TRUE BELIEVER by Nicholas Sparks

Another hit by Nicholas.

Jeremy Marsh is a reporter for a science magazine.  He goes to Boone Creek, NC a small town to check into the reports of ghosts at a local cemetery.  He grew up and lives in New York City.  Lexie lives in Boone Creek and is the local librarian.  Her grandmother owns a local restaurant and is the one that contacted Jeremy about the ghost.  

Doris, Lexie's grandmother has "powers," she can accurately predict the sex of an unborn child and she is a diviner.  

Now, Jeremy is there to figure out the truth about the appearances.  Lexie was orphaned and raised by her grandparents.  She has been burned a couple of times by men and is reluctant to get involved again.  Jeremy was married and divorced for a reason he has shared with no one, until Lexie.  

Can they make a go of a long distance relationship?  Will he figure out what is causing the lights/the ghosts?

AMAZON - True Believer

SANDY SAYS 3/3 STARS

BIKINI SEASON by Shelia Roberts

This is a story of four friends and their families.  Erin is about to be married.  Angela is married with two small daughters, Megan is a lawyer and single and Kizzy is married.  They are in a monthly cooking club that Kizzy started.  One problem is that Kizzy's Dr has told her she has to lose weight.   So, she sets out to disband the club.  She finds out that the others want to lose weight as well.  Erin no longer fits not her wedding dress, Angela thinks her husband is having an affair with a skinny girl at work and Megan is dealing with the skinny lawyers at the group she works for.  The story takes you along on their dieting ups and downs.

This story was hard to stay with for me.


AMAZON - Bikini Season

SANDY SAYS 2/3 STARS

CHRISTMAS AT BARNCASTLE INN-a Romancing America Story by Susan Page Davis, Darlene Franklin, Janelle Mowery and Lynette Sowell

Another set of four stories that are linked, this time by different families spending Christmas at Barncastle Inn and taking part in Christmas Any Time.
The stories all are religious stories.

Jayne Barncastle's parents own an inn in a small Vermont town.  It looks like a castle and is on a lake.   Jaynes parents decide they want to retire and hope that Jayne will take over the inn.   In trying to help her parents bring in more business and make the decision to stay on, she comes up with a marketing plan.  You can rent the Inn over Christmas and the Inn will make it a theme holiday.  The first group are the Dillard's, they want to have a medieval theme.  However, their grandson is still shy and anxious since his mother passed away.  The Dillard's send their son in law and grandson to the Inn for a weekend to check it out.

The second story has a couple of sisters wanting to reenact White Christmas and post World War II, in the one of getting their grandparents back together.  Their grandfather had moved out and was staying with one of the physician assistants from the VA.  He brings him along on the holiday without telling anyone.

The third story brings a family wanting a pirate theme.  It turns out their nanny used to be engaged to Jaynes cousin.   What Stephanie does not know is he is back in town, now working for Jayne and her husband as their carpenter for the themed events.  And, the brother of her employer shows up.  He has been trying to when her love.

Then, we have Waverly;  she is back in town and working at her fathers veterinarian office.  Her father sold the business to his assistant and he offers her a job.  Which is good as she is a single mother if a two month old daughter and needs the job.  The babies father took off when he heard the news.  Together she and the vet are in charge of the animals for the First Christmas theme.

AMAZON - Christmas At Barncastle Inn

SANDY SAYS 3/3 STARS

CHRISTMAS BELLES OF GEORGIA - a Romancing America story by Jeanie Smith Cash, Rose Allen McCauley, Jeri Odell and Debra Ullrick

This a book of four stories set at the holidays.  Four stories of four sisters who happened to be identical quadruplets who were adopted out as babies. These all are religious stories.

The first story is of Holly.  She grew up in Missouri and is an author and has a brother.  She was never told she was adopted and only finds out when she receives a letter from an attorney in Georgia with that information and that they have inherited a mansion and peanut farm.  The stipulation is that they have to send their birthday December 25 day and night of their 25th birthday at the mansion and the following day meet wi the attorney.  All the girls get the same letter.  Holly confronts her parents and flys out the next day.  She is not feeling well and collapses while at the attorneys office.  She has an appendicitis and has surgery.  While recovering she falls in love with the attorneys brother.

Then comes Carol she grew up the only child of rich parents.  She is neglected in that her parents are usually off on a trip without her.  When she goes to the attorneys office to check out the story, she runs into the teenage pool boy from her parents home.  He now lives in Monticello the small Georgia town where her inheritance is.  Carol and Nick start seeing each other and fall in love.

Now for Starr she grew up in California the only child of a pastor and his wife.   They never told her she was adopted. They are killed by a drunk driver in the year before getting her letter.  She also has broken up with her boyfriend and been laid off from her job.  However she thinks the letter is a scam.  After several attempts to get a hold of her the attorney, Camden flys to California to convince her it is not a scam and they fall in love.

Noel grew up on a ranching Colorado, with five brothers.  Her parents had told her she was adopted.  She is in love with their ranch foreman, Stetson. She gets her letter and fells like she was abandoned by her father.  She didn't realize Stets had a secret that he was carrying.  Once she hears his secret will they be able to move forward?

AMAZON - Christmas Belles of Georgia - a Romancing America Story

SANDY SAYS 3/3 STARS

HOME FOR CHRISTMAS by Andrew M Greeley

This story follows a group of second graders in their first communion class.  They stay in touch with the Father that teaches them.  The story skips ahead to adulthood.  Petey Pat had left and entered the military.  He deploys three times and on the last one is killed.  He is flatlined 9 1/2 minutes and goes to Heaven where he speaks to God.  God sends him back with a purpose to write a book about his experience.  There are chapters that are written as if they are interviews.  I did not like this.  And, other than Petey will be home for Christmas, this is not a Christmas story.

AMAZON - Home For Christmas

SANDY SAYS 2/3 STARS

ALLEGIANT by Veronica Roth

The sequel to Insurgent.   This picks up at the end of Insurgent.

Tris is at Erudite headquarters following the attack.  She and others are being held as traitors.  Tobias is part of his mother Evelyn's group controlling the faction less.  Tris, Tobias and some of their group decide to leave the city and travel beyond the fence to see what's out there.  Caleb is brought along even though he betrayed Tris and helped the people trying to kill her.  They end up in a compound which is the old airport.  There the Bureau or government have control.  It turns out they believe there are two types of people the GP or genetically pure and the GD or genetically damaged.  The GP are people who after generations after the botched genetics tests show signs that their genetics are repaired.  The GD still have damaged genetics.  It turns out that Tris is GP and Tobias is GD.
Tris finds out that her mother once was part of the Bureau and she is allowed to read her diary.  Which after a while she allows Caleb to read it, although she still has not forgiven him.   Tris discovers that the Bureau helped or didn't help the people in the city, to their advantage.  She is asked to start training for the council and agrees so she can keep the enemy close.  There is an attack on the compound and Uriah is seriously injured.  And, as with the other books you have the developing love of Tris and Tobias.

AMAZON - Allegiant

SANDY SAYS 3/3 STARS