My Ever-Growing TBR List 8/3/2013

After reading a book called Wildlower Hill by this author, every single title by her promptly went on my wishlist and to read. However, one of them cannot be found in the States. Grrrr. Cross your fingers for me and hope I nail a copy one of these days, will ya?


Gold Dust by Kimberley Freeman. (This is the one I can't find) In Cold War Leningrad, Sofi and her cousins Natalia and Lena hope for a different life for themselves. Their dreams of the West – of fame, wealth and beautiful things – sustain them through creeping poverty, the long shivering winters and the loss of their fathers. When the fall of the Soviet Union brings them new opportunities, the three girls decide that they will stop at nothing to make their dreams come true.

Each woman grasps at a new life in Europe and, for a while, it seems fortune has smiled on them. But gradually, things unravel as reality fails to live up to their teenage dreams.

Sofi’s life in a small village in rural France is idyllic, but her husband is remote and cool. Natalia shines on the red carpets and at the fashion shows of London, but her success is precariously reliant on another’s whims. Lena has two beautiful children and a loving husband, but in her mind her sister casts too long a shadow, and she becomes obsessed with the past.

Dissatisfactions prompt jealousies, rivalries and betrayals. As their relationships splinter, none of them is aware of a dark figure from their Russian years, and the bad luck that still lies in wait for them…

***

Duet by Kimberley Freeman. A story of passion, greed, secrets and lies. Present day: A reclusive woman living in outback Australia receives a letter acknowledging a terrible secret from her past. Thirty years before, she stole another woman's life. From the moment the letter is opened two women are on a collision course with destiny. From the London pop scene, to the opera stages of Europe; from a tiny Greek island, to a stifling manor house full of secrets and deceptions; from the sun-drenched Queensland coast, to the silent outback; Angela and Ellie are two women both looking for something. One in search of her identity and her memory; the other in search of the love that she had and lost; theirs is a duet whose last note will not be sung until the heart-stopping climax, when a shadow from the past returns to claim them both.

***

Lighthouse Bay by Kimberely Freeman. From the author of Wildflower Hill, this breathtaking novel travels more than a century between two love stories set in the Australian seaside town of Lighthouse Bay.

In 1901, a ship sinks off the coast of Queensland, Australia. The only survivor is Isabella Winterbourne, who clutches a priceless gift meant for the Australian Parliament. This gift could be her ticket to a new life, free from the bonds of her husband and his overbearing family. But whom can she trust in Lighthouse Bay?

Fast-forward to 2011: after losing her lover, Libby Slater leaves her life in Paris to return to her hometown of Lighthouse Bay, hoping to gain some perspective and grieve her recent loss. Libby also attempts to reconcile with her sister, Juliet, to whom she hasn’t spoken in twenty years. Libby did something so unforgivable, Juliet is unsure if she can ever trust her sister again.

In these two adventurous love stories, both Isabella and Libby must learn that letting go of the past is the only way to move into the future. The answers they seek lie in Lighthouse Bay.

Can you tell I really really liked the book I read by her this week? LOL

***

This one I spotted on Amazon in some book's "People also bought" list...I added it to my wishlist. Even though it's Christian fiction, the premise is SO intriguing... a bunch of women running a ranch. I like cowgirl books. Nice change. Seems usually it's a man that's a cowboy and a ditzy woman who just loves him but can't rope a cow to save her life.

Cowgirl Trail by Susan Page Davis. Cowgirl Trail is part of a six-book series about four generations of the Morgan family living, fighting, and thriving amidst a turbulent Texas history spanning from 1845 to 1896. Although a series, each book book can be read on its own.In 1884 Maggie Porter returns to the Rocking P Ranch. The sanatorium was not able to save her mother and now her father's health is failing. When the cowboys walk off the job leaving no one to drive the cattle to market, head ranch hand, Alex Bright, cannot convince the men to stay. How could Alex let this happen?
Maggie is desperate to save the ranch and she turns to the town's women for help. The new cowgirls must herd, rope, and drive the cattle to market. With only two days left, outlaws charge the small band of cowgirls in an effort to start a stampede. The cattle begin to scatter. Will they lose everything? Where will their help come from?

