Give me a book with a dog as a main character and, in my opinion, you have the makings of a great story. I should mention I am the owner of three dogs and two cats, so there is a little prejudice here. Regardless, this was a great read with a lot more going on than just the bond between man and animal. Rick Stanton, a professional baseball player, had his career cut short due to debilitating injuries suffered during World War II. His lovely wife, Francesca, while coping with his physical injuries must also wade through the psychological scars that come with a loss of limb and heart. And then there is Keller Nicholson, a man with no real emotional roots, who forges the strongest of relationships with Pax, Rick's and Francesca's dog, whom they volunteered for the military's K-9 program during the war. The four of them come together under one roof and the dynamic that plays out is very complex with Pax serving as the conduit between the three of them. Wilson builds the drama as Rick starts the slow slide to suicide while Francesca and Keller negotiate through a fragile relationship. Francesca is almost saintly in her devotion to her husband, but Wilson plays the attraction between her and Keller with great aplomb. You really have to get to the end of the book to see how it all comes together. Finally, Ms. Wilson deftly incorporates the important role the K-9 patrols played in aiding soldiers during war and how valuable an asset these wonderful animals can be to those who are infirmed.

I really loved this book. It was beautiful and funny, an introspective story that says it’s never too late to discover life and love again. A letter from an old colleague set Harold Fry on an improbable quest to walk across England and save an old friend from death’s door. Every step forward was a journey into the past showing us how life had molded Harold and his long suffering wife, Maureen, into the two individuals living together but insulated from each other and the world around them. It’s an inspiring story and one that will not be forgotten for a long time.

I have read all of Christopher Moore’s books. They are generally irreverent, full of wit and fairly absurd in the best of ways. That being said, Sacre Blue didn’t too much deviate from the norm. For me, it started very slow, to the point that I had to force my way through the first fifty or so pages. It eventually picked up the pace; however, the outlandish take on the artist and his inspiration through the ages didn’t inspire me as much as Moore’s previous works. There were elements I really enjoyed such as the way he incorporated actual historical painters and their works into the storyline bringing art to life blending truth with fiction. Toulouse-Lautrec, in a supporting role and the 1800’s equivalent of a party animal, was my favorite character. He did make me laugh. It was the mystery that drew me in this book rather than the comedy and it wasn’t enough to keep me from being fully entertained.

I truly enjoyed reading this book. I picked it up and couldn’t put it down. I was absolutely fascinated with Ginny. I loved the way she described food with such passion and admired her dogged persistence in trying to uncover the family secrets through wholly unorthodox methods. The story was about her journey into self discovery which is difficult enough for most of us let alone someone with Asperger’s syndrome. This one will stay with me a long time.

Annabelle married Grant McKay when she was so very young and still had so much to learn about herself and her new husband. But like any journey, the road is fraught with obstacles and detours. Annabelle’s side trip was an extramarital affair that defined both her and Grant’s existence over the next 30 years. Grant’s way of dealing with it was to put his head in the sand like an ostrich pretending that it never happened. For Annabelle, it was an itch that when scratched was never satisfied. This story is told from Annabelle’s perspective and deftly navigates between the past and the present. I confess there were moments when I didn’t particularly like Annabelle and even wanted to throttle Grant a few times but that’s what made this novel work so well. I thought this was a pretty good debut for this new author.

As with all new authors, I didn’t know what to expect from Ms. Vida. The premise sounded interesting and the story took place in Turkey, a country I really don’t know too much about. I was quite surprised to find that once I started the book, I couldn’t put it down. Yvonne, the main character, embarked on a vacation to the place where she and her late husband celebrated their honeymoon in the hope of trying to recapture those precious moments in their lives. We can’t always go home Yvonne soon finds out, that it’s the journey and not the destination that leads to discovery. This was a good read full of emotional highs and lows, elegant humor and worthy of some great discussions.

In this novel, Serena and George Pemberton are portrayed as ruthless, scheming and greedy timber barons who willingly discard human life and the environment in their pursuit of wealth.

Set in the Appalachian mountains during the Great Depression when labor was cheap and more than willing to endure any hardship for a job, Serena and George strip the land as fast as they can to squeeze every ounce of profit from it. No obstacle was insurmountable. Serena was not your typical women of the day…in the end, even she surpassed George in her single-minded heartlessness. I would have liked to have had more of Serena's history to understand her better, but it didn't detract from the novel. The author's eye for detail gave the reader a grim picture of what life was like for the common man during the depressed times.

Overall, this novel certainly had me running through a gamut of emotions from being shocked and appalled to hopeful and gratified and to me, that's what made it such a good book.

Gifts of War is a touching love story set against the brutal backdrop of the first world war. It’s the story of a man whose depth of love for a forbidden woman is clothed in a dark secret and portrays the lengths we will go for those we love. The story line navigates between the scarred landscape of war torn Europe and the relatively peaceful English countryside and depicts with exacting detail the difficulties of trying to live everyday life during war time. Ford cleverly employs the use of a series of letters between Hal and his sister, a nurse stationed at the front, to depict the horrors associated with the trench warfare. As for Hal and Sam’s relationship, I was never sure where it would go with each turn of the page, but it certainly was a worthwhile journey seeing it progress.

I was quite intrigued by the premise of this book and was not disappointed. It’s a beautifully written story from the perspective of the women in Adam and Eve’s family. Even though you know the outcome of what happened to them and their male children, it was still a fascinating journey to get to the end. Ms. Elliott certainly did provide some good food for thought if nothing else.

I am quite surprised by how I was absolutely smitten with this book and regret that
Findings is my first reading in this series about the archaeologist Faye Longchamp.

I would have loved to watch the characters develop over the first three books
particularly the relationship between Faye, Joe and Ross. That being said, Findings is able to stand on its own merits if you haven’t read the previous books in the series. A few murders, valuable gemstones, a love triangle and insights into life in the Confederate South during the Civil War coupled with Evans intelligent writing made for an irresistible storyline. I sign up for First Impressions so I have an opportunity to discover new authors and am very pleased to add Mary Anna Evans to my list.

I really enjoyed reading Desert Cut by Betty Webb. Although it's the sixth book in the Lena Jones PI series, there was enough information about the back story that the book was able to stand on it's own. Ms. Webb's storyline dealt with young, murdered girls whose deaths revolved around the horrific practice of female genital mutilation, hence the title Desert Cut. The main protagonist, Lena Jones, having been shot and abandoned by her parents and raised in foster homes, feels a deep connection with the murdered children. The manner in which she relentlessly pursued the case really propelled the momentum of the book. I was always eager to turn the page as she uncovered another layer in the mystery.

It took me about 15 pages to get hooked into the story but from there, I never looked back. It was so very easy to embrace all the characters particularly the lead, Enzo MacLeod, who was enchanting in brusque kind of way. I liked that the author was able to weave in a story about Enzo’s sidekick, Nicole, without detracting from the main mystery. Peter May puts in enough twists and blind alleys to keep the reader fully engaged and writes with a great deal of wit and humor. If you’re a wine lover, you will enjoy this book on an even more intimate level. This was my first Peter May book. I took so much pleasure from it, I immediately secured the first in the series, “Extraordinary People” and look forward to all future endeavors.