"Safe with me " by Amy Hatvany

Safe with me by Amy Hatvany is about a grieving single mother, Hannah, whose only 12-yr.-old daughter, Emily) got killed in a car accident right in front of her house! She decides to allow the hospital to take Emily’s organs to save the lives of others. The other part of this story is Olivia, the mother of her teenage daughter, Maddie, the recipient of Emily’s liver. Hannah is a hair stylist and Olivia is the wife of a wealthy man who is sporadically abusive to her. Olivia and Maddie go to Hannah’s salon one day and hit it off.

I thought this was a okay story, but nothing really grabbed me. It was fairly predictable and pretty sad. I plodded through it but didn’t much care for it. I suppose it would be interesting to a person who has lost a child or was in an abusive situation, but for me, I couldn’t identify with any of the characters.
(Karen's review, 3 stars)

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"Just After Midnight" by Catherine Ryan Hyde

Just After Midnight by Catherine Ryan Hyde centers on two women--Faith and Sarah.  Faith escapes her abusive husband, for now.  While at her friend's beach house, she befriends a young girl, Sarah.  Sarah is going through a rough time.  Her mom just died unexpectedly but the death is suspicious.  Also, her dad sold her house without saying anything to Sarah.

This book was pretty good.  I enjoyed Faith and especially Sarah.  I would have liked a little more action though.  (Gerard's review, 4 stars)

Teaser from page 17:  "Faith.  What if it works this time?  What if I ride her and make her look really good, and it works, and somebody buys her?  Then what?"

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"Under Currents" by Nora Roberts

Under Currents by Nora Roberts is a very interesting read about overcoming domestic violence. Zane, 14, who dreamed of becoming a pitcher for the Orioles, and his younger sister Britt are physically and emotionally abused by their well-respected parents and comprise the main story line which follows them into adulthood.

 I really liked Zane and his sister as well as their aunt Emily. Another subplot is Darby who divorced her abusive husband pretty quickly and after her mother died in an automobile accident, moved to Walker Lakeside Bungalows in North Carolina to buy her own home and start up her landscaping business. Darby took self-defense classes after her divorce so knows how to defend herself. (Zane and her are my favorite characters so was happy when they became an item.) The third subplot is about Clint and Traci Draper, another domestic violence situation where Clint’s family lives all around and spies on Traci constantly. This book has bright spots though too, it is not all fighting. I enjoyed the addition of Zod, the ugly dog and liked learning some about a landscaping business. I also enjoyed the happy family interactions.

I liked this book a lot because it was interesting to me how people helped those who were in the abusive situations. It has some violence, action, love, family, romance and mystery. It is contemporary fiction and one I’d recommend to anyone who enjoys reading about relationships and family issues. It could also be considered inspirational for anyone who is suffering from domestic violence or abuse.
(Karen’s review, 5 stars)

Gerard's review:
Under Currents by Nora Roberts centers on Zane Bigelow.  Zane has a rough childhood as he has an abusive father who gives beatings to everyone in the family!  Zane feels he has to do something to put a stop to this.  He also deals with this when he grows into manhood.  The book is divided into four parts.  The first part is very good and action packed.  The fourth part is also very good and has good action in it. 

The second and third parts I did not enjoy as much.  The author has a good flow to this book and keeps things moving along.  I liked Zane, Darby and Zod the best!  On the strength of the first and last parts, I give this book 5 stars.

Teaser from page 390 (Large print version): “All of them, every one, had played a part in ruining his life, in humiliating him. He would ruin theirs, every one.”


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"Where The Crawdads Sing" by Delia Owens -- WOW!

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens is the coming of age story of Kya, a lonely, abandoned, abused girl who lived in a Marsh in North Carolina. It is a murder mystery and a love story as well. This is an amazing emotional read that starts out slow but picks up as it goes along. It has much sadness but some high points are mixed in. In a way, it is a rags to riches story. There were a lot of heartbreaking events and yet Kya proved to be very strong, overcoming great obstacles with very little help from others. She was definitely a “lone wolf” until as a teenager, the loneliness caused her to make some poor choices.

