Reading, Writing & Pondering

Welcome to the Blog Tour for The Sound of Violet (10th Anniversary Edition) by Allen Wolf, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours ! My Review: The Sounds of Violet by Allen Wolf features a main character that is on the spectrum. My son is on the spectrum so that was one reason I wanted to read this book. Shawn is autistic and lives with his grandmother. He works on a computer for a dating app company. The company also has real-life dating mingle parties. Shawn goes to one hoping to meet his future wife. He meets Violet and asks her on a date. . .only Violet isn't a regular girl. She is a prostitute that is trapped in a world of exploitation from having been human trafficked. Shawn and Violet actually click in unexpected ways. With his different way of seeing things, Shawn sees Violet for who she is deep inside. Violet also sees past some of Shawn's idiosyncrasies and finds him refreshing from all of the smarmy men she has met in her business. Shawn also sees himself making ...

  Welcome to the Honey B & B is the latest book by Melody Carlson. Unlike most of her other books, this book is personal for her. One of the main characters suffers from FTD ( Frontotemporal Dementia), which is a disease that Melody's husband also suffered from. I think she does a good job of showing what it is like to live with someone who has this disease without making the book too heavy. Jewel McKerry and her 13-year old daughter, Cooper, move back to the farm where Jewel grew up to help her mom, Honey, take care of her dad who has FTD.  Throughout this book, there are challenges that all of the characters must deal with and ways that they learn to support each other as family members. This disease also affects neighbor relations. I enjoyed the characters in Welcome to the Honey B & B . I thought that the author did a good job of showing the challenges of being a care giver (or a set of care givers) for someone with FTD. I also enjoyed the romance that developed. ...

  Sunrise Reef by Irene Hannon is the latest release in the Hope Harbor series. This is a big series of eleven heartwarming books, so far, but they all can read as a stand-alone.  Bren Ryan works part-time as a barista a local Hope Harbor coffee shop. As the book begins, she is celebrating a milestone birthday. Her birthday doesn't go as planned to begin with when there is an electrical fire at her rental house. She soon finds herself staying at Fred Ward's guest cottage as he overhears her plight at the coffee shop. That same day, Fred's son, Noah, makes a surprise visit to see his father. He often stays at the guest cottage so he lets himself in since it is late at night--much to Bren's surprise--and she pepper sprays him thinking he is an unwanted intruder. As a result, Bren and Noah don't get off on the best foot.  After her own struggles in life, Bren appreciates the town of Hope Harbor and how kind folks are as they help each other out. When a young woman is s...

    Meddling With Mistletoe by Liz Johnson is a cheery Christmas read that left me looking forward to the coming Christmas season. Whitney Garrett is hoping to go to culinary school by baking and selling pies at the local farmer's markets. Then, in the height of the season, her oven went on the fritz. Thankfully she was able to negotiate some time to use the oven at the Red Door Inn in exchange for watching the proprietor's children and making breakfasts for some off-season guests.  One of the off-season guests is Daniel and the other is Ruby. Both are in town to help Aretha sell her antique shop. Aretha is also something of a matchmaker as she is hoping to help her nephew Daniel find a new romance with Ruby. With that in mind, Aretha talks Whitney into helping Ruby and Daniel get together. Only things don't quite go as planned. Meddling with Mistletoe is aptly named as there is some matchmaking that goes awry in this book. I have read all of Liz Johnson's books--excep...

  Josephina has had a rough time lately. Her family members aren't speaking to each other. They also moved out of town, leaving her to run her business alone. Then the business her father owned was sold to a crook who took advantage of people in town. Some people even blamed Josephina even though she had nothing to do with it. What will she do now? Josephina's friend comes up with a solution in an ad she sees about restoring a lighthouse in North Carolina. Josephina puts in for the job as a way to get away from some of her troubles temporarily and hope that all the hoopla dies down. While restoring the lighthouse, Josephina meets some fun new folks. Walt owns the lighthouse and wants to make amends for some of his own wrongs in the past. Finn is Walt's grandson and he is helping to oversee the project. He thought Josephina, aka Joey, was a man to start with so they didn't exactly get off on the right foot. Joey shows Walt and Finn that she can take on the job and do wha...

