Author:  Harry Kraus                                                                  
Publisher:  David C. Cook
Pages:  384
Genre:  Christian / Suspense
Source:  Publisher

Goodreads:   When a brilliant surgeon undergoes a heart transplant, her life transforms as she begins experiencing memories of a murder she never witnessed. The residents worship her. Nurses step out of her way. Her colleagues respect and sometimes even fear her. But surgeon Tori Taylor never expected to end up on this side of the operating table. Now she has a new heart. This life that was formerly controlled and predictable is now chaotic. Dr. Taylor had famously protected herself from love or commitment, but her walls are beginning to crumble. And strangest of all, memories surface that will take her on a journey out of the operating room and into a murder investigation. Where there once was a heart of stone, there is a heart of flesh. And there is no going back.


Ope’s Opinion:  This story moved at a consistently slow pace. I wanted to see how it ended, so I didn’t give up on it. Two stories come together.   At first I was a little confused when the second story line just started at the beginning of a chapter with no idea who these other people were.  There was constant suspense in the story, but you sort of felt like you knew where it was going to go.  At the end of the story there were a couple of twists.  One of the twists came out of nowhere – felt like he was just trying to explain things and finish the book. 

                                      The main character ( Tori ) went through some major changes in her life.  It happened at such a slow pace that it was believable.   Some of the people around her accepted her changes right away, others were skeptical at first.

                                     I have read most of what Kraus has written.  This was not his best, but it wasn’t bad either.  His best in my opinion was The Chairman. That book made me want to read more of his writings.

Rating:  Three Chairs – I like the book enough to suggest it to a friend or two.

Author:  Dana Bate                                                                      
Publisher:  Hyperion
Pages:  320
Genre:  Women’s Fiction
Source:  Hyperion

Goodreads:    Hannah Sugarman seems to have it all. She works for an influential think tank in Washington, D.C., lives in a swanky apartment with her high-achieving boyfriend, and is poised for an academic career just like her parents. The only problem is that Hannah doesn’t want any of it. What she wants is much simpler: to cook.

When her relationship collapses, Hannah seizes the chance to do what she’s always loved and launches an underground supper club out of her new landlord’s town house. Though her delicious dishes become the talk of the town, her secret venture is highly problematic, given that it is not, technically speaking, legal. She also conveniently forgets to tell her landlord she has been using his place while he is out of town.

On top of that, Hannah faces various romantic prospects that leave her guessing and confused, parents who don’t support cooking as a career, and her own fears of taking a risk and charting her own path. A charming romantic comedy, The Girls’ Guide to Love and Supper Clubs is a story about finding yourself, fulfilling your dreams, and falling in love along the way.

Author:  Jane Porter

 Publisher:  Berkley Trade                              
Pages:  384
Genre:  Chick lit
Source:  BookSparks

Release date:  February 5, 2013

Goodreads:      Love was given to all, except herself . . . Kit Brennan has always been the most grounded of her sisters. A Catholic school English teacher for seventeen years and a constant giver, her decisions have been sound—just not very satisfying. Her fortieth birthday is right around the corner, causing Kit to consider some wilder notions, like skipping right past the love and marriage to raising a child all by herself . . . A girls’ weekend away is just the reprieve Kit needs from school, Mr. Wrongs, and life-changing decisions. It’s there that she meets a man who’s dangerous; a man who challenges who she thought she was, or rather should be. Kit wants to indulge herself this once, but with one of her students in crisis and the weight of her family’s burdens weighing heavy on her heart, Kit isn’t sure if now is the time to let her own desires take flight . . 


Ope’s Opinion:  The Good Daughter is the second book in the Brennan sisters series.  You don’t have to read the first one to understand the second, but there is background information in the first that makes the second easier to read.  This book centers around Kit, but you still see the rest of the family.

                                      The story keeps moving throughout the whole book.  It kept my attention right up until the last page and left me wanting more pages to read.  There were some other story lines going on in this book.  It was interesting to see how Kit reacted to these other characters and their situation ( don’t want to give anything away ).

                                     It was so great to see this family again.  I loved to see the development of these characters.  It was great to hear Kit’s story and still see the rest of the family.

                                      It was such a quick read because I already knew the family.  It was very interesting and quiet a few surprises.  Great read!  I am looking forward to the next one in this series!!
                                       



Rating:  Four Chairs – I like this book so much I know several friends to share it with.

Author:  Allison Winn Scotch                                
Publisher:  Berkley Trade
Pages:  352
Genre:  Women’t Fiction
Source:  BookSparks

Goodreads:    She’s a wife, a sister, a daughter…but she remembers nothing. Now she must ask herself who she is and choose which stories—and storytellers—to trust. One of only two survivors of a plane crash, Nell Slattery wakes up in the hospital with no memory of it, or who she is, or was. Now she must piece together both body and mind with the help of family and friends who have their own agendas. Although Nell can’t remember all that came before, something just doesn’t sit right with the versions of her history given by her mother, her sister, and her husband.

Desperate for a key to unlock her past, she filters through photos, art, music, and stories, hoping that something will jog her memory, and soon, in tiny bits and pieces, Nell starts remembering. . . .

From the New York Times bestselling author of Time of My Life comes a novel that asks: Who are we without our memories? How much of our future is defined by our past?

Author:  Adena Helpern                        
Publisher:  Touchstone
Pages:  265
Genre:  Chick Lit
Source: Kritters Ramblings

This is my first
Off the Shelf read
this year!

Goodreads:  LILY MARRIED THE MAN OF HER DREAMS. THEN SHE WOKE UP.

