St. Agnes' Stand

Finished December 25

St. Agnes' Stand by Thomas Eidson

This historical western was a real page-turner for me. I wanted to find out what happened to the party of nuns and orphans that was under siege by the natives. 

I did have issues with how the Apaches were portrayed, and the violence they enacted on the people they captured. Even in the scenes between the indigenous people, they lacked depth and were stereotypical. 

The main character, Ned Swanson, is on the run from two men who want to exact revenge for him killing a friend of theirs. He wants to get to California where he has a deed to land and intends to make a fresh start. He's been on his own since he was a child and his family was killed by a passing group of Comanches. He's learned to look after himself and not depend on anyone else. 

When he comes across a group of Apaches standing near a couple of overturned wagons in a rocky gully, he makes a small act and kills one of them from afar. When he observes the wagons through his telescope, he sees a woman's face, an older woman. He determines that he can do nothing for them, and has to get moving. 

The leader of the small group under siege, Sister St. Agnes travelled with the other nuns from Philadelphia to ransom back children that were ransomed from natives by the Mexicans, who, in turn, wanted money for them. She was somewhat successful, and is now returning home with the children and her fellow nuns, with the wagons driven by Mexicans. Now, the sieged group consists of three nuns and seven children. Sister St. Agnes has been praying for God to send someone. 

When Nat goes against his better judgement and makes his way to the wagons, he wasn't expecting such a large group, nor a group so ill-equipped to outrun their captors. 

The story is a suspenseful one, with many tense moments, as Nat's skills and the Sister's calm demeanor sometimes work against each other. 

I found the book captivating, and wanted to know how things worked out. There were many surprises. 

Meetings with Remarkable Manuscripts

Finished December 23

Meetings with Remarkable Manuscripts: Twelve Journeys into the Medieval World by Christopher de Hamel

This is a fascinating look at a selection of manuscripts, each with its own story. Some have well-documented histories, others much less so. The author is a paleographer, one who studies such rare items as a profession, and you can sense the passion he has for what he does. Here is an effort to share this passion beyond his peers, with others of us who love books and history. 

He has chosen twelve manuscripts to discuss. In his introduction, he says that he thinks of them as celebrity interviews. These rare items are mostly inaccessible to the average reader, with access limited to experts who apply to view them. He talks about the things that those who do access them in person can notice, with every interaction bringing new details to light. He has deliberately chosen a variety of types of books, all ones that he has been able to see in person for the purpose of this book. Some he had accessed before, but he remained open to new revelations from them. 

His writing style is very conversation for the most part, speaking to the reader and describing his experiences with the manuscripts as well as what he has been able to learn about their origins, histories, and travels. There is some specialist language that he uses when talking about books that have portions missing or otherwise changed. 

The manuscripts he includes are:

* The Gospels of Saint Augustine, written in the late sixth century, located at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge University.

* The Codex Amiatinus, c. 700, located at Biblioteca Laurenziana, Florence. This is the oldest known surviving Latin Bible.

* The Book of Kells, late eigth century, located at Trinity College Dublin. This is a manuscript of the Four Gospels immersed in the Celtic world.

* The Leiden Aratea, early ninth century, located at Universiteitsbibliotheek, Leiden. This chapter looks at the practice of copying manuscripts.

* The Morgan Beatus, mid-tenth century, located at the Morgan Library and Museum, New York. This chapter looks at ideas looking forward to the year 1000 millennium.

* Hugo Pictor, late eleventh century, located in the Bodleian Library, Oxford. This chapter looks at the effects of the Norman Conquest of 1066.

* The Copenhagen Psalter, third quarter of the twelfth century, located at the Kongelige Bibliotek, Copenhagen. This is one of the finest psalters of the time.

* The Carmina Burana, first half of the thirteenth century, located at Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Munich. This is a small book of love songs of students and scholars.

* The Hours of Jeanne de Navarre, second quarter of the fourteenth century, located at the Bibliothéque nationale de France, Paris. This is a delicate book of hours created for a king's daughter and that became a political pawn.

