The Stolen Marriage by Diane Chamberlain

In 1944, twenty-three-year-old Tess DeMello abruptly ends her engagement to the love of her life when she marries a mysterious stranger and moves to Hickory, North Carolina, a small town struggling with racial tension and the hardships imposed by World War II. Tess’s new husband, Henry Kraft, is a secretive man who often stays out all night, hides money from his new wife, and shows no interest in making love. Tess quickly realizes she’s trapped in a strange and loveless marriage with no way out.
The people of Hickory love and respect Henry and see Tess as an outsider, treating her with suspicion and disdain, especially after one of the town’s prominent citizens dies in a terrible accident and Tess is blamed. Tess suspects people are talking about her, plotting behind her back, and following her as she walks around town. What does everyone know about Henry that she does not? Feeling alone and adrift, Tess turns to the one person who seems to understand her, a local medium who gives her hope but seems to know more than he’s letting on. 
When a sudden polio epidemic strikes the town, the townspeople band together to build a polio hospital. Tess, who has a nursing degree, bucks Henry’s wishes and begins to work at the hospital, finding meaning in nursing the young victims. Yet at home, Henry’s actions grow more alarming by the day. As Tess works to save the lives of her patients, can she untangle her husband’s mysterious behavior and save her own life?

Review: Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of The Stolen Marriage by Diane Chamberlain that I read and reviewed.
This book was completely out of the area that I usually find myself reading but I can honestly say that I enjoyed The Stolen Marriage a great deal more then I thought I was going to when I realized it was a historical book. I found I enjoyed the story a great deal and I really liked Tess as a character.
I found some other aspects of the story intriguing as well but I don't want to go into them because I refuse to give spoilers but I will say that Chamberlain explored a lot of thing in this book from race, to religion, to health and a number of other things people were dealing with during the forties and she did and excellent job with characters that you grew to care for as you got more involved in the book. This is a book I was not able to put down because I had to know what was going to happen to Tess and how was she going to deal with the situation she got in and finally if she would ever get her happy ending. Tess was one of those characters you could not walk away from because she grew so much throughout the book you had no choice but be her cheerleader because everyone has a little bit of Tess in them, or I would hope they do.
I am giving The Stolen Marriage five out of five stars.

Sally's Cookie Addiction: Irresistible Cookies, Cookie Bars, Shortbread, and More from the Creator of Sally's Baking Addiction by Sally McKenney

Are you ready to sink your teeth into Brown Butter Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies? How about Peanut Butter Nutella Swirl Cookies or Pumpkin Spice Sugar Cookies? Featuring a mouthwatering selection of cookies, cookie bars, cookie dough dips, slice-and-bakes, no-bakes, and more, Sally's Cookie Addiction features dozens of exciting flavors, including chocolate, butterscotch, peanut butter, sugar, coconut, lemon, s’more, and oatmeal, oh my!   
The best part? Sally will tell you how to make each and every cookie in the book ahead of time. So, if you want to start preparing for the holidays or if you just like keeping cookie dough in your freezer for those critical cookie emergencies, now you have dozens of make-ahead cookie recipes at your fingertips.
Complete with tips on how to bake the perfect cookie (no spreading!) and Sally’s easy-to-follow recipes and gorgeous photography, this is the only cookie book you need on your shelf—for holiday cookie swaps, chocolate cravings, and more. So get ready for your kitchen to be the most popular room in the house while the smells of Warm Chocolate Chunk Skillet Cookie, Lemon Crème Sandwich Cookies, and Soft-Baked Sugar Cookie Bars emanate from the oven!

Review:  Thank you NetGalley for the copy of Sally's Cookie Addiction by Sally McKenney that I used and reviewed.
What can I say? I can't cook but I love too bake and I adored this book. It had recipes from frosting to cookies to bars and everything in between and I loved trying old favorites and new ones just for fun. The pictures were bright and colorful even on the Kindle edition and the book was even a joy to use in that format which was a surprise for me. I loved it. A great cookie book with so much more that would be a great gift or something to buy for your own use.
I am definitely giving Sally's Cookie Addiction five out of five

Her Last Goodbye (Morgan Dane #2) by Melinda Leigh

Young mother Chelsea Clark leaves the house for a girls’ night out…and vanishes. Her family knows she would never voluntarily leave her two small children. Her desperate husband—also the prime suspect—hires Morgan to find his wife and prove his innocence.
As a single mother, Morgan sympathizes with Chelsea’s family and is determined to find her. She teams up with private investigator Lance Kruger. But the deeper they dig, the deadlier their investigation gets. When Morgan is stalked by a violent predator, everything—and everyone—she holds dear is in grave danger.
Now, Morgan must track down a deranged criminal to protect her own family…but she won’t need to leave home to find him. She’s his next target.

