Jen's Blog

I have a handful of favorite authors, well really more like two giant handfuls.  I have a lot of favorite authors!  Anyhow, one of my many favorites has to include Julia Quinn.  It won’t be a surprise to some of you that historical romance novels are some of my favorite.  I love anything that includes a Lord or a Duke or a Countess.  Julia Quinn’s novels have all of that and more.  Start with the Bridgerton series, the first one is The Duke and I .  Quinn’s latest novel is called Because of Miss Bridgerton .  It sucked me in on the first page and didn’t let me go until I had finished it on my lunch break at work.   My Review: Julia Quinn does it again. I loved her Bridgerton series and the idea that it continues on in this new series featuring the Rokesby brothers was beyond exciting to me. The two families are dear friends and everyone has always expected that Billie would marry one of the brothers, probably Andrew or Edw...

Thanks to NetGalley for the Advanced Reader's Copy! A Bee in Her Bonnet is the second of the honeybee sisters trilogy by Jennifer Beckstrand (who is my favorite Amish romance writer!).  There are so many things I like about Beckstrand's novels including the wonderful characters, the glimpse into the Amish lifestyle, the settings in my home state of Wisconsin and most of all the sweetness of couples getting to know each other.   A Bee in Her Bonnet has all of those elements. This book features the second Christner sister, Poppy.  Poppy is tall and has always been told by her disapproving grandfather that she will end up an old maid.  She is sure that he must be right.  Luke Bontrager, the best friend of her sisters fiance, agrees.  He is confused by her desire to learn how to do everything herself and wonders why she thinks she can do things better than anyone else.  However, after several perilous outings, that leave both of them injured they b...

Truly Madly Guilty by Liane Moriarty is a wonderfully written story, one that will keep you on the edge of your seat from start to finish.  The story features three couples, all who are linked by one main tragedy that affects their relationships.  Sam and Clementine are busy parents of two little girls.  Clementine’s oldest friend Erika is married to Oliver, they seem to have an easy fun life just the two of them.  Then there is Tiffany and Vid, a fun loving couple with a small daughter.  From page one readers are kept guessing about what may have happened at a barbecue that Tiffany and Vid host at their house.  Something terrible happens and it’s obviously affecting all of them, but what is it?  I made many, many guesses and I came close but the real story was very unexpected!  This is a great edge of your seat read full of twists and turns and just enough suspense.  The book has a little something for everyone!  Rated 4/5 s...

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced reader's copy. Sweet Tomorrows by Debbie Macomber is the last in the Rose Harbor series.  I was disappointed when I learned this because I have really enjoyed this series.  However, I was hopeful that this book would have a resolution that I had been missing at the end of the last few books.  I am happy to say that there was a resolution and it was a satisfying one. Jo Marie is back helping wounded people at her Rose Harbor Inn, and this time she needs to finish her own healing.  Her boarder Emily is a big part of this story too and she has some healing to do as well.  Both characters fight their own pasts and end up creating their happy endings.  The heroes in the story Nick and Mark also have pasts that they need to overcome on their way to happiness. The trouble I had with this story was it was written in a different style than the others in the series.  That threw me off right away, and although I got us...

As many of you know I am a reference librarian at my local library.  One of my duties, shared with the reference department, is writing blog posts for our reference blog.  I am pleased to share some of my blog posts here.  Topics range from  the personal, my life with diabetes, dieting and taking better care of myself to new authors I am falling in love with and genres that I want to share with others. Please visit my libraries webpage and take a look! Planning you Perfect Summer Vacation Beach Reads Women's Fiction Eat, Run, Live Keep Moving, Body and Soul Running Playlist Chick Lit Amish Romance

First Star I See Tonight is a satisfying addition to the Chicago Stars series.  Cooper Graham has just retired as the quarterback when he meets private investigator Piper.  Their relationship starts off with a mutual dislike that quickly turns into one full of sparks. Watching Cooper and Piper navigate the waters is fascinating and entertaining.  In the end Cooper lays it all on the line in order to win his biggest game ever...a happily ever after. I highly recommend both the series and the book. Thanks to Edelweiss for the Advanced Reader's Copy! Also, thanks to LibraryReads for chosing my review for their August list!  Click here to see what else librarians recommend for August. Rated 5/5 on Goodreads...

Falling by Jane Green is a beautiful story that reminds us all that sometimes families can take place in the most unexpected ways. Emma has moved the the East Coast from England, where she meets Dominic.  Much to her surprise she and Dominic hit it off despite their very different backgrounds.  She has never met anyone quite like Dominic and it turns out that having someone different in her life is exactly what she needed.  Dominic is also a single father and Emma finds herself falling in love with both father and son.  Sadly, tragedy strikes and Emma finds herself having to create a new happiness, fight for what she loves and form a new idea of family. It's a beautiful, well written book.  The unexpected ending threw me for a little bit of a loop (and drew a few tears out of me), but ultimate Green redeemed herself and I enjoyed the book very much! Thanks to Netgalley for the Advanced Readers Copy! Rated 4/5 pm Goodreads.