* The Hengwrt Chaucer, c. 1400, located at the National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth. This copy of The Canterbury Tales is the beginning of recognizable English literature.

* The Visconti Semideus, c. 1438, located at the National Library, St. Petersburg. This manuscript is about warfare and armaments and modern Russia.

* The Spinola Hours, c. 1515-20, located at the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles. This book of hours is an object of luxury and money.

The book includes many colour illustrations from the book that show details of the manuscripts and their unique illustrations. It also includes an extensive bibliography and numerous references to other manuscripts that may interest the reader. 

I learned a lot from this, and read this book over many months, pausing to reflect on and enjoy the contents. 

The Mistletoe Motive

Finished December 19

The Mistletoe Motive by Chloe Liese

This Christmas romance takes place at a bookstore. The store is not doing as well financially since a chain opened a location nearby. It is down to only two staff: Gabriella (Gabby) Di Natale and Jonathan Frost, who are co-managers. Gabby was promoted to manager when the owners stepped back from being in the store, but she found it a lot to juggle and they noticed. They hired Jonathan who is more focused on the financial side of things, and Gabby has not been as aware of that since. 

When they realize that unless they manage a Christmas sales period miracle, one of them will likely be gone come January, Gabby suggest the decision of who gets to stay should be based on sales. Jonathan reluctantly agrees. 

Gabby is very good at sales and marketing and she has a lot of ideas to increase sales. She also is very good at customer relationships and creating a welcoming atmosphere. Jonathan has his own passions regarding books, but he doesn't give off a welcoming vibe. 

Gabby struggles with anxiety, but tries to hide it. She is autistic and is also very sensitive to sounds and smells and uses a variety of tools and actions to control that, including wearing noise-cancelling headphones when out in public (although not in the store). 

Jonathan is aware of some of her sensitivities since he is very observant, but hasn't made all the connections yet. This means that he tries to protect her from some things, but not always to good effect. He also has some personal secrets, which gradually come to light through the novel. 

She has a strong family connection, with her parents particularly. Her father is a famous ice hockey player, but she doesn't advertise her connection with him. It does mean that she knows a lot about hockey though. 

She has two roommates, and spends a lot of time with them. She also has a friend she's made online and has an ongoing conversation in the late evenings with him, talking about books and literature. 

I found the characters interesting, particularly Gabby, who see most of here. I enjoyed learning about her coping mechanisms and how I might interpret others I see in public differently based on learning about her sensitivities. This is an Own Voices novel, since the author is autistic as well. 

The book also includes a playlist, with a different song for each chapter. The playlist is also available on Spotify, so that's an interesting added element. Especially since music is very important to Gabby. 

A very enjoyable holiday read. 

All the Missing Girls

Finished December 18

All the Missing Girls by Megan Miranda

This suspenseful tale follows Nicolette (Nic) Farrell as she returns to her hometown of Cooley Ridge, North Carolina from her current home in Philadelphia. Her brother had called her, telling her their father's dementia was getting worse and the money was tight and they needed to sell their childhood home to finance his current care home. 

Nic was back a year before when they moved her dad out of the house, but she didn't stay long. Now, she leaves Everett, her lawyer fiancé back in Philadelphia while she deals with the family situation. Nic left years before after one of her close friends, Corinne, went missing. There was a group of kids that spent time together: Nic, Corinne, Bailey, Tyler, Jackson, and Daniel were the core group, with Daniel being Nic's older brother. He'd planned to move into the garage, renovating it into an apartment, but stayed with their father until he married Laura instead. Now Daniel and Laura are expecting a child and with his work, he can't manage getting the house ready to sell on his own. Tyler now works in construction, and despite him being Nic's ex, the siblings engage him to do a lot of the work on the house. 

The story is told out of chronological order, sometimes making it hard to remember what has happened and what is still to happen. When another young woman goes missing questions link her to the previous missing girl, and everyone looks again at the group of friends and what their stories were back then. 

