Montana Sky: A Family for Christmas

This was a wonderful Christmas novella that would be great to read at any time of the year. Charlotte is cold and hungry and pregnant when she meets up with Adam. He takes her to his cabin to help her and delivers her baby. She is on the run from a bad man and he is trying to survive since his family died. It was hard to put this book down. They end up making a great couple. I receive an ebook copy of this book from the author for a fair and honest opinion.

Charlotte Walker is widowed, pregnant and running for her life. Lost in a blizzard on Christmas Eve, she fears she will die before ever seeing her sweet baby’s face. When her horse throws her, all hope seems lost, until a handsome stranger appears, takes her in his arms, and carries her to the warmth and safety of his remote mountain cabin.

Adam Masters lives alone in the mountains of Montana Territory outside Morgan’s Crossing. The last thing he expects to find on his property is a half frozen woman. The last thing he wants is to deliver a baby on Christmas morning. But Charlotte and her new daughter begin to thaw his cold, grieving heart. Adam already lost one family. When danger comes to his door, he’ll do whatever it takes to protect the two women he’s grown to love, but can he convince Charlotte to take a chance and give him her heart.

Cynthia Woolf is the award winning and best-selling author of twenty-two historical western romance books and two short stories with more books on the way. Cynthia loves writing and reading romance. Her first western romance Tame A Wild Heart, was inspired by the story her mother told her of meeting Cynthia’s father on a ranch in Creede, Colorado. Although Tame A Wild Heart takes place in Creede that is the only similarity between the stories. Her father was a cowboy not a bounty hunter and her mother was a nursemaid (called a nanny now) not the ranch owner. The ranch they met on is still there as part of the open space in Mineral County in southwestern Colorado. Writing as CA Woolf she has six scifi, space opera romance titles. She calls them westerns in space. Cynthia credits her wonderfully supportive husband Jim and her great critique partners for saving her sanity and allowing her to explore her creativity.

The Hidden Genes of Professor K by Gabriel Farago

This was the first book by Gabriel Farago but it will not be the last. I loved this story. This is the fourth book in this series but I did not need to read the others to figure out what was going on in this one. When people or happenings from previous books were mentioned there was a small explanation for what happened earlier. I did not want to put this book down. There were many adventures that happened. I look forward to reading many more books by this author. I received a copy of this book from the author for a fair and honest opinion. If you like any type of science and adventure you will love this book.

World-renowned scientist, Professor K knows he’s close to a ground-breaking discovery. He also knows he’s dying. With his last breath he anoints Dr Alexandra Delacroix as his successor and pleads with her to carry on his work. Delacroix unwittingly enters a dangerous world of unbridled ambition and greed that threatens to destroy her. Desperate and alone, she turns to celebrated author and journalist, Jack Rogan. Alistair Macbeth, self-made billionaire and enigmatic founder of Blackburn Pharmaceuticals, has a murky past. He knows he must secure Professor K’s discovery for his empire, or perish. Powerful and ruthless, he will stop at nothing to achieve his dark and deep desires. Meanwhile, when the parents of a famous rock star, Isis, are brutally murdered, Jack Rogan is asked to investigate. On a perilous journey of discovery that takes them around the globe, Jack and Lola Rodriguez-Isis’ resourceful PA-join forces with Jana Gonski, a former police officer; Dr Bettany Rosen, a tireless campaigner for the destitute and forgotten; and Tristan, a gifted boy with psychic powers. Together, they expose a complex web of fiercely guarded secrets and heinous crimes of the past that can ruin them all and change history. Will Rogan succeed? Will the dreams of a visionary scientist with the power to change the future of medicine fall into the wrong hands, or will his genius benefit mankind and prevent untold misery and suffering for generations to come? FOREWORD We all stare into the darkness. There are things, many things, that we do not know about the world, or about ourselves. What makes us different from other animals, and sets us apart from each other, is the genetic material we inherit from our ancestors. Amazingly, however, the number and repertoire of conventional protein coding genes is similar across the animal kingdom. The rest of our genome was once dismissed as junk – a graveyard of evolutionary debris for which scientists could not attribute any purpose. However, it now appears that this DNA is in fact alive, transmitting. It is the cryptic code that orchestrates human development, empowers our thoughts, and perhaps even holds memories of experiences from generations past. The Hidden Genes of Professor K combines imagination, history, and knowledge of the leading edge of medical science to weave an epic tale of greed and intrigue. It takes the reader into the recesses of the human psyche, the hidden corners of history, and the dark matter of the human genome. The secrets are all there. Professor John Mattick AO FAA, Executive Director of the Garvan Institute of Medical Research, Sydney, Australia *** The Hidden Genes of Professor K is a thrilling medical mystery that incorporates new advances in genetic and epigenetic research to decipher the secrets of the past extracted from human DNA. Readers who were spellbound by Gabriel Farago’s previous novels The Empress Holds the Key and The Disappearance of Anna Popov will be equally enthralled and captivated as they journey through the secrets of the past, and share the dreams of a visionary scientist with the power to change the future of medicine. Professor Susan Clark FAA, Head of the Genomics and Epigenetic Division, The Garvan Institute of Medical Research, Sydney, Australia. Dr Peter Molloy, Senior Principal Research Scientist, CSIRO Food and Nutrition, Sydney Australia.

