Bookworm Babblings

1962 helped kick off a decade of tremendous change. President Kennedy bans all trade with Cuba. Jackie Robinson became the first African American elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. The Beatles recorded their first song together, and Illinois became the first U.S. state to decriminalize homosexual acts between consenting adults. For Audrey Randolph, a young Midwestern wife and the main character in Widow Woman, by Minnesota author Julia Tagliere, 1962 also brought personal tragedy: her mother died suddenly, leaving behind a lifetime of letters, photos and unimaginable secrets. Audrey, stunned by her mother’s death and the subsequent revelations of past loves and lovers, can no longer trust the reality she has always known. She must come to terms with dual losses, both her mother's death, as well as the unanswered, nagging question: Was anything she knew real?   Purchase: Amazon My Review I received a free copy of this novel in exchange for my honest revie...

  Lost in Vegas Vegas – the city of gamblers, dreamers, heroes and heartbreak. And Kate McLarens’ last chance to redeem herself by putting her boyfriend’s fail-safe black jack system into action to make payroll for her salon. Make that ex-boyfriend when the system fails miserably. She wakes up to find herself being given mouth to mouth resuscitation by sexy JT Sullivan of Security. But the only way she can convince him not to send her to the nearest ER is by agreeing to meet him for breakfast the next day. After she tells him she’s gone from business woman of the year to not being able to make payroll and can’t face going back to her hometown he convinces her to stay in Vegas, finds her a place to stay and a job waiting tables. Determined to make the money she needs to pay off her debts she stays in Vegas and things are looking up when she gets a job styling a famous star making a comeback. Unfortunately her ex-boyfriend is still in Vegas and takes the opportunity to kidn...

Stop #5 Eighteen-year-old Sarah McKnight has a secret. She's in love with David Brooks. Sarah is white. David is black. But Sarah's not the only one keeping secrets in the close-knit community of Kalispell, Montana. Her father George, who owns a local gun shop and proudly drives a truck with a Confederate flag bumper sticker, hides his own complicated past. When he discovers Sarah's relationship, George decides to share his feelings with Alex Mackey-a lonely classmate of Sarah's whom George has taken under his wing. As Alex embraces the power of Sarah's father's dark hatred, the hopes and dreams of young lives hang in the balance. In just a few short months, Sarah and David will graduate from high school and leave Kalispell for a new life together in Los Angeles. Maybe in California, they can stop hiding their love-and the other secret they share...something George McKnight-and Alex Mackey-will never accept.   Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & No...

Stop 4 For two years, Megan, Peter, and their two older daughters, Alexis and Hannah, dream of nothing but being reunited with the family’s youngest child, Emma, who was kidnapped just before her third birthday. When Emma is miraculously found living with an elderly couple just miles from the family’s home, they are hopeful that her return will heal the wounds her disappearance created. But Emma is vastly different from the sunny toddler they remember. She barely remembers her parents or her older sisters. She is quiet and withdrawn, and, worst of all, longs for the very people who kidnapped her. Megan is consumed with bitterness, while Peter works later and later nights in the company of his gorgeous business partner. And in the middle of everything, Megan’s best friend has become suddenly distant and secretive. Then a chance encounter in town leads to a secret that changes everything again for Emma. And Peter must decide between the happiness of his youngest ...