On the anniversary of his beloved wife’s death, Dr. Michael Everett receives a letter Hannah had written him. In it she reminds him of her love and makes one final request. An impossible request. I want you to marry again. She tells him he shouldn’t spend the years he has left grieving her. And to that end she’s chosen three women she asks him to consider. During the months that follow, he spends time with Winter, Leanne, and Macy, learning more about each of them…and about himself. Learning what Hannah already knew. He’s a man who needs the completeness only love can offer. And Hannah’s list leads him to the woman who can help him find it.

Macomber2010Bookmark

This book is slated to be published in May of 2010 – be watching for it!

My Review: This was a great read!  I cried and I laughed.  If you have read any of the Blossom Street books, you will recognize many of the characters.  What a different concept.  A husband receives a letter from his dead wife which listed  three women she wanted him to consider for remarriage. He thought it impossible because he was still deeply grieving her death.  The characters are colorful and probably resemble some of your friends.  I know they reminded me of people I know.   Three couples are highlighted so I would call this book a romance and slice of life read.  The link above will take you to a Debbie Maccomber bookmark that lists all of her books being published in 2010.  I’m also looking forward to the new Cedar Cove book.  If you enjoy easy, enjoyable reading with happy endings you will love this book!

Product Description
Luke Millward is a man who does not know he is lost. His girlfriend loves him; his career is going well; and every night he falls asleep knowing that his life is good and meaningful. Only when the past reveals its twisted smile in a phone call and the disconnected voice asks him to come find his father in post-Katrina New Orleans is Luke compelled to find out what kind of man he truly is. Recovering Charles is for every family who’s had its share of tough times, for anyone who regrets the things you’ve never said, for everyone who needs to know their life has a second verse.

My Review: This book is a quick and interesting read.  The setting Hurricane Katrina has been done a few times before, yet there are many stories to be told there.  This book tells the story of a young man discovering himself by learning about his family, especially his father, who he had actually given up on.  He sees his father through the eyes of friends who loved him as they searched for him.  The main character, Luke, is very likeable even though he seems somewhat confused.  It all works out in the end and is quite satisfying.  This book can be another great summer read – maybe even a beach read!

Video on \”Seeing Things\” by Patti Hill

Product Description
When Rebecca Kauffman’s older sister, who left the Amish community when she was a teenager, dies in an automobile accident, Rebecca is left custody of her two modern non-Amish teenage nieces, Jessica and Lindsay. Will she be able to reconcile the two worlds in her home—or will the clash of cultures tear her world, including her marriage, apart?

From the Back Cover
Rebecca Kauffman’s tranquil Old Order Amish life is transformed when she suddenly has custody of her two teenage nieces after her “English” sister and brother-in-law are killed in an automobile accident. Instant motherhood, after years of unsuccessful attempts to conceive a child of her own, is both a joy and a heartache. Rebecca struggles to give the teenage girls the guidance they need as well as fulfill her duties to Daniel as an Amish wife.

Rebellious Jessica is resistant to Amish ways and constantly in trouble with the community. Younger sister Lindsay is caught in the middle, and the strain between Rebecca and Daniel mounts as Jessica’s rebellion escalates. Instead of the beautiful family life she dreamed of creating for her nieces, Rebecca feels as if her world is being torn apart by two different cultures, leaving her to question her place in the Amish community, her marriage, and her faith in God.

My Review:  Books about Amish life are so fascinating to me; including this new one by Amy Clipston.  Imagine two teenage girls being transported from normal American life with all the advantages and perks we have to a simple, basic life in an Amish community.  Imagine a young married Amish woman unable to have children of her own inheriting these two girls. Imagine her husband getting pressure from the Amish community to control those girls.  Sounds like disaster ready to happen, right?  First of all, the girls lose both of their parents in an automobile accident.  This seems like quite a bit to deal with, would you agree?  The result is an interesting, quick read that pulls at your emotions.  I look forward to more books by this author!

1.  Postmortem  -  Synopsis:

Product Description
Breathtaking and wise, Abigail Elliot and the Dollhouse Family by author Barbara Bliss is a celebration of the heart and of the family. A literary debut that truly exhibits the ties that bind a mother to her child, this children’s fantasy fiction is a magical, whirlwind tale of one little girl’s lively imagination. When Abigail Elliot is forced to endure the absence of her mother, she learns that the truly tender heart holds a flame for those it loves. With a lyric, at times piercing prose, the author crafts an affectionate world where a family that resides in a dollhouse soothes and lulls young Abigail to sleep at night with fond stories of her mother. Written for young readers, this book will not only intrigue, it will ignite an interest in history, genealogy, and the magical places of the heart. 

About the Author
As a teen, Barbara Bliss began a career in opera and cabaret. She has sung with the symphony orchestra in Barcelona, Spain and Washington DC, the New Jersey State Opera, and Alice Tully Hall. She began teaching voice twenty-five years ago and continues to teach, sing, and write every day.

