The Inn at Rose Harbor by Debbie Macomber FIC Mac

It was time for an audiobook with no pressure.  If my mind wandered for a minute I wasn't going to miss the motive for a murder or anything!  So this book was perfect.  Macomber has written lots of books but I have only read the ones from the series about Blossom Street which centers around a knitting shop.  She has a series based around the town of Cedar Cove which is where this book is set.  This series will center around........... the Inn at Rose Harbor of course!  It is an Inn that was recently bought by Jo Marie Rose who is looking for some peace and a new start.  Her husband was killed in the Middle East.  Her first two guests come with their own problems.  Joshua has come back to town to reclaim some things of his mother's now that his step-father is dying.  Abby is in town to attend her brother's wedding.  She has stayed away for 20 years because of what happened to her best friend.  I read that she intends to have some characters from the previous series show up from time to time.  So if you have read that series you will be finding out about the lives of some previous characters.

Judgment Call by J.A. Jance MYS Jan

Another entertaining mystery by Jance.   This one involves the disappearance of a local high school principal.  No one really knows much about her - but the one thing they do know is that she has always shown up to work until that day.   Her body is discovered the next morning by none other than Jenny, the teen-aged daughter of  Sheriff Joanna Brady. Jenny was out riding her horse early in the morning.  Before Brady could reach the crime scene  Jenny had already taken a picture of the body with her phone and shared it with someone who shared it with someone...you see where this is going don't you?  When Brady starts to interview some kids a the local diner she finds out the picture is on Facebook!  When a principal is the victim there are no shortage of suspects!  And Miss Highsmith had an interesting and hidden past.  If you enjoy Jance's mysteries that feature Sheriff Brady you will like catching up on her life. 

you are the love of my life by Susan Richards Shreve FIC Shr

This is a story about a lots of family secrets.  When it begins it is 1951 in Washington D.C.. Lucy Baldwin's mother pulls her car up in front of a house that her husband has been working on.  They had bought it for an investment and there were some things that needed to be done before new tenants moved it.  Lucy jumps out of the car to go deliver a reminder to her dad about a dinner that night.  But what Lucy discovers is that her father has killed himself.  Then the story skips to 1973 and Lucy Painter is moving into that house with her two kids.  They are leaving behind New York City which is more expensive and also because Lucy wants to distance herself from Rueben, the father of her children - although they only know him as Uncle Rueben.  Lucy tries to keep herself isolated from everyone so that no one will find out that her real name is Baldwin and connect it to the suicide.  I enjoyed the book.  Her new neighborhood is filled with people we have all met at sometime or other!  And their stories are an integral part of the story.  Of course there is also the back story of Rueben and Lucy's parents.  I enjoyed it a lot.

One Breath Away by Heather Gudenkauf FIC Gud

I enjoyed this book for a couple of reasons.  First of all it takes place in Iowa and for some reason I always get excited when authors mention a place I know!  Most of the action takes place in a made-up town,  but many of the descriptions of places and people would fit many small Iowa towns. The second thing I liked is the way Gudenkauf told the story in the voice of several different characters.  Jodi Picoult does that a lot too.  That way I know exactly what the character is thinking! The main location in the book is the school in this small town.  A gunman has walked into an elementary classroom.  The whole school goes immediately on lock-down but the gunman knows exactly which classroom he wants - the third-grade classroom of Mrs. Oliver.  I loved her character.  She is getting ready to retire after 43 years.  That day, the last before spring vacation, Mrs. Oliver does something she has never done before.  She wears a denim jumper with rhinestones in the shape of a rainbow.  She hated it and thought it most unprofessional.  But that morning her husband had insisted that she had to wear it because one of her students had made it for her and had been expecting to see her teacher happily wearing it at the beginning of the week.  Other characters include Meg, the Sheriff.  She is in charge of the situation even though it hits close to home.  The only reason her daughter wasn't in Mrs. Oliver's classroom that morning was because her ex had insisted on having her early for the spring break.  In the classroom is a kid named P.J. .  He hasn't been here long.  He and older sister Augie have been staying with their grandfather after their mother was burned badly at their home in Arizona.  For a small community there seemed to be a lot of names that came up as a possibility for the gunman!  I must stop rambling.....I liked it!  