All I can say is WOW, what a book! This is well written and reminded me of To Kill a Mocking Bird. It includes lots of information about nature and is a remarkable story about how a girl who only attended school one day in her whole life, became a well-recognized author. I especially liked the courthouse cat, Sunday Justice, who befriended Kya. I would recommend this as a book club read because of the many issues it raises.
(Karen’s review 2/15/19, 5 stars)

Gerard's review, 2/18/19:
In Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens, Kya is the last one left of her family.  First her mom left, then her brother and sisters left.  Her pa was the last to leave, but she found a way to survive in their shack in the marsh.  Two young men came into her life during her teen years.  When an incident happens though, Kya is once again all alone and her fate is in other people's hands.

This is a pretty good book!  Kya is a great character and I enjoyed how she got along so well by herself.  More action though would have been nice, but the pacing of this book made up for that.  (5 stars)

Teaser from page 16: “If anybody comes, don’t go in the house. They can get ya there. Run deep in the marsh, hide in the bushes. Always cover yo’ tracks; I learned ya how. And ya can hide from Pa, too.”

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The Maid, The Eighth Day (The 12 Days of Christmas Mail-Order Brides Book 8) by Rachel Wesson

The Maid, The Eighth Day (The 12 Days of Christmas Mail-Order Brides Book 8) by Rachel Wesson is about a mail-order bride who finds out the man she came to marry is no stranger after all. He was engaged to her older sister before the war and is now a doctor. This book is all about her finding out the truth of Colin’s past. It is a heartwarming story about two kind, compassionate people that I enjoyed and that is a quick read. Although this is part of a series, it can also be read as a stand-alone.
(Karen’s review, 4 stars)

Teaser at Kindle Loc. 65 She couldn’t stop herself from looking out the window. He couldn’t have followed her, changing her name had made sure of that.

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"Oregon Disaster--Trails of the Heart Book 5" by Rachel Wesson

Oregon Disaster by Rachel Wesson is Book 5 in the “Trails of the Heart” series and centers on Sarah, who ran off to marry Edwin Morgan, a violent drunk miner, womanizer and hateful man against her parents’ wishes. Walking Tall had Bear, one of his men, follow her to make sure she was all right and in the process, they fell in love. Tala, Bear’s wolf/dog, helps protect them against a mountain lion. Bear looks after Sarah and she falls in love with him in spite of the fact that he is part Indian

I liked this book a lot because Bear and Tala were in it a lot and Sarah matures and finally shows some concern for others. She is a feisty girl though and wins Bears heart and respect. This book is about forgiveness, and overcoming one’s past. I loved the ending! (Karen’s review, 5 stars)

Teaser from Loc. 933-34 on Kindle: “You can’t leave me with that wild animal” “He is better company than you usually keep.”


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"White is the Coldest Colour" by John Nicholl

White is The Coldest Colour by John Nicholl is about a child Psychiatrist who is a sexual predator and part of a ring of many pedophiles in Wales. This is a work of fiction, but is based on the author’s experiences as a police office and child protection social worker. This book reflects the reality of how much harm sexual predators inflict on their victims. This book shows the depravity of man and is a very disturbing read! It also includes physical abuse and a lengthy investigation.

I can’t say I enjoyed this book because it is so dark and the doctor was a horrible human being! I had to keep reading to find out if the cops would find the missing 7-yr-old boy in time and see the doctor brought to justice. The ending was better than I expected; however, I would have liked the story to have continued on a bit to end on a happier note. It seemed to end too abruptly.
(Karen's review, 4 stars)

Teaser from page 6: If a respected doctor such as himself could abandon any semblance of a conscience, learn to fully embrace his true nature, and view life and death from a purely Darwinian perspective, why the hell couldn’t Sherwood do likewise? That was the one thing which may have saved him.


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"The Great Alone" by Kristin Hannah (We Both Liked This!)

The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah is a wild book! We meet the Allbright family. The husband Ernt, a former POW, Cora his wife and their daughter Leni. Ernt is still suffering flashbacks from the war and he has a hard time keeping a job and his temper. When a friend of his leaves him a house in Alaska, he wants a fresh start for him and his family. All will be well again!

I thought this book was really good! The three main characters are excellent and well brought out. At 644 pages (large print), this is no light read. I thought the pacing was okay and appreciated that it did not hop back and forth between present to past. A few twists caught me by surprise and I enjoyed the ending! (Gerard’s review, 5++ stars)

Karen's review (5 stars):  
The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah is about standing by those you love.  Leni is raised by her mother, Cora, and her father, Ernt who changes after he gets back from being a POW in the Vietnam war.  He is very abusive to his wife, but can't help it and she always forgives him.  Her and Leni are very close and both pretend everything is fine.  When Ernt decides to make a fresh start with his family in Alaska, the book gets quite interesting.  