***

I found this title through Twitter...Every Wednesday I see what women writers are up to by following the hashtag #wwwblogs. The author of this title actually went and took flying lessons in a Cessna to make sure she wrote her flying scenes right!!! While I'm not sure the heroine in the story flies, this still went on my wishlist.


Sparks Fly by Cheryl Cooke Harrington. What happens when a thoroughly modern woman, longing to return to her roots, meets an old-fashioned hero on her first day home? Sparks Fly. And it doesn't take a forest fire, smoldering in the distance, to turn up the heat between high school science teacher Logan Paris and bush pilot Mitchell Walker.

Logan's dream of a bright future for her grandfather's lodge at remote Thembi Lake hits an unexpected snag when Gramps introduces the handsome pilot as his new partner. It seems that Mitch has plans of his own for Casey Lodge, and Logan is certain they don't include a partnership with a "city girl." Determined to prove herself and protect her heritage, Logan sets out to unravel the many mysteries of Mitch Walker. Where did he come from? Why is Gramps so willing to trust him with the future? And most disturbing of all ... what's she going to do about the undeniable attraction she feels whenever he's around?

***

I got a review request for this and hope to acquire it to feature on Book Babe. Return of the Heroine by Kaye Michelle. I've always been fascinated by Joan of Arc and this has a modern-day military girl twist.


For Joan of Arc, it was about surviving in a man's world. Nearly six hundred years later, at West Point, not much has changed.

One of the greatest heroines of all time returns and reveals the wisdom she received from Archangel Michael. "When you dare to commit to your deepest desires, your heart grows to accommodate the task at hand, no matter how daunting," Archangel Michael advises Joan of Arc before she embarks on a mission that will change the course of history. With only eleven days left to live, she must take yet another leap of faith, surrender to the guidance of Archangel Michael, and set the record straight to ensure those in the future know the truth.

Her legacy reaches across the veil of time to awaken the heroine in all women. And for one twenty-first-century woman, Jane Archer, a West Point cadet, it means finding the courage to expose a cultural crime that has been disempowering women for centuries. In the process, she must learn to trust her own inner guidance.

***

And here we have two FREEBIES. At this time , they are still free. Go download em.

Chick Flick by Deryn Warren. I like the whole women getting revenge thing.


The funniest book about heartbreak you will ever read. Sometimes a single sentence can change your life. "There's been an accident." "We need to talk." Or, in the case of Sara, a mother of four getting ready for a dinner party she's hosting for her husband's boss, the almost offhand admission from her husband that he's having an affair. Sara is a film director (when she can get the work), and when her life becomes overwhelming, she slips into a cinematic world in her head. The novel becomes a script with Sara its star - an action hero drop kicking the other woman, or crawling across a table at a dinner party to slash her husband's cheek. It's her mental escape when life runs off the rails. But soon her awkward, awful and often hilarious attempts to patch up the marriage make her real life feel something like a movie - one with a private detective, cold revenge, and eventually . . . handsome new leading men. Each chapter is named after one of the old films from the 40's and 50's - the ones where the villains are punished and everyone lives happily ever after.

***

Live from the Road by P.C. Zick. I used to drive on Route 66 everyday when I lived in OK. This caught my attention. Made me think of Thelma and Louise.


Meg Newton and Sally Sutton seek a change in the mundane routine of their lives. “Is this all there is?” Sally asks Meg after visiting a dying friend in the hospital. That’s when Meg suggests they take a journey to discover the answer. Joined by their daughters, they set off on a journey of salvation enhanced by the glories of the Mother Road. Along the way, they are joined by a Chicago bluesman, a Pakistani liquor storeowner from Illinois, a Marine from Missouri, a gun-toting momma from Oklahoma, and a motel clerk from New Mexico. Meg, mourning for her dead son, learns to share her pain with her daughter CC. When Sally’s husband of almost thirty years leaves a voice mail telling her he’s leaving, both Sally and her daughter Ramona discover some truths about love and independence.