  As Leaning on Air by Cheryl Grey Bostrom begins, Celia Burke run into Burnaby Hayes. Both share a love for the birds in the area but Celia is an ornithologist and Burnaby is a veterinary surgeon. This meeting ignites a relationship and marriage that has lasted several years. then Celia makes a mistake and it ends in tragedy. Can Burnaby understand her pain? She doesn't think so and she runs. Leaning on Air is a beautiful story. I love time in nature and birds so I really like that aspect of the story. However, it does contain a story of loss in the form of miscarriage. Having experienced my own miscarriage several years ago, I could relate to that aspect of the story. There is also an autistic character, which I like. My son is autistic and I find it good to see someone autistic represented in a story. I wanted to have time to read Sugar Birds first but have a lot going on in my life right now. I hope to go back and read that book and then read this one again so I can better en...

  Jaime Jo Wright has written some books that I found to be creepy before. . . but The Souls of Lost Lake is her creepiest book to date, I think. I don't usually do creepy but her books are always so good that I can't help myself. However, I don't do well reading creepy books at night so it took me awhile to read it. The Souls of Lost Lake is a split time story with characters in the 1920s/30s and characters in today's time. In 1930, Ava Coons is accused of murder. The townspeople believe that she murdered her family when she was 13--but they had no proof. They don't need proof to spread gossip and malign Ava's name so when another member of the town of Tempter's Creek is murdered, the pin the murder on Ava. The new preacher, Noah, wants to offer her a safe place because he doesn't believe the rumors.  Today in the Northwoods of Wisconsin, Wren Blythe lives and works at a Bible camp near where Ava Coons is said to have murdered her family. . .which is ...

  Caroline Payne is at work when her old college friend, Mat Hammond, calls her and reveals that he knows a scandalous secret within her family tree that has been buried--and he is warning her that it is going to come to light through an article he wrote for the Atlantic. Caroline wants to protect her family from scandal and she also wants to find out the truth so she sets out to do just that. As her adventure begins, Caroline decides to go to London for a few days to visit her mom, who is living in the ancestral home of her father, and look at old letters in the attic to see if she can find out the real story about her aunt, whom she is named after, and her grandmother, Margaret, who were twin sisters. This is just the beginning of a healing journey for Caroline's family in The London House by Katherine Reay. I really enjoyed The London House. The characters had flaws, but they were so realistic and relatable that I truly liked them all. I felt for them all. I actually could relat...

  In 1949, Ellie Fields is young, fresh out of college and ready for a new teaching experience. She leaves her home states of Alabama and journeys to a tiny Louisiana town in the Bayou. She is idealistic and hopeful and her "can do" spirit wins the hearts of the townspeople after she arrives. She especially wins the heart of one young man and there is some romance in the midst of the small town stories woven through Under the Bayou Moon. Valerie Fraser Luesse won me over when I first read, The Key to Everything last year. I enjoy her descriptive writing and how well she weaves the story together. I fell in love with all of the townspeople and was rooting for them throughout the book as they made it through more than a few challenges between sickness, weather and corrupt politicians. I spent summers in Louisiana when I was very young while my father went to graduate school so I know a little tiny bit of what she is describing. However, she brought the area to life for me throu...

  Time Travel may sound a little crazy but it definitely intrigues me. I've read several time travel books and I thought Come Back to Me by Jody Hedlund was definitely among the best When Marian Creighton is called about her father being in a coma, she goes home to his bedside. He also leaves her clues in a safety deposit box. Clues that could help him--and possibly her sister who has a serious illness. While Marian struggles to believe what she finds in the box and the research her father has been doing, she tests the theories herself. Soon after, she finds herself back in the Middle Ages during a peasant uprising in 1381. She also meets William Durham. a knight who offers her protection. . .and maybe even more. I enjoyed this novel so much. The storyline and the characters were all quite compelling to me. Come Back to Me was written in such a way that the time travel did seem quite plausible. I liked how the author shared Marian's struggles in not fitting in with the time p...

