Books, Books, Books, and a Cat

  4.5 Stars- Alice Hoffman knows how to write a unique and fascinating novel! Two young women are sent to college in Cambridge in the 1950s, only they are not your typical students. Both Ava and Lauren are witches and as they spend more time at college they learn more about their unique gifts. Ava knew nothing about her heritage until she came to Radcliffe whereas Lauren and her brother were well aware of their heritage. Both girls have had difficult lives but are very different from one another. At first they dislike each other but eventually become friends although they face many different situations and conflicts along the way. The story also flashes back to the very first witch of Cambridge in 1692. Her story was honestly my favorite. The flashback revolved around the Mather family and their persecution of witches as well as the founding of Harvard. The Mather family is important to the 1950s storyline so it was an interesting look at the past, and great insight into what was h...

3.5 Stars- I picked this book because I love a time travel novel.  In this novel the main character can only travel back in time 7 minutes.  She earns a minute from men that she has a spark with but if they die she will lose that minute.   Renee has always been able to rewind time.  She tried telling her family but they didn't believe her.  Her entire life has been defined by this trait.  She takes a job in movies where she makes sure everything stays the same.  She earns money by rewinding time until she gets winning scratch off tickets. Renee has not been lucky in love and has even gone so far to have an affair with a married man that she is still struggling to get over.  When he goes missing Renee is determined to find him but then she loses a minute that she can rewind.  She fears that he is dead and she is determined to find out who did it.  Only things go from bad to worse when she begins to lose more minutes.  She must f...

  This was a highly enjoyable thriller that you won't want to miss.   Becca Larson is a journalist who travels to Flordia to cover a story about a honeymoon gone bad.  She is hoping this piece could possibly win her an award and help her get back to doing more investigative journalism.  However once she gets to Florida things aren't adding up.  After meeting with Eve, the bride, Becca can no longer get her to call her back.  Things start not adding up and Becca has an encounter with a woman that tries to steal her camera equipment.  After returning things go from bad to worse and now an innocent story may have the potential to ruin her life.  There was great suspense in this novel.  There were multiple perspectives which I really enjoyed because it kept me guessing as to who was really responsible for everything.  I was on the edge of my seat for most of the book hoping that things would turn out alright for Becca.  This story ...

 A powerful story about following your own dreams no matter what the cost.  Billie, a 39 single female, on New Year's Eve in Florence, Italy, meets the man of her dreams. Arthur is his name and he is from Scotland.  The only problem is, she had just made up her mind that she is going to have a baby on her own.  They have an instant connection and sparks fly.  However he does not want kids.  Over the next year Billie tries to figure out what she truly wants.  Does she want a relationship with Arthur and no baby or to have the baby and no Arthur?   I thought this novel posed a thought provoking scenerio and really kept the reader guessing as to what was going to happen.  I really liked Billie as a character and liked the romantic elements between her and Arthur.  Both of them had past trauma which seemed to spur their decisions.  There were times in the novel though that I wanted them to be more flexible but people in real life r...

 4.5 Stars- A great second chance romance with a fun Cupid twist! The main characters in this novel are considered divine beings but think along the lines of cupids.  They are archers who go out and shoot arrows of love at humans to help them fall in love and do great things.  However there are also breakers.  Breakers break up the relationships and do to this fact they are seen as less than in this divine society. Anyone who is not an archer experiences discrimination and do not get the same opportunies.  Demi is a breaker but she was born to a family of famous archers.  Her father is the director.  However he is retiring and Demi's protection will soon end and she could be in real trouble.  To make matters worse, her ex and love of her life Gray, accidentally misses his assigned target because he sees her.  He asks Demi to help him fix this mess.  Demi agrees because the missed target has an important destiny that will save lives....

 I love a Susanna Kearsley novel and this one did not disapoint.  This dual timeline novel featured a WWII murder mystery that involving spies, buried secrets, double agents, and thrilling action.   In 2006, Kate Murray, a young journalist, meets an older man who tells her he has a story that might interest her as well as the fact that he knows her grandmother.  Right after telling her this he is killed in a hit and run.  Kate is shocked but finds out that this man does know her grandmother and the story unfolds from there.  Kate soon finds herself on the run and afraid for her life not knowing who to trust as she tries to unravel this story from WWII.  With flashbacks to the past, the reader gains more insight into what actually happened and how that is tied into present day.  This was such a great story with not only historical fiction elements but mystery and action.  There were so many secrets that had to be unraveled that I did not ...

 This was a really great history inspired romantic adventure.   As a huge fan of any and all things history so I thoroughly enjoyed this novel.  Jessica is a history professor who is looking for a good story in the archives that will help her get published and get tenure when she discovers a coded message.  This message could change the way we think about American history but she will need more proof.  She goes to see Calloway Morgan who was a history professor at Harvard but was forced out when others decided they didn't like his theories that challenged accepted American history ideaologies.  Together the two of them work to figure out if this message and what it implies is real however things get extremely dangerous when it seems that there is someone or a group of people who don't want this message to come out.  They have to go on the run to prove that they are right and to keep themselves alive.   What I loved about this book is tha...

I absolutely fell in love with this book!  A unique and fantastic premise of two people from very different worlds falling in love as they read about each other's every day lives in a book about each other.   Della lives the life of a maid.  She is living in a regency type time period somewhat reminiscent of Cinderella.  One day she finds a book about a man who is a fugitive living in space named Ansel.  She can't stop reading about this man and his world.  Only it turns out Ansel has a mirror copy of the book and can read all about Della's life.  The two begin communicating with each other.  They set about to test the limits of the book and to see if they can improve their lives. Only things do not go as planned and Della needs to save Ansel, so she writes herself into his world.  For the first time she finds herself having an amazing adventure, falling in love, and finding her people.  However there is so much more going on then D...

 4.5 Stars- This was such a great story.  There were so many great aspects to the novel.  There was romance, magic, mystery, action, adventure, twists, and wonderful characters. Thea is a changeling.  She is a mortal who is living in the fae realm although she does posses magic and can take away people's anger.  She was unwanted by her fae parents because they just wanted their original daughter back.  However, Thea has lived too long in the Fae realm and would die if she went back to the mortal realm.  Luckily, she has been raised by a hobgoblin named Mudge who has become her adopted father.  Thea is known as an outcast and has caused lots of chaos in the realm.  She is tolerated because of her abilities and connections.  However she does something the winter lords does not like and now as punishment she is being forced to marry someone from the summer realm.  If she doesn't her father will be hurt and she will be banished to the m...