“Never marry a man unless he’s short, bald, fat, stupid, and treats you badly.” That is the advice that twenty-nine-year-old Lily Burns has heard her entire life from her grandmother Dolly and her mother, Selma. Despite this, when she meets Gogo, the handsome, successful pediatrician who treats her like a queen, she has no choice but to let her heart take over. When she agrees to marry him, Dolly and Selma are inconsolable. They decide it’s time to tell her the truth: their family is cursed. If she marries for love, there will be unimaginable consequences.

Nevertheless, Lily and Gogo elope. Unable to believe her good fortune, Lily asks Gogo to pinch her—to make sure all this isn’t just a dream. The moment he does, Lily finds herself transported back to the house she lived in when she was single. Gogo is gone. When Lily tracks him down, she finds that he’s married to someone else and has no memory of her. In this modern fairy tale, Lily must find a way to break the curse and turn her nightmare back into a dream come true.

Author:  Richard Paul Evans                                
Publisher:  Simon & Schuster
Pages:  334
Genre:  Holiday Fiction
Source:  A Friend

Goodreads:   “As you read my story, there is something I want you to understand. That in spite of all the pain—past, present and that still to come—I wouldn’t have done anything differently. Nor would I trade the time I had with him for anything—except for what, in the end, I traded it for.” Beth Cardall has a secret. For eighteen years, she has had no choice but to keep it to herself, but on Christmas Eve 2008, all that is about to change. For Beth, 1989 was a year marked by tragedy. Her life was falling apart: her six-year-old daughter, Charlotte, was suffering from an unidentifiable illness; her marriage transformed from a seemingly happy and loving relationship to one full of betrayal and pain; her job at the dry cleaners was increasingly at risk; and she had lost any ability to trust, to hope, or to believe in herself. Then, on Christmas Day, as she rushed through a blizzard to the nearest 7-Eleven, Beth encountered Matthew, a strikingly handsome, mysterious stranger, who would single-handedly change the course of her life. Who is this man, and how does he seem to know so much about her? He pursues her relentlessly, and only after she’s fallen deeply in love with him does she learn his incredible secret, changing the world as she knows it, as well as her own destiny.

Author:  Morgan Matson                                                              
Publisher:  Simon & Schuster
Pages:  468
Genre:  YA Contemporary
Source:  Purchased

Goodreads:    From the Flying Start author of Amy & Roger’s Epic Detour, a powerful novel about hope in the face of heartbreak. 

Taylor Edwards’ family might not be the closest-knit—everyone is a little too busy and overscheduled—but for the most part, they get along just fine. Then Taylor’s dad gets devastating news, and her parents decide that the family will spend one last summer all together at their old lake house in the Pocono Mountains.

Crammed into a place much smaller and more rustic than they are used to, they begin to get to know each other again. And Taylor discovers that the people she thought she had left behind haven’t actually gone anywhere. Her former best friend is still around, as is her first boyfriend…and he’s much cuter at seventeen than he was at twelve.

As the summer progresses and the Edwards become more of a family, they’re more aware than ever that they’re battling a ticking clock. Sometimes, though, there is just enough time to get a second chance—with family, with friends, and with love.

Ope’s Opinion:    This story is incredibly well written.  I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and would have given it five stars, but I thought the pace of the book was a little slow.  Morgan Matson did an awesome job of developing the characters.  I think even though Taylor’s voice was the one you heard throughout the book, you could see how everyone was reacting to the father.   I was so drawn to the characters that I felt their pain at the end, but also saw the possibility for them to move on to heal.
                           
                            Even though this book is about the father’s death, most of the book is not sad.  It shows a normal family going through the normal emotions when you know a death is coming.  First they are all in denial.  When a loved one doesn’t look sick, it is easy to go on with life and think it isn’t real.  As the summer went on, you saw them depend on each other to get to the point of acceptance.

                             I am an older reader, so the length of the book was not a deterrent for me.  It was worth flipping each page.

                            I did not read Amy & Rogers Epic Detour, but Morgan made we want to go do that now.


Rating:  Four Chairs – I like this book so much I know several friends to share it with.

Author:  Nate Berkus                                                
Publisher: Spiegel & Grau
Pages:  336
Genre:  Non Fiction / Art
Source:  Gift from my daughter Kristin

Goodreads:   Does your home tell the story of who you are? 

In The Things That Matter, Nate Berkus shares intimate stories from his life, introduces us to people who influenced him and helped him forge his sense of style, and opens up about the remarkable experiences that have left him forever changed, all of which find expression in how he lives today. From his most cherished flea market finds, to his beloved books and photos, to the many extraordinary mementos he’s collected in his travels, every piece defines who he’s become and what endures in his world.

Berkus invites readers into his own home as well as into twelve others, including a sleek steel-and-glass high-rise that soars above Chicago, a rustic cottage in the Hudson Valley, an ultra-chic atelier that maximizes every inch of space, a Greenwich Village townhouse that holds multiple art collections, and a study in meaningful minimalism in Marfa, Texas. The distinctive interiors beautifully displayed in this book offer revealing portraits of their owners’ lives and the inspiring choices that have made them who they are today.

The Things That Matter convincingly lays out Nate Berkus’s philosophy that things do matter. Our homes tell our stories, they reflect the places we’ve been and the people we’ve loved along the way—and there can be no more beautiful design for living than that.

This picture was taken at Random House breakfast at BEA this past June.  It was a true dream for me to meet Nate Berkus and hear about his book coming out.  My daughter Kristin of Kritters Ramblings made it all possible.  Then she bought the book signed by Nate for me!  It made the book even more meaningful for me.

Rating:  Four Chairs – I like this  book so much I know several friends to share it with.