Saturday, November 23, 2019

TOXIC BACHELORS by Danielle Steel

Three bachelors meet and become great friends.  One is very rich and lost his parents while he was a teenager and then his only sister when he finished college.  He stepped up to run the family foundation.  Although he is afraid to get close to a woman as he thinks they will die or leave.  The next one is also rich, he is an attorney to celebrities.  His wife left him and he is adamant he will never remarry and his two children are enough for him.  The last is  a struggling artist who was raised by parents traveling all over the world with their band and then as missionaries.  They adopted him and a girl then later another boy.  He does not want to do that to children and spends his time helping girls out of bad situations.

They travel every  year for  a month on Charlies yacht and thoroughly enjoy each others company but no serious attachments.

However all three meet someone that may just change all that.

AMAZON - Toxic Bachelors

SANDY SAYS 3/3 STARS

Thursday, November 7, 2019

DANDELION SUMMER by Lisa Wingate

A fun and quick read.

Epiphany aka Epie is the mixed daughter of a poor housekeeper, the mothers boyfriend lives with them.  Epie has had a hard childhood between her mothers drinking, boyfriends and bouncing around to not really being accepted by anyone.  She is smart and tries to keep her head down.

Her mother starts doing light housekeeping for an elderly gentleman Mr. Alvord.  She enlists Epie to come in a few days a week to cook for him.  Of course, he doesn't want any help from anyone and wants to be left alone.  He once worked on rocket ships and is quite smart.  He also has been having disturbing dreams of a place he can't recall.

He and Epie take off to figure out the mystery of those dreams.

AMAZON - Dandelion Summer

SANDY SAYS 3/3 STARS


Monday, October 28, 2019

AMAZING GRACE by Danielle Steel

Another awesome read by Danielle.


San Francisco is hit by an earthquake, bringing several peoples lives together.  You have Sarah who had put together a gala fundraiser for the hospital.  She is the wife of a very wealthy guy who is in finance.  Then there is sister Maggie, a nun who was gifted a ticket to the gala.  Melanie the singer for the gala who is at the top of the charts while being very young and directed by her mother.  Everett is a photographer covering the event. 

The earthquake brings them all together as well as changes their lives.

AMAZON - Amazing Grace

SANDY SAYS 3/3 STARS

SAFE HARBOUR by Danielle Steel

As always, a fast good read by Danielle.

This story is about Ophelie and her daughter Pip, her husband and son died in a plane crash.  They have come to safe harbour and rented a home on the beach for the summer.  Pip is quite lonely as her mother does not do much except go to group meetings and sleep.  She can not handle more than that.  pip while walking the dog comes upon a man painting and they become friends.  After her mother meets him, she oks the friendship that is offered to her and her daughter.  He helps them come back to life as well as himself.

While volunteering Ophelie was shot and nearly died.

What will happen to Pip?  Will she survive? 

AMAZON - Safe Harbour

SANDY SAYS 3/3 STARS

Friday, October 11, 2019

THE RETURN by Dinah McCall

Catherine returns to her grandmother's mountain home in Kentucky to bury her at the old homestead.  What she doesn't realize is the trouble that she stirs up when she comes to town.  The town believed her grandmother was a witch and therefore she is as well.  Add to that fact that on her deathbed, her grandmother tells her the truth of her birth.  Will she be able to pack up grannies home and get back to Texas?  

AMAZON - The Return

SANDY SAYS 3/3 STARS

Wednesday, October 9, 2019

RANSOM by Danielle Steel

A great story by Danielle. Four lives intermingle in this story of love, and mystery and murder. Peter is getting out of prison after serving time for drugs, he was once a big player in the business world.
Carl is also getting out of prison after being in most of his life as accessory to murder.
Fernanda is married and living the life as a wife and mother of a billionaire.
Ted is a detective.

Fernandas husband commits suicide leaving her and the children just about penniless.  Carl and Peter are hired to kidnap her kids as a way to get her to pay an extremely high ransom, not knowing the truth.  Ted of course is one of the investigators.