Broken Harbor MYS Fre

I listened to the audiobook of Broken Harbor. (We also own the book.)  I enjoyed this mystery a lot but it probably not for everyone.  If you like your mystery books filled with action on every page with lots of grizzly details then skip this book.  If, however, you enjoy the detective work of a crime and the slow unraveling of the reason behind the crime then I think you will like this book!   The detective was featured in earlier books by French.  He is Mick Kennedy.  He has been around and is a great detective - which is the reason he was given this big case.  In a new development, which was quickly and shabbily built, a terrible crime has been discovered.  Inside the house are the bodies of Pat Spain and his two young children.  Pat's wife, Jenny, is critically injured and clinging to life.  There are a lot of bizarre things about the scene of the crime.  The house is absolutely immaculate and well-maintained  - except for the half-dozen baby monitors scattered about and the holes that have been made in the walls. It takes a lot of digging to solve this crime.  There is also a parallel story concerning Kennedy's connection to Broken Harbor and how it haunts him today.  I listened to it every minute I could to find out who did it and why!

Little Night by Luanne Rice FIC Ric

The story begins with Clare Burke who spent three years in prison.  She ended up there because she was defending her sister, Anne, from her abusive husband.  But as often happens in such situations Anne was not able to tell the truth and she went along with her husband's story and Clare goes to prison for a couple of years.  Clare doesn't hate her sister and wants to be part of her life. But by now Frederik has taken his family back to Norway and shut the door completely on Clare.  Eighteen years later Clare's niece, Grit, shows up on her doorstep.  Slowly Clare learns the sad story of Anne's life.  There is a side story  about Clare, her former fiance, Paul, and the birds that they track.  I have to say I really wasn't crazy about any of the characters but I was entertained enough to finish the book. 

The 11th Hour by James Patterson MYS Pat

This is another book in the series featuring the Women's Murder Club.   Lindsay Boxer has two cases that she is working.  No taking it easy for her even though she is pregnant.  But as always she has the other members of the Murder Club to help her out.  One of the cases takes her to the home of a hot shot actor who was accused and then acquitted of his wife's murder.  Now headless bodies have popped up in the garden.  He says he is innocent....but then, don't they all?  Although that is a most gruesome crime scene, the other case is almost more stomach-churning for Lindsay.  Drug dealers and criminals who have escaped punishment are now being gunned down in a most professional way.  Evidence points to the guilty one being a colleague of  Lindsay's - and it is always messy when you think your co-worker is a murderer. (Not that I would know of course!).   If you liked the first ten in the series you will like this one also. 

The FOREVER Marriage by Ann Bauer FIC Bau

Carmen has been with her husband Jobe for 21 years.  When he took his last breath he was out on the sun porch and Carmen was in the kitchen daydreaming about all of things she could be doing if she weren't waiting for the cancer to finally kill him.  Carmen was filled with happiness and relief but she had to temper those feeling for the sake of her three children and Olive, her mother-in-law.  It wasn't easy to do for Carmen.  Jobe was a nice guy.  They met in England when she spilled some hot tea on him.  They talked for awhile and he invited her back there for lunch the next day.  Carmen had no intentions of doing that - until her purse was stolen and she had no money and no passport.  Jobe 'saved' her.  And he kept saving her.  She wanted to leave him since before she married him.  And now he has left her and she won't have to sneak around so much to meet her married lover, Danny.  This novel is the story of Carmen's release from her matrimonial bonds - but sometimes things aren't as great as you thought they might be.  She still has her three children to deal with (including a 20-year-old son with Down's Syndrome).  So it isn't going to be easy.  And then it got almost impossible - Carmen is diagnosed with breast cancer.  Bauer did a great job with her characters and I liked the way the story of Carmen and Jobe was presented in bits and pieces. 

Faith Bass Darling's Last Garage Sale by Lynda Rutledge FIC Rut

I have been having a lot of good luck lately finding great books.  This is a book about family, community, secrets, old age and lots of other things!  Faith Bass grew up in a very wealthy family.  When she was swept off of her feet by Claude Darling she thought her life would be picture-perfect.  Now it is the last day of the 20th century and Faith is all alone.  Her son and husband are gone and her daughter left 20 years ago.  During that time Faith has become a recluse and now she has Alzheimer's and reality comes and goes.  She has had a message from God that she should sell her possessions - the things that had been in her family for generations, the things that she loved.  She begins to drag pricey and priceless items out on the lawn and the garage sale begins.  Faith had an influence on people in her small town and now many of them will recall those memories.  Well done Ms. Rutledge - I hope you are busy writing another book.