As Nic, Daniel, and Tyler try to manage the investigation and their father's secrets, Nic calls on Everett for legal advice, drawing him into the strange dynamics of the situation. 

This is a novel where we suspect things, but don't guess the truth until it is revealed for us. The action varies between intense and waiting periods as the story unfolds for us, with unexpected revelations.

The Merry Matchmaker

Finished December 17

The Merry Matchmaker by Sheila Roberts

This holiday novel is set in the small town of Carol in the U.S. The central character, Frankie Lane grew up there and started a store called Holiday Happiness shortly before her husband Ike's death in a car accident caused by a distracted driver. She employs her daughter Natalie, her mother Adele, and a newcomer to town, Elinor. Frankie is a woman who is always trying to help those around her, whether they asked for her help or not. For example, Natalie makes small batches of delectable chocolates and Frankie often tries to get her to make it a full-time business. Natalie prefers to do it in small batches, and spend time with her husband Jonathan and young son Warner. She's also trying to set up friends and family who are single, despite not being interested in starting a new relationship herself. 

A couple of years ago she came up with the idea of having a Santa Walk shortly before Christmas, on December 21st. She's been Mrs. Claus the last couple of years and is looking forward to a repeat performance. Her late husband's best friend, Mitch Howard, who runs Handy's Hardware next door to her shop, has been Santa Claus. 

Besides her best friend Viola, Mitch is her closest friend. They watch action movies and a show called Cop Stop together, eat together often, and bring each other lattes from the local coffee shop.

The head of the Santa Walk committee this year is Barbara, a local businesswoman that Frankie doesn't get along with and she soon finds that Barbara's changes affect her own role. 

When she tries to set up her divorced little sister Stef with a new man, she finds herself the focus of male interest, which confuses her. Stef works at the local paper and is the person who answers the children's letters to Santa, although sometimes she doesn't get that right, and finds herself the target of a parent's frustration. 

It took me a while to get into it, as I could see one of the potential romances quite quickly, while the character seemed oblivious to blatant remarks from her admirer. But it improved as more romantic entanglements showed promise and didn't always move forward in a predictable way. An upbeat holiday read. 

The Sweetest Dream

Finished December 16

The Sweetest Dream by Doris Lessing

This novel takes us from the early 1960s through the late 1980s, following generations of one family and their friends. We see relationships, both intimate and friendly, come and go, and we observe how the political landscape changes over time. 

In the early part of the book, the main character is Frances Lennox, a divorced woman, who sacrifices her own dreams to support her children, Andrew and Colin. Her ex-husband, Johnny, is deep into communism, travelling and speaking about his politics not just across the country, but internationally. Johnny's mother Julia had tried to give money to Frances when he didn't pay maintenance, but Frances found work and managed. Both boys agreed to go to schools funded by Julia, Andrew to Eton and Colin to St. Joseph's. It was only when Frances realized how much their living situation was resented by the boys, that she agreed to move into Julia's house, with Julia living on the top floor and them having the rest.

Frances soon found herself catering to more people, as the boys friends and girlfriends, ex-friends and girl-friends came to meals and some ended up moving in. 

The reader can see how Frances is resigned to her situation, and keeps Johnny at a distance as much as she can, but accepts whoever of the younger generation appears at her table, and even those young African men that Johnny brings as young communist idealists. She deals with the issues of the time, rebellion against her generation, rebellion against traditional expectations, experimentation with drugs, the sexual revolution, and more. She even deals with the added presence of Tilly (Sylvia) the daughter of Johnny's second wife, when she is moved into the house. 

The later part of the novel follows Sylvia as she goes to Africa as a doctor, working in a remote community and trying to help the local people who are starved for medical, and educational assistance. The country she goes to, Zimlia, is a fictional one, but has strong parallels to the former Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe. 

