrigued by the tip - and by Ann herself. He suspects she not only has something more to offer to his case but also to his personal life. Their lives intersect when Ann arrives to pass a case off her desk and onto his. A car wreck and a suspicious death offer a lead on a hired shooter he is tracking. Paul isn't expecting to meet someone, the kind that goes on the personal side of the ledger, but Ann Silver has his attention. He'll fight to earn her trust, but can Paul convince Ann - and her heart - that the risks of full disclosure won't outweigh the danger of keeping quiet? The better he gets to know her, the more Paul realizes her job barely scratches the surface of who she is. She knows spies and soldiers and U.S. Marshals, and has written books about them. She is friends with the former vice president. People with good reason to be cautious about who they let into their lives deeply trust her. Paul wonders just what secrets Ann is keeping, until she shows him the John Doe Killer case file, and he starts to realize just who this lady he is falling in love with really is.
12. "THE DAILY COYOTE" by Shreve Stockton (new author for me) (A+++++) A story of love, survival and trust in the wilds of Wyoming - A fascinating true tale: When city girl Shreve Stockton set out to ride her Vespa from San Francisco to New York, she never imagined she’d end up staying in Wyoming, falling in love with a trapper, and working as a ranch hand. Nor could she have forseen meeting Charlie, the orphaned coyote pup who made Stockton’s log cabin his home. In a world where coyotes are hunted as killers, Stockton and Charlie faced challenges - as well as joys - throughout their first year, each of which came with revelations about life, love, and the bond between humans and nature.
13. "SECOND CHANCE GIRL" (Happily, Inc #2) (A+++++) Mathias Mitchell's easy smile hides a world of hurt. After the worst kind of family betrayal, he moves to Happily Inc., California - the wedding destination town supplies a steady stream of bridesmaids, perfect for his "no promises, no pain" lifestyle. Yet he can't stop watching for his beautiful, elusive neighbor on the animal preserve behind their homes. Gamekeeper Carol Lund knows she's not special enough to attract an alpha male like Mathias, so his offer to help her adopt a herd for her lonely giraffe is surprising - and his determined seduction, even more so. But just as she finally welcomes him into her bed, his careless actions crush her heart. Will she give him a second chance to prove she'll always come first in his heart?
14. "PRETTY FACE" by Lucy Parker (London Celebrities #2) (A+++++) The play's the fling...It's not actress Lily Lamprey's fault that she's all curves and has the kind of voice that can fog up a camera lens. She wants to prove where her real talents lie - and that's not on a casting couch, thank you. When she hears esteemed director Luc Savage is renovating a legendary West End theater for a lofty new production, she knows it could be her chance - if only Luc wasn't so dictatorial, so bad-tempered and so incredibly sexy. Luc Savage has respect, integrity and experience. He also has it bad for Lily. He'd be willing to dismiss it as a midlife crisis, but this exasperating, irresistible woman is actually a very talented actress. Unfortunately, their romance is not only raising questions about Lily's suddenly rising career, it's threatening Luc's professional reputation. The course of true love never did run smooth. But if they're not careful, it could bring down the curtain on both their careers.
15. "CALL TO REDEMPTION" (Team Poseidon #3) by Tawny Weber (A++++++) The Poseidon team are hard-bodied, fiercely competitive Navy SEALs. But when a sensitive mission goes disastrously wrong, three of the team's finest will have to trust their hearts and instincts to uncover the truth. No strings. No questions. Just pleasure. For a few blissful days, Lieutenant Commander Nic Savino is enjoying a wild fling with the sexiest stranger he's ever laid eyes - or any other body part - on. It's almost enough to make the stalwart SEAL let down his guard for once. Until he learns that assistant US attorney Darby Raye - his Darby - is heading an investigation designed to destroy him...and Poseidon. The gorgeous eyes that Darby spent her nights gazing into are now glaring at her across a courtroom. This case could build her career, but if Nic's not a traitor, then he's being framed by forces powerful enough to eliminate every obstacle in their way. And the tentative trust she and Nic are rebuilding - as well as their very lives - could become collateral damage.
16. "ROUGH & TUMBLE" (Haven Brotherhood: Men of Haven #1) by Rhenna Morgan (A+++++) These are the cornerstones the six Men of Haven bleed by: taking what they want, always watching each other's backs, and loving the women they claim with unyielding tenderness and fierce passion. A self-made man with his fingers in a variety of successful businesses, Jace Kennedy lives for the challenge. From the start, he sees Vivienne Moore's hidden wild side and knows she's his perfect match, if only he can break it free. Earning this woman's trust is a task unlike any he's faced so far, but Jace didn't get where he is by giving up. Vivienne's determined to ditch the rough lifestyle she grew up in, even if that means hiding her true self behind a bland socialite veneer. Dragging her party-hound sister out of a club was not how she wanted to ring in the New Year, but Viv knows the drill. Get in, get her sister and get back to the safe, stable life she's built for herself as fast as humanly possible. But Viv's plans are derailed when she meets the club's seriously sexy owner. Jace is everything Vivienne swore she never wanted, but the more time she spends with him, the more she starts to see that he loves just as fiercely as he fights. He can walk society's walk and talk society's talk, but when he wants something, he finds a way to get it. He's proud of who he is and where he came from, and he'll be damned if he lets Vivienne go before showing her the safest place of all is in his arms.