Review: Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of Her Last Goodbye by Melinda Leigh that I read and reviewed.
This book is the second book in the Morgan Dane series by Melinda Leigh and it picks right up where the first one left off. Morgan is working with Lance, a private detective, trying to help defend people and solve cases that come and ask for their help while they try to figure out what is going on between them romantically.
In this book they have a father come and ask for Morgan's help when his wife goes missing and he may be a suspect. This book has a number of suspects, twists and some romance. Leigh throws all kinds of surprises at the reader in the second book in this series. It will definitely keep one guessing until the end.
Her Last Goodbye gets four out of five stars

The Last Move by Mary Burton

Catching monsters helps FBI agent Kate Hayden keep her nightmares at bay. Now an urgent call brings her back to San Antonio, the scene of her violent past. A brutal new murder shows hallmarks of a serial killer nicknamed the Samaritan. Tricky part is, Kate already caught him.
Either Kate made a deadly error, or she’s got a copycat on her hands. Paired with homicide detective Theo Mazur, she quickly realizes this murder is more twisted than it first appeared. Then a second body is found, the mode of death identical to a different case that Kate thought she’d put behind her.
Now Kate and Detective Mazur aren’t just working a homicide; the investigative pair is facing a formidable enemy who knows Kate intimately. While Mazur is personally trying to protect Kate, the closer they are drawn to the killer, the clearer it becomes that in this terrifying game, there is only one rule: don’t believe everything you see…

Review: Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of The Last Move by Mary Burton that I read and reviewed.
The Last Move was pretty good but it had a lot going on for one book. The main character Kate, was involved with two cases involving killers at the same time so there was two killers running around in this book and for me that was a bit excessive. I feel one storyline would have been fine and made the book a bit stronger.
I did like the pairing of Theo and Kate as partners in the book. They fit well together and they were a good romantic match. As I stated before, I wish Burton would have focused on the one killer that brought Kate back to her hometown and left out the serial killer that she was chasing in the beginning of the book. For me it just watered the book down with some more words and a few more bodies.
Overall, I enjoyed The Last Move and the twist and turns that were added in the book to keep the reader on their toes. I am giving the book four out of five stars.

An Inextricable Tale by Paul Allgood

Saul Shields is one of the most compelling arguments for birth control walking the face of the earth, but deep down don't we all try to love waifs and strays who hate themselves?

Review:  I have been struggling with this review because I refuse to use spoilers in my reviews and with this being a novella it is very hard to express how great this book is without giving much away so I sat after reading it for a few days and then decided to go with my feelings.
For a short book this book was packed with a heck of a lot of emotions and subjects. It is told from the the viewpoint of a black man who was forced to talk to a therapist as a part of his release program and boy does he talk about a lot. He discusses subjects from religion, his feelings about losing and going to find his daughter, doing drugs, being bisexual and rape. Just to name a few.
An Inextricable Take is one of those books that take you on an emotional journey. There were times I loved the main character and times I hated the man. Allgood, was able to wrap the reader into the character's emotional rollercoaster and kept us in the ride for the entire story.
I was shocked by the end and I would love to see more from this author. I had no choice but to give An Inextricable Tale by Paul Allgood five out of five stars.

Cover of Night (Alpha Crew #3) by Laura Griffin

Sparks fly when a journalist and a Navy SEAL cross paths in Thailand in this third entry in the thrilling and sexy Alpha Crew series from New York Times bestselling author Laura Griffin.
Journalist Karly Bonham is on her first overseas mission, covering the new United States ambassador to Thailand, when she is taken hostage by terrorists, with only her wits and courage to keep her alive—until help arrives in the form of Navy SEAL Ethan Dunn.
As part of an elite SEAL team called Alpha Crew, Ethan has been on countless harrowing missions, but he knows this one is different the instant he meets Karly—the sexy young reporter who somehow managed to escape the terrorists’ clutches. Ethan is impressed by her, especially when he learns she has intel that could be the key to a successful rescue op. Ethan knows working with a civilian raises the stakes on an already dangerous mission. But with the clock ticking down, he enlists Karly’s help to thwart a vicious plot and bring a terrorist mastermind to justice.

Review: Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of Cover of Night by Laura Griffin that I read and reviewed.
I really enjoyed the new novella which is the third in the Alpha Crew series and features Navy SEAL Ethan Dunn. I loved his pairing with journalists Karly Bonham who he met during an op when terrorists attacked an island that Karly was on while she was writing a story about a U.S. Ambassador.
This novella is packed with romance and a bit of intrigue for a short story. Ethan and and Karly steam up the pages.
I am giving Cover of Night five out of five stars.

Pretty, Nasty, Lovely by Rosalind Noonan

Pledging to Theta Pi at Merriwether University seemed to offer Emma Danelski a passport to friendship, fun, and popularity. But the excitement of pledge training quickly fades, as does the warmth of her so-called sisters. What's left is a stifling society filled with petty rules, bullying, and manipulation. Most haunting are the choices Emma makes in the wake of another sorority sister's suicide . . .
It doesn't matter that no one else needs to know what Emma did, or how vastly different life at Theta House is from the glossy image it projects. Emma knows. And now, with her loyalties tested, she must decide which secrets are worth keeping and how far she'll go to protect them--and herself . . .

Review: Thank you NetGalley for the copy of Pretty, Nasty, Lovely that I read and reviewed.
I really had mixed feelings about this book. I just could not connect with it. I don't know if it was too "young" for me to really enjoy the subject and the characters. I felt the target audience should be older younger adults instead of adult women, maybe it is just me.
Overall, the book was just not in my wheelhouse so it was just not something that excited me and that is why I am giving it three out of five stars.