Heaven Help Heidi

I received a copy of Heaven Help Heidi by Sally John from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Welcome to the Casa de Vida—eleven quaint bungalows located three blocks from the Pacific Ocean in tiny Seaside Village, California. Owner Liv McAlister never advertises vacancies beyond a small hand-lettered sign out front, preferring to trust that God will send the right tenant at just the right time. And He always does.

Heidi Hathaway’s life has been turned upside down. After an accident leaves her injured, unable to work, and incapable of negotiating the stairs in her multilevel oceanfront condo, she leases her home and moves into a cozy little cottage in the charming garden complex where her friend Piper lives. There she finds so much more than a place to rest and recover.

Piper Keyes knows Jared is not coming back from Afghanistan. After making it through the fifth anniversary of his death, she wonders if she’s at last ready to get on with life. She gingerly explores new avenues—photography, cooking, and buying her own boutique—and learns to open her heart again.

The most comforting thing about living at the Casa is that the women there become each other’s mentors and confidantes, learning from their own mistakes and arriving at new, healed places in their lives.

What a great book!  This is the second book in the Family of the Heart series and I hope there is another book in the works.  The ending left way too much hanging for my liking.  Heidi has an terrible car accident that brings her into Liv's complex and into a make shift family like she's never known.  Piper is still trying to get over the loss of her fiance.  Can they help each other to move on to something better?

Dobiosity

I received a copy of Dubiosity by Christy Barritt from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.


Savannah Harris vowed to leave behind her old life as an intrepid investigative reporter. But when a friend raises suspicions about two migrant workers who’ve gone missing from the sleepy coastal town Savannah calls home, her curiosity spikes.

As ever more eerie incidents begin afflicting the area, each works to draw Savannah out of her seclusion and raise the stakes—for both Savannah and the surrounding community. Even as Savannah’s new boarder, Clive Miller, makes her feel things she thought long forgotten, she suspects he’s hiding something too, and he’s not the only one. Doubts collide in Savannah’s mind: Who can she really trust?

As secrets emerge and danger closes in, Savannah must choose between faith and uncertainty. One wrong decision might spell the end…not just for her, but for everyone around her.

Will she unravel the mystery in time, or will doubt get the best of her?

This was a very good book.  There were so many plot twists that I kept second guessing who I thought was behind everything.  Savannah is trying to hide from everyone and everything.  Clive Miller comes into her life needing a place to stay.  When Savannah's best friend, Marti, attempts suicide she can't hide any longer.  The more Savannah digs the more people she finds she can't trust.  Will she find the truth and be able to move on?

Dashing Through the Snow

I received a copy of Dashing Through the Snow by Paige Rion from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Wynn Murphy has been in love with Zane Anders since the day she laid eyes on him. But just when she begins to hope their casual relationship might turn into something more, a misunderstanding pushes her away.

At first sight, charming and handsome, ad executive, Zane Anders has been secretly infatuated with bake shop cutie, Wynn Murphy. This Christmas, he's determined to tell her.

Join Wynn and Zane in this delightful holiday novelette as Zane goes dashing through the snow in an effort to capture Wynn's heart.

This was a good quick read to help get me into the Christmas mood.  Wynn and Zane have been getting to know each other over the past 5 years.  They each have been slowly falling in love but neither are brave enough to tell the other.  Will failed relationships be the turning point for them?

Murder Tightly Knit

I received a copy of Murder Tightly Knit by Vannetta Chapman from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

As fall blankets the Pumpkinvine Trail with leaves of brown, gold, and orange, a local Amish man is found dead on the path. The only clues to the murderer’s identity point in two very different directions—toward the local survivalist group and toward the Amish Village—specifically the village’s knitting shop, The Cat’s Meow. The police call in a federal investigator, and he quickly puts everyone on the suspect list. Amber Bowman and Hannah Troyer know who isn’t guilty—they know this community down to the last buggy, but can find the guilty party before someone else is in danger?

While Hannah helps Amber solve the mystery, she and Jesse Miller continue courting. But when Jesse’s prodigal brother returns to their farm, Jesse becomes distracted by family troubles. He and Hannah will have to overcome the tension in order to keep their relationship alive. And Amber and Hannah will need to work quickly to solve the murder mystery and bring harmony back to the Amish community.

