Monroe has known Cade Fournette since she was 13 years old. He was always there for her, until he vanished for many years. He’s back now and things pick up right where they left off. Monroe is now a successful physical therapist and she’s only missing one thing in her life, love! Cade is a business success (former bad boy), coming back to his hometown to see his family. After all these years, he’s never found love either. Things in Cottonbloom are heating up!

I loved this book! Yes, it’s a contemporary romance but it has wonderful dimensions that are so interesting and relevant. Laura Trentham has developed “touchable” characters who are so real. (Her style reminds me of Robyn Carr.) She takes the reader to two ordinary little towns and makes the reader feel “at home”. The depth that she gives to Monroe and Cade have you begging for more! The book touches the subjects of physical abuse, teen drinking, and the problem that some teens and women have with abusive relationships of all kinds. I loved the story line about teen drinking and young girls that allow men to abuse them. The author did a fabulous job on this story line and I appreciate that she wrote about it. Monroe is definitely not a weak woman and her character was so interested in helping young women. I loved it! Oh, I won’t even get into the character of Cade but Trentham did such a great job of writing him, I felt like I knew him towards the end.

I am giving my honest opinion of this book in exchange for the egalley from the publisher, via NetGalley.

Leah Murphy is attacked in her home in Houston, TX.  She is so traumatized that she decides to move to her cousin’s hometown, Blue Falls, Texas.  Leah needs a place to live and decides to rent a vacant bunkhouse on a ranch.  The rancher is Tyler Lowe who lives with his niece, five year old Maddie.  Leah has a really hard time trusting any man but is attracted to the handsome Tyler.  Maddie’s irresponsible mom has left her with Tyler and Leah is drawn to Maddie and her sad situation.  Every woman wants a man who is kind, considerate, loving and sexy.  Tyler is all these wrapped into one!  The story is sweet, you feel a tug of the heart in Maddie and Leah’s story.  A nice story that makes you feel good after reading.  I don’t know about you all, but I’m moving to Blue Falls, Texas!

Received the advance copy of this book by Netgalley.com

Kathy Rich writes about her year of total immersion in the Hindi language at a school in India. I enjoyed her stories and characters. She does lapse into long discussions about language acquisition and theories of psycho-linguistics. I have actually studied that area of linguistics and found the elaboration of theories to be boring and unnecessary.

Published on Goodreads,  June 5, 2014

This book tells about the partition of India through a child’s eyes. It takes place in Lahore, Pakistan and is quite descriptive about the events that took place for all religious and ethnic groups. I kept wondering if the author was writing about herself or another relative during the partition. Good read for anyone interested in historical fiction and Southern Asia.

Originally posted on Goodreads,  January 5, 2012

Wish that I could give it more than 5 stars…..I’m going to start lobbying for high schools to include this book in required reading. It’s the perfect book for the reluctant reader and I could see boys in middle school and high school lining up to read this book. (Girls will also love it!) As a retired librarian, this book contains the “hook” necessary to engage readers of all ages! Kudos to Laura Hillenbrand and love and sincere thanks to Louie Zamperini for his unbelievable life and his UNBROKEN spirit and love for his country. God bless America!

Originally published on Goodreads,  July 11, 2014

Anyone who likes true stories about amazing people and the lives that they led will love this story. I like the narrative style of the author and found that the story remained interesting all the way until the end. A great addition to any library!

“Virginia Miner, a fifty-something, unmarried tenured professor, is in London to work on her new book about children’s folk rhymes. Despite carrying a U.S. passport, Vinnie feels essentially English and rather looks down on her fellow Americans. But in spite of that, she is drawn into a mortifying and oddly satisfying affair with an Oklahoman tourist who dresses more Bronco Billy than Beau Brummel.

Also in London is Vinnie’s colleague Fred Turner, a handsome, flat broke, newly separated, and thoroughly miserable young man trying to focus on his own research. Instead, he is distracted by a beautiful and unpredictable English actress and the world she belongs to.

Both American, both abroad, and both achingly lonely, Vinnie and Fred play out their confused alienation and dizzying romantic liaisons in Alison Lurie’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel.” From Amazon.com

I really didn’t see the comic part that is in most of the reviews. Did enjoy it though…..

Published May 2, 2015 on Goodreads

I’m feeling very fortunate. As a retired librarian in the great state of Texas, I have attended the Texas Library Association Conference and met many wonderful, talented authors. Among those are Harlan Coben, Sujata Massey, Lisa Scottoline, Marsha Clark, and too many more to list. I keep reading lists that include Rick Riordan and want to say that I attended an author dinner one year where the authors actually moved from table to table. Rick Riordan was one of the authors and I was able to speak to him then, one-on-one. And yes, he is delightful and articulate! This was before he began writing books for children. If you haven’t read his adult books, start out with Big Red Tequila, my personal favorite.

Published in Goodreads,  May 6, 2015

I’m adding author Kristen Proby to my list.  She was at the TLA Conference in April, 2016.