Lisa Kleypas.. Friday Harbor Series

Welcome to Friday Harbor!  Fans of Robyn Carr and Susan Mallery.. this is a great series for you!

From Amazon.com Christine Eve on Friday Harbor (Book One):

ONE LITTLE GIRL NEEDS A FAMILY

One rain-slicked night, six-year-old Holly lost the only parent she knew, her beloved mother Victoria. And since that night, she has never again spoken a word.

ONE SINGLE MAN NEEDS A WIFE

The last thing Mark Nolan needs is a six-year-old girl in his life. But he soon realizes that he will do everything he can to make her life whole again. His sister’s will gives him the instructions: There’s no other choice but you. Just start by loving her. The rest will follow.

SOMETIMES, IT TAKES A LITTLE MAGIC…

Maggie Collins doesn’t dare believe in love again, after losing her husband of one year. But she does believe in the magic of imagination. As the owner of a toy shop, she lives what she loves. And when she meets Holly Nolan, she sees a little girl in desperate need of a little magic.

…TO MAKE DREAMS COME TRUE

Three lonely people. Three lives at the crossroads. Three people who are about to discover that Christmas is the time of year when anything is possible, and when wishes have a way of finding the path home…

This is a great series. I finished this one and couldn't wait for the next one so I bought the eBook and read it.. Got my hands on the third book.. I sucked all three down I think in less than a week.  AH-May-ZING!  

Book Two is Rainshadow Road about Sam Nolan, brother to Mark, and Lucy, recently dumped lady who makes stained glass windows.. Kleypas brings a little magical feeling into this book.

Book Three is Dream Lake about recently divorced almost alcoholic brother Alex Nolan and spunky Zoe, the cook from the bed and breakfast.  Once again, there's a little magical feeling in this book.. Something simple, like what Zoe feels when she is cooking is what people feel when they eat it. I kind of wish Kleypas had expanded on this a bit, but she kept it light.

Now, Book four.. Crystal Cove. I hate to do this, but... there is not a single thing I have good to say about this book. I really there is an injustice towards Justine.. does that make any sense? It has been a really, really long time since I thought a book was.. just awful. 

My suggestion.. read the first three, skip the fourth. Sorry Ms Kleypas!!!

Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken.. Great for Hunger Games fans!

So, in my searches for new books on Amazon I came across this book, Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken.. I thought the cover was awesome.. so I read the book.. and thought it was phenomenal. 

From Amazon.com:

When Ruby woke up on her tenth birthday, something about her had changed. Something alarming enough to make her parents lock her in the garage and call the police. Something that gets her sent to Thurmond, a brutal government “rehabilitation camp.” She might have survived the mysterious disease that’s killed most of America’s children, but she and the others have emerged with something far worse: frightening abilities they cannot control.

Now sixteen, Ruby is one of the dangerous ones.
When the truth comes out, Ruby barely escapes Thurmond with her life. Now she’s on the run, desperate to find the one safe haven left for kids like her—East River. She joins a group of kids who escaped their own camp.  Liam, their brave leader, is falling hard for Ruby. But no matter how much she aches for him, Ruby can’t risk getting close. Not after what happened to her parents.
When they arrive at East River, nothing is as it seems, least of all its mysterious leader. But there are other forces at work, people who will stop at nothing to use Ruby in their fight against the government. Ruby will be faced with a terrible choice, one that may mean giving up her only chance at a life worth living.


Breakdown: So all of a sudden kids start falling dead when Ruby was ten years old. In the middle of class, in the middle of riding their bike across the street, etc. Which is horrific for a kid that age.  The ones who didn't fall dead ended up having "super powers".. Things that normal people couldn't do. So these kids are shipped off to, essentially, concentration camps. They eat, sleep, work. They aren't allowed to talk, and they are color coded by their level of power. They are not allowed to use their powers, of course. Ruby's power is she can push her thoughts and make people do what she wants. She hates this, of course, and does not abuse it, except when she is being "sorted" into her color. The higher levels are of course being wiped out, so she has the examiner believe she is less than she is.  Part of her power is also she can wipe a persons memory. Catch your attention? This book  was really, really good. Okay, I won't give away any more information.. Just.. read it!