My review: This book actually made me cry.  I don’t think my 8 year old granddaughter is quite ready for it, but maybe in a couple more years she will love it as I did.  The book’s setting is in New York City in the 1940s.  I love reading books from that time era.  The book is sweet, old-fashioned, and treats mental illness in a dignified manner.  The fantasy is sweet, the characters are respectable and likable, and the story is engaging.  Parts of the story contain mystery and childish antics.  The story is clean and well written.  Abigail Elliot and the Dollhouse Family would make a GREAT children’s movie!

From the cover: Natalie Raines, one of Broadway’s brightest stars, accidentally discovers who killed her former roommate and sets in motion a series of shocking vents that puts more than one life in extreme peril.

Natalie and her roommate, Jamie Evans, were both struggling young actresses, Jamie had been involved with a mysterious married man to whom she referred only by nickname.  Natalie comes face to face with him years later and inadvertently addresses him by the nickname Jamie had used.  A few days later, Natalie is found in her home in Closter, New Jersey, dying from a gunshot wound.

Immediately the police suspect Natalie’s theatrical agent and soon-to-be-ex-husband, Gregg Aldrich.  He had long been a “person of interest” and was known to hav stalked Natalie to find out if she was seeing another man.  But no charges are brought against him until two years later, when Jimmy Easton, a career criminal, suddenly comes forward to claim that Aldrich had tried to hire him to kill his wife.  Easton knows details about the Aldrich home that only someone who had been there-to plan a murder, for instance,-could possibly know.

The case is a plum assignment for Emily Wallace, an attractive thirty-two-year-old assistant prosecutor.  As she spends increasingly long hours preparing for the trial, a seemingly well-meaning neighbor offers to take care of her dog in her absence.  Unaware of his bioletn past, she gives him a key to her home…

As Aldrich’s trial is making headlines, her boss warns Emily that this high-profile case will reveal personal matters about her, such as the fact that she had a heart transplant.  And, during the trial Emily experiences sentiments that defy all reason and continue after Gregg Aldrich’s fate is decided by the jury.

In the meantime, she does not realize that her own life is now at risk.

My review: I enjoyed this book.  The story seems a little different from the typical Mary Higgins Clark story, but none-the-less compelling and a page-turner.  Actually there are two main stories that really never connect, but they deal with one character, Emily Wallace, I guess that is where they connect.  I read this book in two days.  I always enjoy books authored by Mary Higgins Clark because they have a great story line, but they are clean.  I don’t have to worry about language and graphic sex.  In a book of this nature, you would expect violence, but even that is not offensive to me.  This is Clark’s 28th suspense novel and I’m sure we will see more in the future.  This is a great summer read!

Sarah Anderson is in deep grieving for her husband Charles. Two years after his unexpected death, she finds it difficult to carry out even her daily tasks. One night she attempts suicide by drowning in the sea.

Once in the water, though, she is pulled into an underwater world. In this world, life is different. When she reemerges, she can’t decide whether or not what happened was a dream.

It’s really difficult for me to review this book, because I’m not entirely sure that I “got” it. The writing is absolutely beautiful, there’s no doubt about that, but the underwater world didn’t make any sense to me. I couldn’t tell if the story was about Sarah going crazy, being willing to face death, or learning how to move on, and the ending didn’t really answer any of that for me.

One thing I did really enjoy was Sarah’s assessments of the Australian people and culture. While I’ve never been to Australia, it was a huge culture shock for me to live with Australians when I was in Japan, and I found many of her observations, unsurprisingly for the amount of time she was there, spot on.
All in all, it was an enjoyable and fairly quick read, I just didn’t really understand it.

From Back Cover:

In Violet’s sleepy Southern Town, alligators lurk, lightning strikes, and change is just around the corner.  Eleven-year-old Violet Raines likes things just the way they are in her backwoods town of Mitchell Hammock, Florida.  She loves going to the fish fry with her best friend, Lottie, collecting Brain Freeze cups with her good friend Eddie, and watching lightning storms on a warm summer day.  But when Melissa moves to town from big city Detroit, she brings with her makeup and Truth or Dare and talk of boys.  It’ll take the help of Violet’s friends, her mama, a few run-ins with lightning, and maybe even melissa, for Violet to realize that growing up doesn’t have to mean changing who you are.

My Review:

On the back cover, this book is recommended for ages 8 to 12.  I am enjoying this book, but I can’t imagine the eight-year old girls I teach would even begin to comprehend it.  I would recommend this book for girls no younger than 10 through maybe 13 or 14 years old.

As a grandma, it reminds me a great deal of my childhood.  In my neighborhood I had a best friend, and we were all set  another girl moved in.  Three girls don’t work very well as Violet finds out when Melissa move in and threatens her best friendship with Lottie.  There will be jealousy in most cases and that’s what is happening in this story.  Some girls want to grow up quickly and become teenagers and others still want to play outside.  Children from cities differ from children in the country in their interests and behavior.

This story deals with growing up, emotions, and relationships.  I love the southern flavor and homey writing.  The characters remind me of my friends and I growing up.  They are real and honest, naive and experienced.  I recommend this book for middle schoolers especially, but even as an adult I am enjoying it!  I look forward to more Violet in the future!