AMAZON - Ransom

SANDY SAYS 3/3 STARS

THE BEACH CLUB by Elin Hilderbrand

A fun easy read.  The Beach Club is a family owned hotel and club on Nantucket Island.  Everything that can happen, does; including a hurricane.  You have the owners and their just graduated from high school daughter.  Mack pretty well runs the place with some help.  They close the hotel every winter and there is lots of work to get it ready to reopen.  Throw in love, a mystery of someone who wants to buy the hotel and jealous workers.

AMAZON - The Beach Club

SANDY SAYS 3/3 STARS

BETWEEN YOU & ME by Susan Wiggs

A very interesting read.  You have Caleb who has been raised Amish.  Reese comes from a privileged family of two Doctors for parents.  This takes you inside the life of living plain.  Caleb who had pretty much left the community and was working raising and caring for Clydesdale horses, returns home when his brother and sister in law are murdered.  He does not want his niece and nephew raised by his abusive father. So, he moves home and takes over care of them.  Until a horrific accident happens to his nephew and they have to go into the city to save his life, there they meet Reese.

AMAZON - Between You & Me

SANDY SAYS 3/3 STARS

SUMMER ISLAND by Kristin Hannah

A quick read.  Interesting story.

Nora is a talk show host on radio and quite popular and well to do.  Years ago she left her husband and two daughters and did not return.  Why?
She has reconnected with one daughter and her other daughter refuses contact.  Suddenly a dark secret comes to life and she ends up in a bad auto wreck, needing full time care for a  while.  Her daughter comes with her back to the island to their family home to look after her.
At the same time a long time friend, living on another island has also come home.  He has cancer and has come home to die.

AMAZON - Summer Island

SANDY SAYS 3/3 STARS

Sunday, September 8, 2019

DOUBLE TAKE an FBI thriller by Catherine Coulter

Do you like mysteries?  If so, you will enjoy this book.

Sheriff Dixon Noble's wife disappeared 3 years ago without a trace.  Leaving him and the kids.  One day her father receives a call from an old friend who claims to have seen her.  Dix flies to California to check for himself.  His friends are with the FBI and her parents live in California so they invite him to stay with the.  Her father is a judge.  While investigating this he and his friends from the FBI get drawn into an attempted murder case involving mediums.

AMAZON - Double Take and FBI thriller

SANDY SAYS 3/3 STARS

MIRACLE ON THE 17TH GREEN by James Patterson and Peter De Jonge

A good book, however as someone that does not know golf, at times I got bogged down in it.

Travis is playing golf on Christmas day when he hits an unbelievable shot.  This makes him late to dinner and marriage is not at its best.  He decides to try for the senior golf tour.  He takes a large amount of money and heads to tryouts.  He actually makes it.  The book follows him on tour.

AMAZON - Miracle on the 17th Green

SANDY SAYS 2/3 STARS

THE CHRISTMAS COOKIE COLLECTION by Lori Wilde

A cute holiday story of four residents of a small Texas town.

Carrie did not like Christmas and she ran the yarn store.  Now, Twilight Texas is a small town that loves Christmas! There is a fountain in town that legend has it if you throw a coin in you will be reunited or with your high school sweetheart forever.  A tv show is coming to town to prove or disprove this. The host is non other than a guy Carrie actually married for about a day.  Can that be kept secret?

Raylene runs a bar or honky tonk, her husband who was her high school sweetheart left her a year ago.  He found out that Raylene had a daughter during a time they were not together and gave the girl to the grandparents.  She has never forgotten her and now has no one.  Then a stranger comes to town and goes to work for Raylene...Could it be?

Christine owns a bakery and yearns for what will never be.  An accident ended her olympic dreams and the chance to ever have a baby.  Then one day a guy from high school shows up to order a birthday cake for his daughter.  His wife had passed away after the birth of the twins, leaving him to raise 4 children alone and run the ranch.  Could this be the answer to her prayers?