CURRENTLY READING -

1. "Gastien: From Dream to Destiny" (Gastien #2) by Caddie Rowland (reading on a Kindle app on my computer)
2. "Take Me Again" (Wild Oats #2) by Mackenzie McKade
3. "Hard to Let Go" (Hard Ink #4) by Laura Kaye

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 Snow Garden" by Christopher Rice (abridged audio CD) (new author for me)

Dust Tracks on a Road by Zora Neale Hurston. autobio.

Finished this month --- Carolina Moon by Nora Roberts, A Good Yarn by Debbie Macomber, Cast A Blue Shadow by P.L. Gaus, Dreamkeepers by Dorothy Garlock, One Summer by JoAnn Ross, A Prayer for the Night by P.L. Gaus, Thursdays at Eight by Debbie Macomber, A Holly, Jolly Murder by Joan Hess

Currently reading --- Serendipity by Fern Michaels

Reading:  

Gunmetal Gray by Mark Greaney

Travels with Barley:  The Quest for the Perfect Beer Joint by Ken Wells

Finished:

The Demon Crown by James Rollins

Chocolates for Breakfast by Pamela Moore

Camino Island by John Grisham

The Atlantis Revelation by Thomas Greanias

Case Histories by Kate Atkinson

All Shall Be Well; and All Shall Be Well; and All Manner of Things Shall Be Well by Tod Wodicka

Fifty-Nine in '84:  Old Hoss Radburn, Barehanded Baseball and the Greatest Season a Pitcher Ever Had by Edward Achorn

Finished in May:  The Underground Railroad    by:  Colson Whitehead for book club

                          Like Family - Growing Up In Other People's Houses   by:  Paula McLain

Currently Reading:  The Original Illustrated Sherlock Holmes 37 Short Stories and a Complete Novel From The Strand Magazine  by: Arthur Conan Doyle

Hope to get to:    Stitches  by David Small  for book club

                          The World I MadeFor Her  by:  Thomas Moran

                          The House at Riverton  by:  Kate Morton

                          Not A Sparrow Falls   by:  Linda Nichols

This book was made into a movie, which I have not seen.  But one of the best semi-fictional books I have read in a long time. Definite page turner.

The Revenant: A Novel of Revenge
Author: Michael Punke

And I am adding on 6/20 that I have been re-reading some romance to pass some time.  The Raven Prince, The Leopard Prince, To Begile a Beast and Accross a Moonlit Sea.  All are still 5 star romances for me.

And edited to add on 6/22.   I have discovered author Ruth Ozeki.  Her book A Tale of the Time Being is reminding me of Kate Atkinson's Life After Life, one of my favorite books.  

And on 6/24.  I just finished Half a Heart by Karen McQuestion.  It is a two hanky read.  Have the keenex ready.  The neighbor friend will love it.  

Motoring with Mohammed by Eric Hansen. travel.