Another good book.  I like the perspective that Vannetta Chapman gave on the Amish way of life.  There were several examples of where the Amish would chose to not get into a fight.  Something we should all try harder to do.  They all pitch in to help anyone or family that needs it.  Another good example for the rest of us.

The Wishing Season

I received a copy of The Wishing Season by Denise Hunter from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Living side-by-side, a fledgling chef and a big-hearted contractor find a delicious attraction.

Trouble is, their chemistry could spoil their dreams.

Spirited PJ McKinley has the touch when it comes to food. Her dream of opening her own restaurant is just one building short of reality. So when a Chapel Springs resident offers her beloved ancestral home to the applicant with the best plan for the house, PJ believes it’s a contest she was meant to win.

Contractor Cole Evans is confident, professional, and swoon-worthy—but this former foster kid knows his life could have turned out very differently. When Cole discovers the contest, he believes his home for foster kids in transition has found its saving grace. All he has to do is convince the owner that an out-of-towner with a not-for-profit enterprise is good for the community.

But when the eccentric philanthropist sees PJ and Cole’s proposals, she makes an unexpected decision: the pair will share the house for a year to show what their ideas are made of. Now, with Cole and the foster kids upstairs and PJ and the restaurant below, day-to-day life has turned into out-and-out competition—with some seriously flirtatious hallway encounters on the side. Turns out in this competition, it’s not just the house on the line, it’s their hearts.

PJ and Cole are competing to win the ancestral home in Chapel Springs.  PJ wants to turn the home into an upscale restaurant and bed and breakfast while Cole wants to use the house as a home for foster kids that have aged out of the foster system.  When the home owner isn't able to decide who to wins the contest she gives them each a level in the home and a year to put their ideas into action.  Can they live in the same house without killing each other?

Sister Eve, Private Eye

I received a copy of Sister Eve, Private Eye by Lynne Hinton from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Sister Eve knows God moves in mysterious ways. And Eve adores a good mystery. Especially a murder.

Two decades into her calling at a New Mexico monastery, Sister Evangeline Divine (pronounced Diveen) breaks her daily routine when a police officer appears, carrying a message from her father. Sister Eve is no stranger to the law, having grown up with a police captain turned private detective. She's seen her fair share of crime—and knows a thing or two about solving mysteries.

But when Captain Jackson Divine needs her to return home and help him recover from surgery, Sister Eve finds herself taking on his latest case.

A Hollywood director has disappeared, and the sultry starlet he's been running around with isn't talking. When the missing man turns up dead, Captain Divine's case escalates into a full-blown murder case, and Sister Eve's crime-solving instincts kick in with an almost God-given grace.

Soon Sister Eve finds herself soul-searching every step of the way: How can she choose between the vocation in her heart and the job in her blood?

This is a very good book that pulls you in from the beginning.  I could relate to Sister Eve because I've found myself doing a job that wasn't what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.  Who hasn't?  Another reason is don't we all have family that we struggle to get along with?  Sister Eve begins to relish her time with her father and the private investigative work her father does.

Love Without End

I received a copy of Love Without End by Robin Lee Hatcher from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Chet Leonard's life was forever changed when his seventeen year old son died and then, soon after, his wife walked out on their family. Over two years later, all he wants to do is hold onto his horse ranch and raise his remaining sons to be honorable men.

Kimberly Welch, widowed mother of Tara, a rebellious fifteen-year-old, has reached the end of her finances and nearly the end of her rope. She and Tara come to King's Meadow to try to piece their lives back together again. Kimberly has no intention of become involved with the residents of this remote mountain community and certainly not with any man.

When 84-year-old Anna McKenna returns to King's Meadow and to the Leonard ranch, she becomes an agent of change and healing for the two hurting families. With her help, Kimberly and Chet's families at last discover a love without end.

What a good book this was.  Kimberly and Tara moved to King's Meadow to start over again.  Kimberly doesn't want to be in a ranching community because she loves city life.  Tara has always loved horses but living in the city she wasn't ever able to have one.  When they moved to King's Meadow she has a horse given to her.  Since Tara's not ever been on a horse Kimberly askes Chet Leonard to give her lessons.  The only problem is Kimberly doesn't have a job and can't pay for the lessons.  Can they work out an agreement that works for everyone involved?