The writing is so good, and the story interesting. The only issue I had with the novel is that there are no chapters, just occasionally a few blank lines, indicating a change in time, setting, etc. For me, as a reader, I like to have a feel for when I can make a pause in my reading and the lack of chapters in a book is something I find personally frustrating. 

That aside, this is an amazing read, with so much depth, both of characters and of setting, that it is worth reading. It immersed me into the story. 

The Sound of Sleighbells

Finished December 15

The Sound of Sleighbells by Janet Dailey

This holiday romance takes place in a wintry Texas. The female main character, Ruth McCoy has found a good job as a school custodian, and is looking to sell her family's land to get enough money to buy a home for her and her three children. She's faced some obstacles, with her first husband, Tom, killed in a violent crime, and her second, Ed, divorced after engaging in a violent crime. Her second husband and father to her two young girls, Tammy and Janeen, was also abusive towards Ruth, and she is glad that she was able to divorce him quickly and that he is serving a long sentence. She also has a couple of close friends that she can rely on. One of them, Jess, is the mother of her teenage son Skip's best friend Trevor, so that brings them together as well. 

When the two boys are enlisted to help another neighbour, Judd Rankin, a custom saddle maker, Ruth has another worry. Judd was her high school boyfriend, and her son is his, although he isn't aware of it. Judd went to prison for manslaughter before Ruth told him of her situation, and Tom was happy to be Skip's father. 

The community is looking forward to their Christmas parade, which will happen a few days before Christmas, and the boys get involved in a project that requires Judd's supervision. When a man from Judd's past appears on his doorstep, things get more complicated, and dangerous, for everybody involved. 

I found this a fast-moving novel, with opportunities to see Ruth, Judd, and Skip have deeper character development. A feel-good romance with a touch of suspense. 

The Secret of Snow

Finished December 14

The Secret of Snow by Viola Shipman

Sonny Dunes is an award-winning, dedicated meteorologist working at a television channel in Palm Springs, California. Unexpectedly, the son of the owner, who manages the station replaces her with an AI avatar, and she, after an afternoon of drinks with a former co-worker, takes out her anger on air. 

As she searches for a new job, she finds that the only station offering her a position is in her Michigan hometown. The station news manager is a college classmate that she rebuffed as a friend.  

Sonny finds that she has been hired to bring the station higher in the local ratings, and she decides to accept her situation and work hard at her local 'on location' assignments all designed to feature her outdoors and enjoying winter activities. 

Sonny has moved back in with her widowed mother, a hospice nurse, and soon finds that her return to her hometown means that she also has to face her past, something that she's been running from for her entire adult life. The untimely death of her little sister, who absolutely loved winter, is something that she never fully dealt with emotionally, and now she can't avoid the memories.

Along with this, someone begins a sneaky campaign to frame her as a cold, uncaring person, editing video and posting it online. 

Sonny would like to move forward, and heal, for her mother as well as herself, but she finds herself cracking under the pressure. 

This is a fast-moving plot with lots of interesting characters, and a small-town setting that evokes community. Sonny is a woman who has built a life distancing herself from her trauma, and she shows herself to be only too human in the circumstances. 

My copy of this novel also included a novella entitled "Christmas in Tinsel Tree Village," also set in Michigan around a woman who fled a different sadness and creating a career in marketing, specializing in Christmas window displays and bottlebrush trees. 

Is She Really Going Out With Him?

Finished December 11

Is She Really Going Out With Him? by Sophie Cousens

This romance novel is easy to lose oneself in. Anna Appleby is a journalist who has a arts and culture column in the magazine Bath Living, and has lived in Bath most of her life. She and her ex, Dan, separated a few months ago, and he's moved on, travelling to all the places Anna wanted to go to. She's busy with work and their two children, Ethan who is seven, and Jess, twelve.

She is doing a volunteer stint, reading for Ethan's school class when an email comes through with her divorce decree, and she loses it. 

The story jumps to eighteen months later, and we see her adjusting to her change in circumstances. She and her sister Lottie are close, and Lottie and her husband Seb are expecting their first child. Anna still lives in the marital home and hasn't really changed anything, but we see that change begin as the novel unfolds. 