Grace  baby Grace is born to Flynn and her husband.  Flynn is Carries sister.  They were delivering food and things to a poor family when they were stopped.  Her husband is arrested-having a prior record they always look for the bad.  Flynn is left to drive home alone in a storm and ends up crashing.  Then she goes into labor.

AMAZON - The Christmas Cookie Collection

SANDY SAYS 3/3 STARS

NO SAFE SECRET by Fern Michaels

A very good story and very quick read.

All secrets will come out, eventually.  Maddie and her twin Marcus were on their own, as their mother was always with some man and gone.  Its senior year and Maddy attended prom alone.  Where her brothers group of friends attacked her.  It was just shy of graduation, but she decided to leave that night.  On the way out of town she hit someone, but kept going.

Years later, married to a wealthy dds and has a daughter and twin stepsons. Life seems perfect from the outside.  Until the day that Maddy/ now Molly receives a phone call letting her know that they know what she did.

AMAZON - No Safe Secret

SANDY SAYS 3/3 STARS

Tuesday, July 30, 2019

SON OF STONE -a Stone Barrington Novel by Stuart Woods

A typical Stone Barrington novel and very good story.

Stone meets up with a former girlfriend and low and behold he finds out that her son is also his son.  The boy is very smart and at the end of high school.  He moves in with Stone while unbeknownst to him his mother is having surgery.   It is exciting to be living in New York-both parents are well to do.  He is also a film maker or hoping to be.  Throw  in the typical mystery of Stone Barrington and the love story and awesome story.

AMAZON - Son of Stone-a Stone Barrington Novel

SANDY SAYS 3/3 STARS

FULL OF GRACE by Dorothea Benton Frank

Another great read by Dorothea.

Big Al and Connie have moved to Hilton Head from New Jersey and their daughter Grace also lives nearby.  Although she is living with a DR Michael who is an atheist and graces family is catholic.  And, they are both afraid of commitments.  Graces mother is picked on by both her mother who lives with her and her husband.  One of their sons is married with kids and the other is dating a rather inappropriate girl.

AMAZON - Full of Grace

SANDY SAYS 3/3 STARS

PAWLEYS ISLAND-A Lowcountry Tale by Dorothea Benton Frank

Another easy to read and enjoyable story by Dorothea.  Pawleys Island is one of the barrier islands of South Carolina. Here you meet an interesting group of friends/family, Huey is flamboyant and runs an art store, His mother Miss Olivia, Abigail a retired attorney, Hueys houseman and newcomer Rebecca.  Rebecca's husband set out to destroy her relationship with their kids and he succeeded as well as taking the house and money etc.  After all he has to cater to his girlfriend.  Well, this does not sit right with the group and they set out to help her. 

AMAZON - Pawleys Island-A Lowcountry Tale

SANDY SAYS 3/3 STARS

LOOK AGAIN by Lisa Scottoline

Have you ever received those cards in the mail-have you seen me?  Ellen got one and was struck by how much he looked like her adopted son.  He was legally adopted after doing a story and seeing him in the hospital.  She can not get the picture out of her mind and begins to investigate. 
Is it possible her son is that little boy?  If so, how can she lose him?

AMAZON - Look Again

SANDY SAYS 3/3 STARS

DEEP WATERS by Jayne Ann Krentz

A love story and mystery with philosophical sayings thrown in.

Charity used to run a major company in Seattle-taking over after the death of her stepfather and mother.  She was running it until her step siblings were out of college.  She was about to be engaged to marry and join companies with Brett when she could not go through with it.  She left it all behind and ended up in Whispering Waters Cove a small coastal town.  She ran a bookstore on the pier.  Elias inherits the pier and a novelty shop on the pier as well as a home there and relocates there.  Turns out he is also the head of a large company, as well. 
When people start getting murdered, he and Charity start to investigate.