Healing a Heart but Amy Lillard

I enjoyed this book by Amy Lillard. She never disappoints me. This was a very good western romance. This story lives up to the name. I enjoyed getting to know Bryan and Jake and his daughter. Great story. I received an ebook copy of this book from the author for a fair and honest opinion.As cowboys, the Langston brothers of Cattle Creek, Texas, know it’s easy to mend a fence. Mending a broken heart, however, takes time…

Rancher Jake Langston prides himself on being the sensible type. But five years after the loss of his wife left him to raise their daughter alone, he indulges in a one-night stand with a sexy stranger. He thought he’d never see the woman again. Four months later, though, she’s standing in his drive with a big surprise.

Bryn Talbot wants nothing from the hunky cowboy who got her pregnant, but her Southern nature demands she at least tell him about it. When Jake’s family persuades her to stay for a while, she’s soon won over by their charms—and by Jake. But with the losses the two of them have suffered in the past, neither is sure if they’re ready to take the leap to forever…

The Diary of an Immortal by David J. Castello

I usually don’t read books that have immortals in them but this one intrigued me. This is about a guy that finds an immortality drug during WWll. He takes it but isn’t sure whether it is working at first. He meets many interesting people during the time of this book. He has many weird and terrifying adventures. I enjoyed reading this a lot. I hope to read many more books by this author. I received a copy of this book from Smith Publicity for a fair and honest opinion.
THE DIARY OF AN IMMORTAL (19451959) is the story of twenty-one-year-old U.S. Army combat medic Steven Ronson, a man who escapes the constant inundation and threat of death in World War Two after he discovers an immortality formula designed for Adolf Hitler during the liberation of the Dachau concentration camp in April of 1945. Steven begins consuming the immortality formula and, after realizing that aging and death no longer control his life, travels to Manhattan to realize his childhood dream of becoming a jazz saxophonist on 52nd Street. The immortality formula gives him supernatural powers and fantastic musical abilities. His performance catches the attention of a disgraced British missionary and his adopted niece who knew the Buddhist monks in China that have guarded the original formula for thousands of years. After a series of disturbing and prophetic visions, Steven accepts an invitation from the ex-missionary to journey to Xian. In a mountain monastery outside of the city, Steven discovers the incredible truth about the formula and the monks, and the interstellar origins of Jesus Christ and the human race. But time is running out-the German occultists who helped bring Hitler to power in the 1930s have selected another Aryan messiah, and this time he has the formula. Steven cannot allow the nightmare he experienced in Germany to happen again.”

A Perilous Undertaking by Deanna Raybourn

This was a well written and fun book for the second in this series. It was great to get to know Veronica better and Stoker. The mystery part was fantastic in this story. This story is fun to see if Veronica and Stoker are going to get together or just remain friends. There are a few twists and turns within the mystery. I am looking forward to many more installments in this series. I received an ebook copy from firsttoread for a fair and honest opinion.Veronica Speedwell returns in a brand new adventure from Deanna Raybourn, the New York Times bestselling author of the Lady Julia Grey mysteries… London, 1887. Victorian adventuress and butterfly hunter Veronica Speedwell receives an invitation to visit the Curiosity Club, a ladies-only establishment for daring and intrepid women. There she meets the mysterious Lady Sundridge, who begs her to take on an impossible task saving society art patron Miles Ramsforth from execution. Accused of the brutal murder of his artist mistress Artemisia, Ramsforth will face the hangman s noose in a week s time if Veronica cannot find the real killer. But Lady Sundridge is not all that she seems, and unmasking her true identity is only the first of the many secrets Veronica must uncover. Together with her natural historian colleague Stoker, Veronica races against time to find the true murderer a ruthless villain who not only took Artemisia s life in cold blood but is happy to see Ramsforth hang for the crime. From a Bohemian artists colony to a royal palace to a subterranean grotto with a decadent history, the investigation proves to be a very perilous undertaking indeed….”

New York Times bestselling author Deanna Raybourn graduated from the University of Texas at San Antonio with a double major in English and history and an emphasis on Shakespearean studies. She taught high school English for three years in San Antonio before leaving education to pursue a career as a novelist. Deanna makes her home in Virginia, where she lives with her husband and daughter and is hard at work on her next novel.