Changes are also up at Anna's work, where the magazine has changed ownership and the staff are being challenged to engage with a younger demographic. One of Anna's colleagues, Will Havers, seems to have lots of ideas, and Anna finds that he has eyes on her column space. She makes a strong case for a new concept that the magazine editor agrees to, but still finds herself sharing that space with Will. 

Anna tries online dating, but finds unexpected challenges like AI responses as well as the tech barrier she expected. She changes her theme to dating men that her children pick for her, and finds herself making new friends, engaging with her community in new ways, and reconnecting with herself. 

Her relationship with Will also changes, becoming more collaborative and the chemistry between them grows, especially after a weekend assignment or two. 

I really enjoyed seeing Anna bloom into her new life, taking risks, and finding friendships in unexpected places. Her kids are fun, and I enjoyed seeing a little of Jess's growth as well. 

One Who Has Been Here Before

Finished December 10

One Who Has Been Here Before by Becca Babcock

This is described as gothic fiction, but it didn't have that vibe for me. 

The main character, Emma Gaugin Weaver, was adopted as a child. She, her siblings, and cousins were seized by CPS after the family farm was raided. The adults were all charged with crimes, ranging from child neglect to possession of stolen property. The authorities found the conditions unsuitable for the children and they ended up in foster care or adoption. Emma has only vague memories of the family farm in rural Nova Scotia, with clearer ones of her older sister Heather, who was briefly in the same foster home as her. Emma was eventually adopted by her foster parents, the Weavers, and the family moved to Edmonton. 

Emma is a woman without strong motivations. She has a history of anxiety, and a love of history, that has led her into working on her Master's degree. Her advisors encouraged her to delve into the relatively new area of auto-ethnography, where she researches her own family and her feelings around that. 

As the book opens, Emma has travelled back to Nova Scotia and has found the area when the farm the Gaugin family lived on was located. As she visits the local archives, and talks to people who knew the story of her family, she doesn't reveal her own origins at first, but finds herself drawn into meeting her own family members, dealing with anxiety attacks around the situations she finds herself in, and entering a new relationship. 

An interesting read, with a sympathetic character who undergoes growth in her understanding of herself.

Murder at the Christmas Cookie Bake-Off

Finished December 6

Murder at the Christmas Cookie Bake-Off by Darci Hannah

This is the second book in the Beacon Bakeshop series, set in the small town of Beacon Harbor, Michigan. The Bakeshop is located in a decommissioned lighthouse that also is the home of the owner, Lindsey Bakewell. The tower is a place she likes to go to to relax, mostly in summer, but she has it outfitted with heaters and blankets for colder weather as well. The tower is also said to be haunted by the first lighthouse keeper there, Captain Willy Riggs. His pipe smoke is the sign of his presence. 

Some backstory: Lindsey used to be an investment banker, and her mother was a fashion model before marriage. She has a Newfoundland dog named Wellington. She is also in a relationship with one of her neighbours, Rory Campbell. She has several staff members, counter staff and baristas, but is in need of an assistant baker. 

When Felicity Stewart, owner of a Christmas store in town announces a new addition to the town's Christmas Festival of a Christmas bake-off, Lindsey finds herself excited, yet overwhelmed, especially when other unprepared shop owners in town enlist her services. Felicity has also arranged for a Chicago food critic to be the judge, and film it for his show. When the bake-off becomes more competitive than friendly, Lindsey finds herself the one to stumble upon a dead body that brings into question everybody's actions. 

A cozy mystery with a little romance thrown in, as well as a ghost that guides Lindsey's amateur detective work, this is a seasonal light read. There are also numerous baking recipes included at the back of the book, drawn from the finalist's submissions and Lindsey's own bakery offerings. 