  Between the Pages by Pepper Basham is a dual timeline story that left me sighing with contentment at the ending. Clara Blackwell has been working in her family's 100-year-old bookstore for as long as she can remember. It was her father's legacy and she inherited his love of books and stories. At the same time, she has been busy caring for her mother after her father passed away and minding the bookstore. You could say she has been living a relatively, secluded predictable life. Then a letter is found while the bookstore deed is missing and Clara is off on an adventure to find her family's legacy--and maybe discover a new future. I enjoyed both the story of Clara, Max, and her family's bookstore--as well as the historical story of Sadie and Oliver. I rooted for both couples and booed when the villains entered the scenes. While I own a couple others, this is the first book that I have read from Pepper Basham--and now I want to read the others even more. I like how she b...

The Right Kind of Fool by Sarah Loudin Thomas is a sweet read with mystery, drama and a young man's story of coming of age. Loyal Raines is a young teen who is supposed to stay close to home while his mother is at a meeting. Instead, he decides to visit a nearby swimming hole on a hot day--and gets more than a cool dip in the stream. He finds a dead body. This not only shakes him up, but it shakes up his dysfunctional family life more, even than the fact that he became deaf after an illness as a young boy. The Right Kind of Fool is a historical fiction book set in the 1930s. This book has a lot to offer the reader in that it has a murder mystery with a few twists and turns. Then there is the drama of a family that has struggled since Loyal became deaf. Finally, it is a coming of age story that is sweet to read about a young man learning to make his own way in the world. I enjoyed learning about each of the characters. The plot was also interesting and moved steadily along. All in...

  I have never read a Nicholas Sparks book but I have been wanting to for a long time. When the opportunity came up to read The Return , I took it and I'm glad that I did. Trevor Benson moved back to New Bern, North Carolina after his grandfather passes away. He moves into his house and tends his grandfather's beloved beehives. Trevor was a navy doctor who was devastatingly injured in Afghanistan and is looking forward to becoming a psychiatrist to treat other wounded vets with PTSD--a condition he has also been dealing with. Once in New Bern, he meets a deputy sheriff named Natalie Masterson and feels a connection with her. He also is intrigued by Callie, a teenage neighbor girl who lives down the road. He also is trying to solve a mystery related to his grandfather's death.  I admired Nicholas Sparks' prose as The Return slowly progressed--in places it seemed lyrical to me. It was also interesting to me to read the book from Trevor's perspective because I don...

Some of my very favorite books growing up were Nancy Drew mysteries. A Dream Within a Dream by Mike Nappa and Melissa Kosci gave me that same breathless feeling as I raced my way through the book to the exciting conclusion. Trudi Coffey hasn't seen Samuel Hill in weeks. Then the FBI comes looking for her and she is clueless as to what is going on. She also has an encounter with a small man named Dream. It isn't long before she is entrenched in not only the mystery of what is going on with Samuel but figuring out just who Dream is and the big mystery of why he is so important to so many people. A Dream Within a Dream practically left me breathless turning pages as I read through this fun mystery. I enjoyed Trudi and Samuel each in their own way. I also found Trudi's assistant Eula to be a fun part of the adventure. I especially liked how tender and kind Trudi was to Dream and how she tried to reflect her faith to him as she interacted with him. There were themes of...

These Nameless Things by Shawn Smucker tells Dan's story. Dan was once held captive and tortured on a mysterious mountain. He made it out alive--but he left his brother behind. As the book begins, Dan lives in a small community of escapees. Then memories start coming to the surface for each of them. Those memories all connect them to each other.  At the same time, a wounded woman shows up at Dan's door. The peaceful existence they've all been living doesn't seem to be so peaceful anymore.  What does it all mean for Dan? Smucker's prose in These Nameless Things is beautiful. This story helped me reflect on forgiveness, shame, grace, and dealing with our own failings.  I picked this book up to start reading it and struggled to put it down. While the story was quite compelling on its own, I had to think to figure out what was actually going on. It is a sort of allegory. As a reader, I could see how the evil one was moving but it is a different story when we are ...