For me the philosophical sayings got confusing.


AMAZON - Deep Waters

SANDY SAYS 2/3 STARS

TEXAS! LUCKY-Texas! Tyler Family Saga by Sandra Brown

A mystery and love story and a very enjoyable read.

Lucky and his brother run the family drilling business.  One night at the local bar Lucky steps in to assist a lady being hassled by two of the locals.
Unfortunately,  the lady was not happy with his help.  Even after he got into a fight with the two guys.  He decides to follow her to get a thank you and she ends up helping him with his knife wound.
Little does he know that night one of the company's buildings burn to the ground and he is the prime suspect.  On top of that the said lady has disappeared.

Will he be able to find the lady?  Can he prove his innocence?

AMAZON - Texas! Lucky

SANDY SAYS 3/3 STARS

Monday, July 15, 2019

THE DEVANEY BROTHERS-MICHAEL AND PATRICK-THE DEVANEYS - by Sheryl Woods

An intriguing book with two stories-one of Michael and one of Patrick.

The boys were separated at a very young age.  Michael and his older brothers Sean and Ryan were abandoned by their parents after they left with the twins Patrick and Daniel.  All three ended up in foster care.  Michael sustained a career ending injury while a Navy Seal, that's were his  Brothers Sean and Patrick find him.  They convince him to move home to Boston to recuperate so they and their families can help.

Patrick knew nothing of having three more brothers until Daniel stumbled across some pictures before college. After confronting their parents and getting no straight answer, Patrick walks away from them.  Feeling very guilty about his brothers.  Then one day all three older brothers show up.

AMAZON - The Devaney Brothers-Michael and Patrick-the Devaneys

SANDY SAYS 3/3 STARS

THE APPLE ORCHARD-BELLA VISTA CHRONICLES by Susan Wiggs

Another fast and fun read by Susan.

Tess deals with finding and returning stolen antiques to the family.  She meets one such lady while returning her mothers necklace.  Kinda odd in that this lady requested her specifically. 
Tess grew up with her mother and grandmother both were in the business.

Isabel grows up on an estate that has an apple grove with her grandparents. 

When her grandfather falls while picking apples her world is about to change.

Seems that Tess and Isabel are half sisters and are about to meet.

AMAZON - The Apple Orchard

SANDY SAYS 3/3 STARS

Saturday, June 22, 2019

SULLIVAN'S ISLAND-a Lowcountry Tale by Dorothea Benton Frank

A wonderful fast read by Dorothea.  If you like stories that are set around the beach and even holidays, you will like this book
 

Susan was one of six children and grew up on Sullivans Island.  They were looked upon as the Hamilton kids, that seemed to get into trouble.  Their dad had a bad temper and they often felt his wrath.  Their mama didn't do much at all.  the story goes back and forth between present day and childhood.  It goes on to explain so much of what drove Susan. So much drama, including a divorce, family members passing and even love.

AMAZON - Sullivan's Island-a Lowcountry Tale

SANDY SAYS 3/3 STARS

SILENT NIGHT by Mary Higgins Clark

Do you love Christmas?  I do! 

Catherine and her family go to NYC so that her husband can have an operation for his leukemia.  While there she takes the boys to see Rockefeller Center's Christmas tree on Christmas Eve.  While standing in the crowd someone takes her wallet and her son sees this and follows him as her wallet holds a St Christopher medal that belonged to their grandfather. 

Will her husband be ok?  Will they find  Brian?

AMAZON - Silent Night

SANDY SAYS 3/3 STARS


Wednesday, March 20, 2019

HE SEES YOU WHEN YOU'RE SLEEPING by Mary Higgins Clark & Carol Higgins Clark

Do you love Christmas?  If so, you will enjoy this quick read.

