The Lightkeeper's Bride by Colleen Coble

Book 2 in the Mercy Falls series. Another great book by Coble.  

Katie Russell loves her job as a telephone operator in Mercy Falls, but her family has plans for her.. plans to better her life and theirs... an advantageous marriage. So they are thrilled when Bartholomew Foster proposes and Katie accepts.  But then life takes a twist... while working, Katie accidentally hers an ominous exchange. And then the lady she heard goes missing leaving behind an infant with no one to care for her. 

Will Jepperson, the new lightkeeper, lays claim to the child.. believing her to be his niece.  But Katie has other ideas and is not keen on Jepperson taking the baby. Eventually they call a truce and form an unlikely alliance in a quest to find Eliza and learn the truth behind the exchange Katie heard.  

Another wonderful intriguing story with adventure and romance mixed in for good measure.  Looking forward to the final book in this series.

Without a Trace by Colleen Coble

This is Book 1 of the Rock Harbor Series

I am on a Coble kick... reading through this series and her Mercy Falls books.  I really am enjoying her writing.

These books are contemporary fiction set in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. And what a plot!  Bree Nicholls is a search and rescue specialist who finds lost individuals with her dog, Samson.  In her spare time... every moment of her spare time... it becomes personal. Bree's husband and son have been missing for a year from a flight home.  Bree is certain they went down somewhere near home, but nothing has been found.. no bodies.. no plane parts.. nothing.. it is as if they disappeared into thin air.

So when a current search and rescue brings up clues that seem to connect back to her family, Bree begins to dig deeper without realizing the danger she is in.  Can she find her family and peace and closure along with it?  Can she move on with life in order to open her heart up for love again? Or is she destined to live in a constant state of searching?

The Lightkeeper's Daughter by Colleen Coble

Addie Sullivan grew up in northern California in a lighthouse.  It was a quiet and uneventful life until a stranger shows up and tells her she is not who she thinks she is.  Addie's world and identity is turned upside down as she is introduced to her "real" family.. the Eaton's.  Well known in high-society, the Eaton's are wealthy and powerful and like no family Addie has ever seen or imagined.  How on earth will she begin to fit it?  And as she begins to try, tragedy strikes. It seems someone is not happy to have Julia Eaton back from her watery grave and is determined to end the happy reunion.

An intriguing and exciting tale that draws the reader in and takes him/her on a roller coaster ride with emotional highs and gut wrenching drops.

This is book 1 in the Mercy Falls series by Coble. I am picking up book 2 at my local library today!

Dead and Buried by Karen MacInerney

Book 2 of the Gray Whale Inn Mystery series.  This is currently one of my favorite cozy mystery series. I am draw to books set on the East Coast. I have never been there.. hope to go one day.. and am truly fascinated by the thought of life in a sea village with rocks and salt air.  No doubt I romanticize it more than I should!

Cranberry Island is a close knit community full of a vast array of characters. They laugh and cry and gossip and argue, but they stick together.. and everyone is effected when something happens to one of their own.  

Natalie has her hands full running Gray Whale Inn, especially when her laundry-lady doesn't show up and the dirty linens are taking over the basement.  Natalie sets out to check on Polly, only to discover her body in the Cranberry bog behind her home. And so the mystery begins.  No matter how much she determines to not get involved, Natalie's curious mind gets the best of her and off she goes sleuthing. After a second, seemingly unrelated murder, occurs, her best friend is arrested and Natalie steps up her effort.

In the midst of playing detective, she runs her inn.. deals with a potential competitor spying out her business... a relatively new and still fragile relationship.. and an ex-finance who shows up unexpectedly.  

Life is never dull on Cranberry Island!

Knit, Purl, Die by Anne Canadeo

Book 2 of the Black Sheep Knitting Mystery series.

Another fun cozy mystery. I am not a knitter.. my daughter is so maybe that is why I like knitting mysteries.  And really knitting is sort of what holds the characters together (or should I say Yarn is!) but knitting is not the main focus.  I am a quilter and have a small close knit (oh what a pun!) group of quilting buddies who remind me a great deal of the Black Sheep Knitters.  It is just that camaraderie that occurs when you share a hobby or interest with a small group of people.. people you might not even speak to otherwise.. and you find that you share more than that hobby... you actually like each other!