I thought this book was very good even though it moved a bit slow.  It delves into several different relationships and explores love between an abusive husband and his wife, a love/hate relationship between a daughter and her father, young love between Leni and Matthew, and love between mothers and daughters.  Another aspect of this book is how the community helps each other.  This book shows how decisions and choices we make affect not only us but those we love as well. 

Teaser from page 21:  Dad wanted a new beginning.  Needed it.  And Mama needed him to be happy.

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Wife and Husband Differ on "I Let You Go" by Clare Mackintosh

Karen's review 5/29/30:
I Let You Go by Clare Macintosh really annoyed me.  I started it but after Part I, took a long break from it because it made no sense to me.  It turned out to be a good story in the end, but it was very confusing along the way due to the strange writing style.  It is about solving the mystery of a hit-and-run driver who killed a little boy and domestic violence.  The fact it is an International Bestseller made me expect great things but I was disappointed.

This is not a book I looked forward to getting back to; however, I did plow my through it after breaking away from it three times to read other things.  The characters were not very likeable and even Jenny, the main character, was mostly annoying because she was so stupid.  This is written in first person but was very hard to follow because it was gold from several different views and was hard sometimes to know who was doing the talking.  Most books have the name of the individual who is talking at the beginning of the chapter so the reader knows right away; unfortunately, that is not the case with this one.  I found myself having to go back and re-read things several times to figure out who was saying what.  I guess the author did that on purpose just to confuse the reader, but I did not appreciate it.

Another thing that was annoying to me was how it jumped from the present to the past and back all through the book.  I know I am in the minority on this, but it just did not appeal to me at all due to the writing style and the characters.  The only character I really liked was Patrick, the vet.  Ian was plain horrible and did not like him at all, especially when he hit his wife on their wedding day, killed her cat on purpose and kicked the dog across the room.  This book did make me angry!  Even the detectives weren't very likeable for me.

I'm sorry I couldn't be more positive, but this is not one I liked much at all.
(1 star)

Gerard Liked it:
I Let You Go by Clare Macintosh is about a young boy who was with his mom, but ran ahead to get home first. He is killed when a car hits him and keeps on going! The cops look for a clue to find who could have done that. In the meantime, the boy’s mother is desperate to leave the accident scene behind and heads for a remote cottage where she hopes no one will know her.

This story is told in two parts: the first sets the scene and the second really gets into the action. It kept my interest. The second part is very good and I was anxious to see how everything would turn out. The unexpected twist at the end sealed the deal for me! This is well worth reading and goes on sale May 3, 2016.

Thank you to Penguin Random House for the free copy in exchange for an honest review.
(Gerard's review 4/27/16, 5 stars)

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"Defender" by Graham McNamee

Defender by Graham McNamee is a creepy mystery about family secrets that Tyne and her friend, Stick accidentally discover and proceed to figure it out.  Tyne is the building superintendent's high school daughter who is really tall and plays center on her basketball team.   When Tyne find's a dead girl's cut up body hidden in her basement wall, she thinks her dad knows something about it or had something to do with it.

This is a very quick read that I liked okay.  It is creepy though but had a good ending.  To me, this came across as a bit unrealistic that Tyne and Stick could put together the pieces to the mystery so easily.  (Karen's review, 3 stars)

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"Swept Away--Trouble in Texas, Book 1" by Mary Connealy

In Swept Away—Trouble in Texas, book 1 by Mary Connealy, Ruthy gets swept away in a flood trying to cross a river, Glynna Greer gets swept away with her children out of her home to escape her abusive husband, and Luke gets swept away when he falls in love with Ruthy aka Rosie. The hired guns in the little western town get swept away when Luke and his buddies take on Flint Greer to get his ranch back that was stolen. Ruthy has some interesting skills as well as cooking which include tracking, stealth, courage, gunmanship and working hard. She is an amazing woman!