The Yellow Sock:An Adoption Story by Angela Hunt

This is a wonderful romance. I received the audiobook version through Bookfun.org for a fair and honest opinion. I really enjoyed listening to this story of hope for a couple trying to conceive a child. It shows many of the emotions a couple goes through alone and together when they have troubles conceiving. Great story.

Megan and Dave Wingfield want nothing more than to be parents . . . to welcome a child of their own. When they aren’t able to conceive a pregnancy after two years of trying, they decide to adopt . . . and find that journey is also fraught with mishaps and the potential for broken hearts. Can Megan learn to trust God with the desires of her heart? A novella by Angela Hunt, an adoptive mother, about the special way God uses adoption to bring families together.

Below the Belt by Stuart Woods

I really enjoyed this like I always do. I always love Stone Barrington novels. I like to see a little more of his friends in the stories like his son and Dino. I hope he keeps on with this series. I received an ebook copy of this from firsttoread for a fair and honest opinion.

I give this a 4 out of 5 stars.

 

Newly ensconced in his Santa Fe abode with a lovely female companion, Stone Barrington receives a call from an old friend requesting a delicate favor. A situation has arisen that could escalate into an explosive quagmire, and only someone with Stone’s stealth and subtlety can contain the damage. At the center of these events is an impressive gentleman whose star is on the rise, and who’d like to get Stone in his corner. He’s charming and ambitious and has friends in high places; the kind of man who seems to be a sure bet. But in the fickle circles of power, fortunes rise and fall on the turn of a dime, and it may turn out that Stone holds the key not just to one man’s fate, but to the fate of the nation.

The Amish Christmas Kitchen by Jennifer Beckstrand, Kelly Long and Lisa Jones Baker with a giveaway

I am really enjoying these 3 novellas. I read The Christmas Bakery at Huckleberry Hill first. It is a wonderful novella for Christmas. Katie and Titus slowly learn that they really like each other. Katie came to Huckleberry Hill to get to know Adam better because her mother thinks she is an old maid and needs help finding a husband. She likes Adam but gets to know Titus and starts to fall for him. They have a few adventures with goats and with her bakery. I enjoyed this a lot. I received this ebook from Celebratelit for a fair and honest opinion. I will review the other 2 books later.

About the Book
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The Christmas Bakery at Huckleberry Hill
When shy Katie Rose Gingerich’s dat sends her to Huckleberry Hill to secure a marriage proposal, she never expects to long for carefree Titus Helmuth—or to hope that he might want to spend every Christmas with her . . .
 
About the Author
jennifer Beckstrand 1Jennifer Beckstrand is the bestselling Amish romance author of The Matchmakers of Huckleberry Hill series for Kensington Books. Huckleberry Summer was nominated for the RT Book Reviews Reviewer’s Choice Award and the 2015 RITA® Award, and Huckleberry Hill won the 2014 LIME Award for Inspirational fiction. Both Huckleberry Hill and Huckleberry Christmas appeared in Examiner.com list of top ten inspirational books for 2014.
 
Jennifer has always been drawn to the strong faith and the enduring family ties of the Plain people and loves writing about the antics of Anna and Felty Helmuth. Jennifer has a degree in mathematics and a background in editing. She and her husband have been married for thirty years, and she has four daughters, two sons, and four adorable grandchildren, whom she spoils rotten.
 
Guest Post from Jennifer Beckstrand
What do you get when you combine Anna and Felty’s earnest grandson, Titus, with a pretty girl who’s practically engaged to someone else, a sleigh full of Christmas bakery orders, and two mischievous Christmas goats?
 
A wild, wacky, and wunderbarr Christmas, that’s what.
 
Anna and Felty Helmuth are determined to make this the most romantic Christmas ever on Huckleberry Hill, but have they bitten off more than they can chew trying to match their slightly scatterbrained grandson Titus with timid Katie Rose Gingerich? Titus tends to be a little thick in the head when it comes to love, and Katie Rose is too shy to open her mouth. It might take every potholder Anna can knit plus a determined goat and a little Christmas magic to bring Titus and Katie Rose together.
 
Titus would do anything for his Mammi Anna, even eat her very bad cooking and learn how to knit, but why does he have to be the one to care for Mammi’s new goat? Goats give him the willies. But when Titus meets the pretty girl staying with his grandparents for Christmas, he doesn’t mind the goat so much. The more he sees of Katie Rose’s gentle ways and loving spirit, the more he wishes he were the kind of boy she would bake a pie for. Can he convince her to love him without offending her boyfriend? And will Mammi notice if he gets rid of her goat?
 