The Key to Everything by Valerie Fraser Luesse was my first book by this author but it won't be my last. I truly enjoyed following Peyton's adventures. Peyton Cabot is fifteen years old. Set in 1947, Peyton's father is a troubled vet who suffers a tragic accident. Peyton is a good kid but his school year is interrupted and his life is a bit off keel--especially with Lisa, the girl of his dreams. When his father was fifteen, he rode his bike from St. Augustine to Key West, Florida. Peyton decides to retrace his journey himself. I enjoyed getting to know Peyton and following his adventures in The Key to Everything . He truly seems like a swoonworthy young man that would be pretty appealing to me if I were a young woman. He faces some hard things in this book. While I admired him for those things, I really admired him for how he lived his life and his basic principles. He truly seemed like a likable character. His dad was struggling quite a bit but the story explains s...

I admittedly have not read a lot of classics but I liked this idea of having a reading guide with the book. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austin with the guide to reading and reflecting by Karen Swallow Prior was a great way to read the book. First of all, I love how beautiful this book looks. The classic styling with the ribbon marker are so nice looking. I have seen a few other books in this series and I can already tell that they will look nice on a bookshelf in a grouping. Also, I like the thick paper and the print size. Secondly, it was so helpful to me to read Prior's introduction to the book. She also does not include spoilers for those who have not read the book before, which was helpful to someone like me. I learned a lot in this part about how Austin was a Christian and what her faith looked like as well as what type of book Sense and Sensibility is and who it was written for. If you have not read this classic, I highly recommend this edition with the helps.Then in th...

Jemima Graber is an old-order Amish wife and mother. Recently she and her husband, Roy, have become distant. She has four little ones and has been a dutiful wife and mom, patiently waiting for her dream of owning a food truck to come true while Roy continues to invest in the family's horse farm. Only now, something is wrong and her dream isn't going to be realized. Roy is distant and his behavior is erratic. What is wrong? Read the Englisch Daughter by Cindy Woodsmall and Erin Woodsmall to find out. I haven't read an Amish novel for a long time so I don't have a lot to compare it to, but I enjoyed The Englisch Daughter. The story grabbed me from the beginning and kept me turning pages quickly until the end. I was also impressed that this book deals with some issues many women deal with like how to remain close to your spouse during the years of parenting young children. It also dealt with some issues that are unique to the Amish and I learned some things about the A...

Often we look at other families and we think, "Wow, They seem like the perfect family." Daniel, Kelly and Milly Whiteley are the family that appears perfect in The Camera Never Lies by David Rawlings. But are they who they appear to be? Daniel is a successful marriage counselor and bestselling author of a marriage book. However, his own marriage is another story. His daughter, Milly, sees what those outside of their home don't see and she is feeling the effects of parents who no longer work things out together. Then Gramps passes away and leaves Daniel his camera. This isn't just any camera. On the bottom is inscribed, "No matter what you think you might see, the camera never lies." Over time, Daniel takes pictures and develops his photos to see the secrets that the camera shows that aren't in plain sight. The Whiteleys aren't as perfect as they appear. The Camera Never Lies is an interesting read. What would you do if a camera exposed your ...

Meri has run away from her stressful life and all of her family's pressure to become a doctor. She ends up at the Inn and Hidden Run Bed and Breakfast where she meets Jillian the genealogist and her father, Nolan, the mediation lawyer. As they become friends, Jillian and Nolan try to help Meri face her family struggles in The Inn at Hidden Run by Olivia Newport. Jillian helps the family reconsider their traditions as they look at today's challenges through a view at the past. We follow a dual timeline to get a feel for the people who influenced Meri's family many years ago and take a look at Meri's family struggles today. I enjoyed The Inn at Hidden Run as a whole. The characters were interesting small town people. I didn't like them all to start with but the two that I struggled to like grew on me a bit more by the end of the book. Since this is the first book in a four book series, it will be interesting to see how the characters grow and develop throughout ...