I liked this book although it moved a bit slow up until the last quarter of the book. Quite a few characters were introduced and the plan to get Luke’s ranch back and get Glynna and her children to safety took up most of the book. Issues in this book include friendship, revenge v. justice, domestic violence, romance and survival. The ending was wonderful! I look forward to continuing this historical western series with Fired Up.
 (Karen’s review, 4 stars)


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"Safe With Me" by Amy Hatvany

Safe With Me by Amy Hatvany is told from various points of view and that makes this book good.  Hannah Scott's world comes to an end when a tragic accident leaves her daughter dead.  But this is really only the beginning of this book.  When Hannah makes a decision, she comes in contact with the Bells.

This book held my interest throughout and I enjoyed all the characters with a real nice ending.
(Gerard's review, 5++ stars)

Karen's review:
Safe With Me by Amy Hatvany is about Hannah, a hair stylist and mother of 12-yr-old Emily who died and donated her organs so others could live. Hannah is, of course, devastated but becomes more understanding of her own mother. Maddie is a 15-yr-old girl who receives Emily’s liver that saves her life, but whose father is very abusive to her mother. This story shows some of the struggles that organ recipients face and why it is hard for victims of domestic violence to leave their spouses. 

This book moved along fairly well and although deals with very serious subjects, was not depressing. I would recommend this to women more than men. (3 stars)

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"Somebody Else's Daughter" by Linsey Lanier

Someone Else’s Daughter by Linsey Lanier is a good read about Miranda and how she was affected by her abusive husband who gave her baby up for adoption against her wishes.  She vowed that she would never be weak again and became proficient in self-defense.  She would get in fights sticking up for others which attracted Parker’s attention, a very successful private investigator who actually hired her as a PI trainee letting her help him solve the murder of a teen girl.    

This book kept my interest from the start and kept me turning pages.  Miranda is a very strong woman with an edge that she uses to protect herself from getting close to people and getting hurt.  It is a good murder mystery which takes the reader through the crime investigation step-by-step.  This is the first book in the Miranda’s Rights Mystery series and I look forward to reading more!
(Karen's review, 5 stars) 


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"Alone" by Lisa Gardner

Alone by Lisa Gardner is a page turner that had my attention from the first page all the way to the end. It's about Bobby, a police sniper who responded to a domestic violence hostage situation and killed the husband who had his finger on the trigger of a gun pointed at his wife, Catherine, and 4-yr-old son, Nathan. Afterwards, he felt terrible about killing a man. His life got complicated when the man turned out to be a high court judge's son and learned he may be charged with murder! The judge files for custody of his grandson, claiming Catherine is a bad mother who is out to kill him by starving him to death. Catherine feels alone as she tries to protect her son, Bobby feels alone as he deals with his career problems and chooses to help Catherine when she tells him there was an intruder in her house.

This book psychological thriller is filled with suspense, manipulation, murder, family secrets, domestic violence and interesting characters. I had a hard time putting this one down and recommend it. (Karen's review) Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading! We are donating 50 cents for each legitimate comment we receive on all our blogs during June and July to The Wounded Warrior Project which helps wounded warriors and their families returning from current conflicts.

"Into The Darkest Corner" by Elizabeth Haynes

You just have to make time to read Into the Darkest Corner by Elizabeth Haynes —it's awesome!! It tells the story of young pretty Catherine Bailey. She was in a very abusive relationship with Lee. The thing that makes this book so good is that it follows her and Lee's relationship but also three years later as she is trying to recover and get back to being normal again. You get two stories at once! The writing is superb and the ending shocking! This is a page turner that is hard to beat. It doesn't get any better than this! Must read! (Gerard's review: Rating (5+ stars)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

Related Post:  See another review of this at Tiffany's Bookshelf

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"Promises to Keep" by Ann Tatlock UPDATED)

Promises to Keep by Ann Tatlock is about a little girl’s dream of her parents getting back together even though her mother took off with her children to keep them safe.  Alan Anthony, the father is an alcoholic that was abusive to his family, but convinces his daughter, Rosalind, that he has changed and is going to come back and make everything better.  When the mother and kids move out on their own to a small town, the house they are surprised to find Tillie, the old lady who built the house, sitting on their porch reading their paper.  Tillie had been put into a nursing home when she broke her hip and her son sold her house.  After her hip healed, Tillie left the nursing home because she was determined to live out “her” days in her house.  Because the mother has to work and needs someone to watch the youngest daughter, she lets Tillie move in with them.  I liked this subplot because it was humorous. 