One of my favorite things in the whole world is discovering a new author! Amy Avanzino is my new author this week, I loved From the Sidelines ! One of the things I loved most about this book is how I could relate to many parts of the story even though the main character Autumn is completely different than me (I however am a mother to three boys, all who played football!). I always admire writers than can make me feel that personal connection to a character or a story.  Autumn is an overprotective, single mom to a 10 year old boy who one day decides he wants to play football. Autumn knows nothing about sports and is not sure that this is a good idea at all. She has never thought that he was a sports type at all. However, since the end of her disastrous marriage Zachary hasn't been very happy and she wants to change that. She jumps right into the world of football, meets new people, learns how to trust herself and others and most importantly watches her son gain his footing and gai...

August 2 nd Dark Matter by Blake Crouch Sweet Tomorrows by Debbie Macomber Harmon y by Carolyn Parkhurst The Highlander by Kerrigan Byrne Till I Kissed You by Laura Trentham The Right Kind of Trouble by Shiloh Walker  Santorini Sunset s by Anita Hughes August 9 th The Book That Matters Most by Ann Hood Family Tree by Susan Wiggs The Matchmakers of Minnow Bay by Kelly Harms I Will Send Rain by Rae Meadows August 16 th Curious Minds by Janet Evanovich, Phoef Sutton August 30 th Stealing Taffy by Susan Donovan  No Mistress of Mine by Laura Lee Guhrke

The Singles Game  by  Lauren Weisberger   portrayed the complicated life of a single, young and attractive tennis player at the top of her game.  Charlie suffers an injury in the beginning book at her biggest tennis match to date.  She decides that she isn't done playing tennis quite yet and sets out to make some big changes, including firing her long time tennis coach and hiring Todd, whose coaching style is famously tough. Although Todd helps Charlie improve her game in some ways and totally recreates Charlie's image there are some changes that she comes to realize are not good and starts to question some of her decisions.  As Charlie begins to win more and more she asks herself some hard questions. I loved this book, it was well written and Charlie was a great character.  The one downside was a cliff hanger that was too big! I like to know what happens... Thank you Edelweiss for the ARC!

It's no secret that Nora Roberts is my favorite author, and I always read her new releases before anything else in my to read pile!  This one was no exception and in the end I wasn't disappointed. However, this one didn't grab me right away as so many of her books usually do.  It took me a little bit to get into the story.  Fantasy books are not usually my cup of tea, so I think perhaps that was a little bit my issue.   This story focuses on Sawyer and Annika, along with their group that are ultimately trying to defeat evil and recover the magic stars created by the goddesses.  Sawyer has the ability to time travel with his compass that his grandfather gifted him and Annika is a mermaid, which is a new element to Roberts books.  Annika is the most delightful character that I have encountered in a long time.  Bay of Sighs is the second in the Guardians triology and it ended a bit abruptly.  Of course that just makes the reader want to read the ...

I usually love Elin Hilderbrand's books.  However I cannot say I loved Here's to Us .  I liked it a lot and it was very well written, but to me it didn't have the same magic that her other books usually have. Elin as usual does a wonderful job depicting life in the summer on Nantucket for the family of celebrity chef Deacon Rowe when they gather together at his summer house to say goodbye to him. Each of his children and his three wives are present, which as you can guess creates plenty of conflict and sparks.  There are truly brilliant pieces of the story in the interactions between the three wives. My biggest problem with the book was with the amount of adultery in the story.  I get that some stories can support a story line that supports this but it seemed excessive in this story.  I personally like an ending in a book that wraps up the stories and makes the reader feel hopeful.  I mostly got that in this story, but it felt rushed.  I felt li...

First Comes Love  by Emily Giffin is a story about sisters.  Josie and Meredith lost their brother years ago and both of them are still trying to move on from their loss.  Josie never lets herself love or be loved again but is desperate to have a child.  Meredith has what seems on the surface to be a perfect family, a husband who adores her and a beautiful little girl.  But she can't help but think something is missing.  Although there are many aspects of this book, it's ultimately a book about sisters and family. I enjoyed the book, although I struggled a bit with how the story lines.  It wasn't a satisfying ending for me because there were still a lot of loose ends.  I prefer my books to be wrapped up with a bow at the end with a happy ending.  However, the writing was strong, I fell in love with the characters and a saw them grow and change throughout the book.  I saw glimpses of happy endings and I suppose that will be good enough...

First I would just like to say I am a huge fan of almost everything Susan Mallery writes!  This book is no different.  Daughters of the Bride is a story of the relationship between three sisters and their mother, which can always be complex.  Each sister is as different as the next, and they are all battling their past while they try to sort out what will truly make them happy.  Courtney battles her long held securities about her looks and height, and finds that they are playing role in everything she does.  She refuses to share her successes with her family because of past failures.  When she meets Quinn she starts to realize that these failures could be damaging her relationship with her mother and sisters as well as others.  Sienna feels like the odd sister out most of the time and wonders why she can’t commit to a relationship, she accepts proposal number three when her boyfriend proposes to her in front of her whole family.  As sh...