Gloria Sterling has it all... looks, money, and a gorgeous young husband that other women drool over.  She is well thought of.. a savvy business woman.. charitable.. and in an odd way one of the gang when it comes to the Black Sheep Knitters. Not one of the regular group, but Gloria floats in whenever she can to chat and knit with the girls.

So when she is found dead, they take it personally.  The police are quick to rule her death an accident and certainly everything points to that, but the BSK have their doubts. And when they doubt they snoop!  Secret relationships.. business deals.. troubles.. all turn up as they try to unravel this mystery without smearing their deceased friend's name and adding sorrow to the grieving husband.

If you are a knitter, there are knitting ideas and links to patterns. Throughout the book you read of yummy meals and snacks.  Canadeo has been kind enough to put recipes in the back of the book for many of those yummy treats!

A fun cozy mystery... great way to relax and escape for a bit.

Let.It.Go by Karen Ehman

Back in the fall I was on the search for a Bible study for the ladies Bible study group I lead at church. We have never done any of the Proverbs 31 Ministries studies, so I decided to check them out. There was a new one about to be released, Let.It.Go. by Karen Ehman... How to Stop Running the Show and Start Walking in Faith.  Being  somewhat of a control freak, this one sounded right up my alley!  So I ordered the book, the study guide and the DVD. 

I have to say that Proverbs 31 is very reasonable when it comes to their DVDs!  There books and study guides are about the norm, but their DVDs are a much better price than most of the studies I teach.  I was thrilled.

This review is for all of these items BUT you could easily read the book with out the Study Guide or DVD and get a great deal out of.  

My intention was to work through this on my own and then I learned of an online Bible study group that was going to do this study starting in February, so I signed up!  What fun it was to do with other ladies but it is definitely one that can be done on your own.

Ehman is a self-professed control freak who reaches out with great openness to woman who feel the need to manage every bit of their life (as well as their husband and kids and friends etc.) to death!  In the end, we put more pressure on ourselves and cause more stress and strain in our relationships.. including the most important one.. our relationship with God.

Through humor and personal experiences, Ehman guides you into the Word and personal introspection to discover the freedom that can be found in Letting Go!  Control is not bad.. it is over control that leads to lack to trust and the inability to walk in faith and let God be God!

The DVD offers a bit of personal input from Ehman and while a good bit of the material on it is covered in the book, I really loved being able to listen to her and then read it.  It seemed to help drive some of those points home.  The Study Guide is, to me, a bit weak for a group study. But it would be good for personal study or quiet time.  It reinforces what is taught on DVD and in the book, as well as takes the reader further into the Word... which is always a good thing!

Overall I enjoyed the study. I am not sure it will work for my ladies group, but I have ideas how to use it in my church's Women's Ministry and it effected my personal life.

If you are a control freak or just like to hang on to everything a bit too tightly, this would be a good read for you.

A State of Grace by Traci DePree

Book 2 of the Mystery and the Minister's Wife series.

I became a huge fan of DePree's years ago when I discovered her Lake Emily Series.. A Can of Peas, Dandelions in a Jelly Jar and Aprons on a Clothesline. I cannot tell you how much I love this series of books! So I felt certain I would enjoy A State of Grace... and I did.

The Mystery here is an old one linked with a present situation.  Kate Hanlon, wife to local pastor Paul. learns of a single mom bearing the burden of a child battling leukemia alone and she decides to reach out.  In doing so, she discovers a bright vibrant young woman fighting bravely for her life and a tired overwhelmed mother striving for a medical miracle.  And then the words are spoken.. quietly.. quickly.. certainly not planned and not to be repeated "I could stop Marissa's dying, but I am too selfish."  What did Marissa's mother mean by that? And if it is true.. that she could stop her dying.. why wouldn't she?

And so the search begins.  Kate is determined to learn more about Patricia's past... to determine how Marissa could be save.  And in doing so old wounds are opened and it is painful and scary, but only when we deal with the past can we live in the present.

Another lovely cozy mystery from this series written by various authors.  DePree wrote 2 in the series (I think.. maybe 3) and I feel certain they will be my favorites!