Kat Martin.. Raines of Wind Canyon

From Amazon.com:

They were known as the "no-account Raines boys" but they've grown into successful, honorable men and everything they have, they've fought for tooth and nail. Now each of the three brothers has one last obstacle to overcome to claim what's eluding them: love.

Secrets don't stay buried long in cattle country. Sarah Allen, the beautiful girl who humiliated Jackson Raines in high school, is back in town. Not so long ago, she couldn't wait to leave Wind Canyon, Wyoming, in her dust. But, recently widowed, she has nowhere else to go and finds herself on Jackson's ranch. And despite everything, Jackson's finding himself reluctant to get rid of her.

Sarah brings her own kind of trouble, and he can't resist trouble. Enemies of her dead husband show up making threats, thinking she has something they're owed. They're not taking no for an answer, but what they will take is the one thing she has left—her daughter. Jackson's the only one who might be able to save little Holly and bring her home.

Have y'all noticed I have a preference for Amazon? Sorry, can't help it. Free Two Day Shipping always gets me.

Anyways, I started this book and it took me a few days to read it, but I did enjoy it. The middle part got kind of slow.. I actually thought it easily could have ended then.  The next two books are about the other "no-account Raines boys", Gabe and Dev. Incidently, I think I liked Dev's book best of all. So after that, "Against the Wind" comes in and follows Trace Rawlings, Dev's friend from the Rangers. I haven't checked, but I'm sure the next books also follow more of Dev's Ranger buddies. 

With that being said... I did enjoy the first three books.. the fourth book is killing me. Its so incredibly slow.. and the story line isn't that interesting (it kills me to say something bad an y'all know that). I'm going to push on.. and I will finish it.. and I will probably read the others as well.

I was debating if I wanted to put this on my Robyn Carr read a like list. I certainly would suggest this series to Robyn Carr and Susan Mallery readers, even though it has a bit more a mystery in them than Virgin River or Fool's Gold.. Let me say.. Read the first three and then make your own decisions.

Richelle Mead put a spell on me with Indigo Spell.. May Contain Spoilers!

From Amazon.com:

Sydney Sage is an Alchemist, one of a group of humans who dabble in magic and serve to bridge the worlds of humans and vampires. They protect vampire secrets—and human lives.

In the aftermath of a forbidden moment that rocked Sydney to her core, she finds herself struggling to draw the line between her Alchemist teachings and what her heart is urging her to do. Then she meets alluring, rebellious Marcus Finch--a former Alchemist who escaped against all odds, and is now on the run. Marcus wants to teach Sydney the secrets he claims the Alchemists are hiding from her. But as he pushes her to rebel against the people who raised her, Sydney finds that breaking free is harder than she thought. There is an old and mysterious magic rooted deeply within her. And as she searches for an evil magic user targeting powerful young witches, she realizes that her only hope is to embrace her magical blood--or else she might be next. 


Well, I think Mead nailed it on the head with Indigo Spell. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The light hearted way that Adrian just kept at Syndey, to me, was fairly hilarious. Sydney's use of magic should become more interesting in future books. I'm interested to see if she really embraces that part of herself, which I am sure she will or Mead wouldn't have written it in to begin with.  I'm assuming that Alchemist's originally used magic but probably started weaning it out of their general population for fear of becoming like the Moroi, the thing they fear the most. Anyways, I won't ramble any more. I just wanted to say that I loved the book and thanking all the higher powers that she releases more than one a year.. I just received her new novel that comes out in the summer "Gameboard of the Gods" that I believe is more of a dystopian Adult novel. I'll report back with my findings on that one later.