After I wrote Huckleberry Hearts, I just knew there had to be someone special out there for Titus Helmuth, Anna and Felty’s lovable grandson. Christmas is the perfect setting for “A Christmas Bakery on Huckleberry Hill” because Titus is one character who seems to have the spirit of Christmas in his heart all year long. When Katie Rose is homesick, Titus does his best to make her feel welcome and comfortable on Huckleberry Hill. He delivers her Christmas goodies, writes poetry for her, and sings Christmas songs. When he finally realizes he loves her, he’s going to have to use both Christmas goats and every trick in the book to convince her to marry him. It’s a fun, heartwarming, wonderful-gute Christmas romance.
 
“A Christmas Bakery on Huckleberry Hill” is in The Amish Christmas Kitchen novella collection, and it will definitely get you in the Christmas spirit. Enjoy and Merry Christmas!
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Giveaway
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To celebrate her tour, Jennifer is giving away three copies of Huckleberry Christmas. Click below to enter. Be sure to comment on this post to earn 9 extra entries in the giveaway! https://promosimple.com/ps/acec

Don’t Turn Out The Lights by Bernard Minier

This was the first Commandant Martin Servant novel that I have read but it won’t be my last. I really enjoyed this story that had a lot of twists and turns and an ending I was not expecting. What would I have done if I had to go through a stalker. I loved the Martin Servaz character. I received a copy of this book from Minotaurbooks for a fair and honest opinion.

You did nothing. Christine Steinmeyer thought the anonymous suicide note she found in her mailbox on Christmas Eve wasn t meant for her. But the man calling in to her radio show seems convinced otherwise. You let her die. . . . That s only the beginning. Bit by bit, her life is turned upside down. But who among her friends and family hates her enough to want to destroy her? And why?It s as if someone has taken over her life, and everything holding it together starts to crumble. Soon all that is left is an unimaginable nightmare.Martin Servaz is on leave in a clinic for depressed cops, haunted by his childhood sweetheart Marianne s kidnapping by his nemesis, the psychopath Julian Hirtmann. One day, he receives a key card to a hotel room in the mail the room where an artist committed suicide a year earlier. Someone wants him to get back to work, which he s more than ready to do, despite his mandatory sick leave. Servaz soon uncovers evidence of a truly terrifying crime. Could someone really be cruelly, consciously hounding women to death?What if the people closest to us are not what they seem? What happens when someone takes control of your life and your relationships? And what is hiding in the darkness? In Bernard Minier’s Don’t Turn Out the Lights, you won t see who s coming after you.”

Talia and the Capture of Wrath by C.J. Quinn

This was an interesting read that is geared toward middle grade children. I liked the basic idea of the book but it could be a little preachy about the environment. This is a fantasy story that had some good characters. The human boys were all very good children. I liked the explanation for all the different animals but I had some trouble with how the animals and others talked. It sometimes seemed a little stilted. I do hope to read the next book in the series because I need to know what happens to all the animals and humans in both universes. I received a copy of this book from Smith publicity for a fair and honest opinion.

“Talia and the Capture of Wrath” invites young readers to join the four Tobiah brothers as they step through the portal between our world and the magical land of Talia. When Wyatt Tobiah, the youngest brother, sees a shadowy figure beckoning him through a mirror in the Jenkin’s manor, near his family’s summer home, he doesn’t realize that the figure is his deceased mother. Now an angel with beautiful feathered wings, she invites her sons to step through the portal located in the mirror and join her in the land of Talia. Once the boys are safely on the other side, their mother explains to them that Wyatt is the “Chosen One”-the last hope for saving planet Earth from the destruction wrought on it by careless humans. Now Wyatt, with the help of his brothers and many other extraordinary friends, must journey through fantastical lands to capture wrath, one of the seven deadly sins. He is then to give it to the Tree of Existence as an offering in return for help from the Tree. But with evil forces seeking to thwart Wyatt at every turn, will he survive his mission? Or will all of Earth be destroyed?

“Talia and the Capture of Wrath” invites young readers to join the four Tobiah brothers as they step through the portal between our world and the magical land of Talia. When Wyatt Tobiah, the youngest brother, sees a shadowy figure beckoning him through a mirror in the Jenkin’s manor, near his family’s summer home, he doesn’t realize that the figure is his deceased mother. Now an angel with beautiful feathered wings, she invites her sons to step through the portal located in the mirror and join her in the land of Talia. Once the boys are safely on the other side, their mother explains to them that Wyatt is the “Chosen One”-the last hope for saving planet Earth from the destruction wrought on it by careless humans. Now Wyatt, with the help of his brothers and many other extraordinary friends, must journey through fantastical lands to capture wrath, one of the seven deadly sins. He is then to give it to the Tree of Existence as an offering in return for help from the Tree. But with evil forces seeking to thwart Wyatt at every turn, will he survive his mission? Or will all of Earth be destroyed?