A Holly Jolly Diwali

Finished December 5

A Holly Jolly Diwali by Sonya Lalli

This romance novel is set around Niki Randhawa, a late twenties data analyst living in Seattle. As the book opens her parents have approached her, worried about her single status. She agrees to have them give her number to a man they know of through friends. Niki has always made practical choices, as opposed to her older sister Jasmine, who has always been a rebel. Jasmine has followed her dreams and has a great career in the art world she loves. Niki, meanwhile chose practicality despite her own love for music and art, and she is good at what she does, but lately has been bored by her job. 

When she is unexpectedly laid off minutes before she is supposed to meet her date, she acts in a different way, choosing things that aren't safe. Drinking too much on the date, she impulsively decides to change her mind about attending her college best friend's wedding in India, and books a flight. 

She arrives in time for Diwali, and her questions about the holiday get answered in different ways, depending on who she asks. This also prompts questions about her knowledge of Indian culture and language. Her parents, who are Sikh and Punjabi are proud of their heritage, but not strongly religious and never educated their daughters in Punjabi as many of her peers have been educated. 

She also begins to question her own choices and when she meets someone she is attracted to she wavers between moving forward and holding back. While in India, she meets both new friends and relatives she hadn't seen before, and learns more about both herself and her culture. 

Back home in Seattle, she begins to have meaningful conversations with her parents about culture and choices, and she begins to have a true friendship with her sister. 

I liked the growth of the character in this novel. The romance was an interesting plot element, but for me, it was secondary to her own self awareness. 

Before the Coffee Gets Cold

Finished December 4

Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi, translated by Geoffrey Trousselot

This book is the first in the series names for this title. It is a book set in a small basement coffee shop in a back alley in Tokyo. The shop has existed for decades and there is a legend that the shop also gives customers the chance to travel back in time. 

In this book, there are four stories, each with a customer visiting the cafe with the hope that the legend is true and that they can make such a journey. But there are rules around these journeys: One is that the traveller cannot change the present, no matter what they do. Another is that you can only meet someone who has visited the coffee shop. A third is that there is only one place in the shop that you can sit to travel, and you must remain in that seat for the duration. A fourth rule is the limit of the visit, the time is takes from the coffee being poured until it gets cold. And the visitor has to drink all the coffee or they will be stuck as a ghost. 

The visitors here go back for various reasons, and we see all of these visitors in the introduction to the first story. Here Fumiko wants to go back to have a different conversation with her boyfriend Goru who recently went to work in America. 

In the second story, Kohtake wants to go back to before her husband Fusagi, who has early-onset Alzheimer's, forgot who she was. A staff member at the shop says that the reason Fusagi wanted to go back was to give her a letter, but that she can go back to get it herself. 

The third story is the story of sisters. Hirai runs a snack bar near the coffee shop. She came to Tokyo from the outskirts of Sendai, a city a few hours north of Tokyo, where her parents ran an inn. Her younger sister Kumi comes often to the cafe to try to meet Hirai, but Hirai won't talk with her. Hirai left because her parents expected her to take over running the inn and she didn't want to, and they eventually transferred their expectations to Kumi. When something happens to Kumi, Hirai knows that she wants to have that conversation with her sister that she's been avoiding. 

The fourth story shifts the conversations around travelling in time to contemplate travelling to the future and the difficulty of determining whether the one you want to meet with be there at the time you travel to. One of the coffee shop workers decides to do it, with the others promising to do what they can to ensure the meeting takes place. 

I liked the premise of the book, and the parameters around these travels in time. They are very different from what we often see in novels with time travel as a concept. 

A feel-good read that will appeal to a variety of readers. 

A Cotswold Killing

Finished December 2

A Cotswold Killing by Rebecca Tope

I've read a later book in this series, but this is the first book in the series featuring widow and amateur detective Thea Osborne and her dog Hepzibah. There is a map in the front that shows the locations of the first eleven books in the series, so you can see how they relate to each other geographically. I would have liked it more if they had also included Thea's town of Witney. She also has a note at the front that indicates that her settings are real places, including the churches and pubs (which are describing in enticing ways as the main character visits them). More personal places like farms and houses are imagined by the author. 