Promises to Keep is well-written and kept my interest all the way through by making me wonder if the father really had changed—it gives great insight into human nature.  This is the first book I’ve read by this author, but look forward to reading more of her books.  There are discussion questions in the back of the book which make this a good Christian fiction book club read.
(Karen's review)

Gerard read this too:
This is a really nice story about two little girls, one black, one white, who want to have their fathers in their lives again.  It kept my interest for sure.  Although somewhat predictable, it's a good story and well worth your time.  It goes fast!

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

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"Into the Free" by Julie Cantrell

Must Read -- Fantastic Book!

Into The Free by Julie Cantrell is an amazing read—WOW!  I loved this historical fiction book set in Mississippi about faith, gypsies, death, grief, domestic violence, rodeos and romance.  It is told from Millie’s perspective, a little girl searching for her identity, freedom and faith. 

The variety of characters in this book seem real and some I loved, some I didn’t.  My favorite characters were Millie, Sloth, Bump, Mr. Tucker and Mabel.  My least favorite person was Millie’s grandfather with her father and Mr. Miller close seconds.  Hard to really say who was worse.  Millie’s mother, Marie Reynolds, had a tough life but a strong Biblical foundation.  She loved her husband although he beat her on a regular basis, at one point leaving her for dead.  Millie’s mama turned to drugs to escape the pain which was very sad.  The whole book was pretty sad but it had enough funny parts and bright spots to not be depressing.  I actually cheered out loud for Millie when made the choice in the end that I hoped she would make.
 

It shows no matter how bad things may be, there is always hope.  It also portrays “Christians” in a realistic way, showing both good ones and bad ones.  Yes, some people are big hypocrites, but not all.  I liked the balance this book has along those lines and that everything is not always hunky-dory for believers.  A main theme in the book is that God brings people into our lives to help and encourage us along the way. 

Into the Free is an interesting read because it holds your interest on so many levels.  It’s both an emotional and thought provoking read.  I LOVED IT and look forward to the sequel to find out what happens with Millie next.  I highly recommend Into the Free as a great read that would be an excellent book club choice too.  It has thought-provoking questions at the end that would make for good discussion.(Karen's review)

Gerard says he's going to read this one too.

Thanks, Beaded Tail, for recommending this one to us!

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

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"Deceit" by Brandilyn Collins

Deceit by Brandilyn Collins starts out good and gets better and better as it goes!  Baxter Jackson, a widower who lost both his wives in "accidents," is highly respected and a great guy in the community with some dark secrets.

 The story goes back and forth between the present and the past when his foster daughter lived with him and his wife. Melissa is a 15-yr.-old daughter of alcoholic parents who goes into foster care when her mom dies, leaving her all alone.  She feels like she hit the jackpot when she first sees her new home that looks like a mansion and the two nice people, the Jacksons, who are taking her in.  The church friends of the Jacksons are eager to meet her but she has very low self-esteem and doesn't think anyone would ever want to be her friend.  All the main characters in this book, Jackson and his wife, Linda, her friend Joanne, and Melissa are all deceitful, but Melissa is the only one of them who does not profess to be a Christian. 

I loved this book because of the suspense, the interesting story line of Joanne trying to get justice for her friend, Linda, who she believed was killed by her own husband, the elder in her church.  Melissa was the biggest surprise to me and actually was the biggest deceiver of all who I at first felt sorry for.  This book certainly doesn't show Christians in a positive light, but is thought-provoking and shows actions speak louder than words and non-believers do watch the way Christians live their lives.  This is a page turner I won't soon forget and had a hard time putting down.  See my teaser from this one.
(Karen's review)

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“The Crossing” is a complicated mystery about a 10-yr-old unsolved murder case that is re-opened.  Claudia saw her English teacher, a friend, killed on the bus after a football game.  The teacher shares her last thoughts with the reader right before she dies which was an interesting way of giving clues about the killer.  Claudia had nightmares and panic attacks so her husband, the D.A., decided to re-open the investigation and found things that were overlooked. 

This story attempts to show the depravity of man and God’s forgiveness and unconditional love.  Some people repented and sought help and others didn’t with tragic consequences. 

I didn’t really get invested in any of the characters and didn’t care much for this one.  It moved along pretty good, I was interested to find out who the killer was (although that didn't make sense to me) so I guess that's why I didn't care for it much.  It just wasn't as good as I expected it would be.
(Karen's review)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it?

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