Sterling has been sitting in the waiting room for Heaven for 46 years  He has watched many bypass the waiting room and go straight to Heaven.  When will he get that chance?  It is almost Christmas and he so wants to be there for that celebration.  Finally, he is called in to meet the Heavenly Council, where they inform him that he will be given a chance to show he is worthy to pass.  He is to be sent to Earth to find someone to help.  Turns out it is a sweet little girl who misses her dad and grandmother who are in the witness protection program.  Can he find a way to help them?

AMAZON - He sees you when you're sleeping

SANDY SAYS 3/3 STARS


Sunday, March 17, 2019

THE TARGET by Catherine Coulter

A first time read of Catherine and I will be reading more.
The story follows a federal judge who is taking time off after almost being killed in his courtroom.  Add a 6 year old girl he finds that was beaten and abused, her mom and her grandfather a crime boss.  Also, are the judges FBI friends Savich and Sherlock.  You are taken on a trip across country trying to stay ahead of the kidnappers.


AMAZON - The Target

SANDY SAYS 3/3 STARS

SISTERS by Danielle Steel

An awesome story of a family with four girls, all grown.  One is a top model with an apartment in NYC, one is an artist living in Italy, One is an attorney living in NYC and the fourth is a television producer living in LA.   They all meet up in Connecticut at the family home for the 4th of July, Thanksgiving and Christmas; or try to.  This year on the 4th there is a horrible auto crash killing their mom and leaving one of the sisters blind.  The sisters hatch the idea to rent a home in NYC so she can be surrounded by the sisters for help and attend the school for the blind there.

Can it work?  Can they resume living together?

AMAZON - Sisters

SANDY SAYS 3/3 STARS

Sunday, February 24, 2019

DOVE IN THE WINDOW-a Benni Harper Mystery by Earlene Fowler

Another fun mystery with Benni.  The Friday after Thanksgiving Benni and her family always host a weekend of bbq and calf catching and card playing.  Unfortunately this time someone is murdered.  Benni's ex brother in law is a guest and a suspect, he is a hot head and a drunk.  Can Benni figure out who the killer is and help him?  Then the murdered girls grandfather comes to town and just happens to be a famous photographer and he takes a shine to Benni's grandmother.

AMAZON - Dove in the Window-a Bennis Harper Mystery

SANDY SAYS 3/3 STARS

TUMBLING ROCKS - a Benni Harper mystery by Earlene Fowler

Very quick and easy read.  San Celina has an exclusive women's club and one of the members has died leaving a vacancy.  Benni's boss is a member and is sure her friend was murdered. So, she persuades Benni to look into it for her, since Benni's husband the police chief is in agreement that it was heart.  Add to this it is Christmas time and Benni's mother in law is coming for the holidays.  Also surprising them by bringing her new husband...

AMAZON - Tumbling Rocks

SANDY SAYS 3/3 STARS

Saturday, January 26, 2019

HEART OF TEXAS VOL.1-Lonesome Conway and Texas Two-Step by Debbie Macomber

As always great stories by Debbie.

Lonesome Cowboy-Savannah mets a drifter cowboy Laredo and hires him.  Savannah and her brother Grady live on and run the family ranch.  Savannah raises roses and had found the old ghost town and an ancient rose just before coming up on Laredo hitchhiking. 
Add a no good brother that shows back up and romance.


Texas Two-Step-In the same little town lives Ellie who is taking care of the family hardware business after her fathers death and her mothers move out of town.  Her best friend is her childhood friend Glen.  Along comes Richard the no good brother to Savannah and things get interesting.

AMAZON - Heart of Texas * Vol 1

SANDY SAYS 3/3 STARS

CAROLINA GIRL by Patricia Rice

Aurora is a hometown girl that has come back to help her father and sister and niece.  Her father and niece were injured in a wreck.  Clay is in town taking a break and visiting with his family.  Clay turns out to be a guy that sets up video games along with his brother, but was burned by a fiance and the company that pretty much stole his game.  Aurora is helping gather information about developing the swampy land near the beach.  

This book has mystery and romance.

AMAZON - Carolina Girl

SANDY SAYS 3/3 STARS