THOUGHTS ON THIS 'n THAT

  In LIVID (RedHenPress) by Cai Emmons, Sybil White Brown returns from Boston to the small West Coast city where she once lived, hoping to heal after a terrible loss.  Summoned to jury duty, she is dismayed to be assigned to the jury of a murder trial alongside her ex-husband with whom she had a rancorous divorce. As the trial progresses, she and her ex tiptoe around each other but eventually become disastrously entangled. Meanwhile, Sybil obsesses about the female defendant, whom she believes is innocent. The situation explodes during jury deliberations when Sybil comes face-to-face with her own unexpressed rage. LIVID is a complex, compelling story about women anger, and how nothing is what is truly seems to be. Themes of guilt love, trust and truth will keep you turning the pages. Cai Emmons is the author of several books of fiction:  His Mother’s Son ,  The Stylist ,  Weather Woman ,  Vanishing , and  Sinking Islands , as well as the recently publi...

  DOUBLE EXPOSURE (Ten16Press) by Jeannee Sacken is book two in the Annie Hawkins Green Series . You don't have to read book one, BEHIND THE LENS to know what's going on in DOUBLE EXPOSURE, but after reading DOUBLE EXPOSURE, I put BEHIND THE LENS on my TBR. I think you will, too. So let's start at the beginning, Annie Hawkins is a badass woman war photojournalist and is finally planning to dump the last name of her ex. She's in a relationship with a Navy Seal, Finn Cerelli. He's the love of her life and I know readers will be swooning over this tough, sensitive, protective guy who supports just about everything she does. Annie is under investigation for an incident that happened six months earlier in Afghanistan. Her best friend's daughter, Seema, is still missing, apparently with her Taliban boyfriend. Her daughter Mel and friends are busy fundraising to rebuild the Wad Qol Secondary School for Girls in Afghanistan and expect Annie to deliver the money to Afgha...

  "Matchmaker, Matchmaker, make me a match, Find me a find, Catch me catch, Matchmaker, Matchmaker, Look through your book, and make me a perfect match." Lyrics from  FIDDLER ON THE ROOF THE MATCHMAKER'S GIFT (St.MartinsPress) by Lynda Cohen Loigman is one of the most delightful novels I've read in a very long time. I absolutely loved it. Actually, I wish I could read it again for the first time. The title reveals what it's about, so I won't explain the obvious. I will write that there are well-written equally enjoyable dual time lines and characters you'll fall in love with. The characters experience challenges and pain, but the story is about hope and love. It's never too early to look ahead and start planning your holiday gift list for loved ones and friends. I recommend THE MATCHMAKER'S GIFT. It's the perfect gift for everyone. FYI: The cover of THE MATCHMAKER'S GIFT is one of the most whimsical I've seen in sometime. The cover is...

  IT'S NEVER TOO EARLY TO START GETTING IN THE HOLIDAY SPIRIT. What happens if the only Christmas celebration you want to attend is one you haven't been invited to? USA Today bestselling author Sarah Morgan delights with her latest novel SNOWED IN FOR CHRISTMAS (HQNTrade). A family gathering This Christmas the Miller siblings have one goal—to avoid their well-meaning family’s endless stream of prying questions. Ross, Alice and Clemmie have secrets that they don’t intend to share, and they are relying on each other to deflect attention. An uninvited guest Lucy Clarke is facing a Christmas alone and the prospect of losing her job. Unless she can win a major piece of business from Ross Miller, the season promises to be anything but festive. She’ll just deliver her proposal to his family home and then leave. After all, she wouldn’t want to intrude on the Miller family’s perfect Christmas. A Christmas to remember When Lucy appears on the Miller family’s snow-covered Highland doorste...

  The four McBride brothers have their worlds turned upside down when their precocious younger sister secretly places an advertisement for a mail-order bride. In Amy Barry's novel, KIT McBRIDE GETS A WIFE (Berkley) Kit McBride knows that Buck's Creek, Montana, is no place to find a wife. Between him and his three brothers--plus little Junebug--they manage all right on their own, thank you very much. But unbeknownst to Kit, his sister is sick to death of cleaning, cooking, and mending for her big brothers, so she places an ad in  The Matrimonial News  to get them hitched. After Maddy Mooney emigrated from Ireland, she found employment with an eccentric but poor widow. When her mistress decides to answer an ad for a mail-order bride, Madd​y is dragged along for the ride to Montana. But en route to the West, Maddy is suddenly abandoned and left to assume the widow's name, position, and matrimonial prospects.... With no other recourse in the wilderness, Maddy must convince Ki...

THE HOLIDAYS MY BE THREE MONTHS AWAY, BUT IT'S NEVER TO GET IN THE SPIRIT Return to Hope’s Crossing this Christmas in  New York Times  bestselling author RaeAnne Thayne’s latest heartwarming story of matchmaking at the holidays,  ALL IS BRIGHT (HarlequinTrade). McKnight is an ambitious young architect working at her father’s firm who takes on her most challenging client in Mason Tucker. The former pro baseball player is still healing from the physical and emotional scars after a plane crash left him a wheelchair-using single dad, and he’s determined not to let anyone breach his emotional defenses. Sage knows her work on Mason’s new home in Hope’s Crossing is her best work yet, and she won’t let her grumpy client prevent her from showcasing her work personally. With Sage’s gift for taking broken things and making them better, the matchmaking talent of the quirky locals and a generous sprinkling of Christmas cheer, Mason doesn’t stand a chance against the power of this...