As the book opens, Thea is preparing to go to her first house sitting commission, looking after a small sheep farm in Duntisbourne Abbots, the home of Clive and Jennifer Reynold. The couple are headed off on a cruise. Thea has been widowed just over a year and is still grieving in many ways as we see through the course of the novel. 

When one of her neighbours is murdered on the farm she is looking after on her first night there, Thea finds herself drawn into the life of this secretive village, looking for information on the young man who was killed, his connections, and her other neighbours. 

It helps Thea that her brother-in-law, James, is a superintendent in the West Midlands police. This gives her a helpful reference for her house sitting commissions, and a link to police investigations. She finds that this connection also has benefits for James and his fellow police officers. 

The character of Thea is built with depth here, as we see both her strengths and weaknesses appear as the mystery unfolds. Her dog is a comfort and a companion, a calm presence in most situations. I liked seeing her come to life for me, and found the mystery intriguing

Witch of Wild Things

Finished November 29

Witch of Wild Things by Raquel Vasquez Gilliland

This is the first book in a series called Wild Magic. Sage Flores is the oldest of three sisters and eight years ago she left her hometown of Cranberry, Virginia after the death of her youngest sister, Sky. Middle sister Teal blames her for Sky's death, although they both know that isn't the case. 

The girls grew up in their aunt Nadia's house after their mother left town when they were young. A family legend says that it is a curse that all the women in the family have magic in them, and sometimes it feels that way. Sage's gift is with plants. She can identify plants from the smallest piece of them, and can communicate with them in a way. Sky's gift was with animals, and Teal's with weather. 

Sky fell from a cliff when engaging in risky behaviour, but her body was never found. Her ghost haunts Sage, offering ups cups of flavoured coffee and sometimes, when Sage cries, becoming visible to her. Sky tells her that she can't move on until Sage heals the rift between herself and Teal. 

Sage began working with jewelry and had a job teaching at a college. Budget cuts cost her the position, and she is moving back home as the book begins. Nadia's glad to have her back, but Teal not so much. Sage's best friend Laurel is also looking forward to her return. She lets Sage know that her old crush Tennessee Reyes is also back in town. 

Nadia has contacted some people in town already, and Sage finds that she already has a job offer back with the local garden company. She worked there in high school, where she became known as the 'plant whisperer'. 

Interspersed in the story are online chat conversations between Sage and Reyes from their high school days. Sage knew who she was talking to, but he didn't and never found out. This is something that becomes a part of the plot in the novel. The two are thrown together in a project at their workplace where they are tasked with visiting places in the area to look for local plants that aren't already supplied there. Working together means that they get to know each other, and figure out what drives each other in their lives, but they also find themselves drawn to each other. 

I really enjoyed the magical part of this novel, and the ways in which the different characters related to each other. A satisfying read. 

Almost a Bride

Finished November 27

Almost a Bride by Patricia McLinn

This is the first book in the Wyoming Wildflowers series. The main female character Matty Brennan, left her home town six years ago after a sudden relationship breakup. Now she's back to take over the family ranch, but it isn't in the best shape after her uncle mismanaged it. She's working closely with her lead hand to get it back in the black, but one thing she wants to do is irrigate and she need's grant money to do that. Her ex-boyfriend, Dave Currick, runs his own ranch, as well as having a law practice in town. He's noticed her arrival back in town and hopes to reconnect.

When she shows up on his doorstep asking to get married, and quickly, giving her reasons, he agrees. Both of them find their old feelings for each other returning, but things from the past need to be resolved before they can truly move forward. 

Both of them have old habits that they need to figure out how to change, and there are situations that force some of that change. This is a second chance romance, with some interesting characters, and the end sets up things for the next book in the series. 

December Reviews for the 18th Annual Canadian Reading Challenge

 This is where you post links to your reviews for books meeting the challenge that you finished in December. Add a comment too if you like.