This book started slow, but ended up being both sweet and philosophical. A team of time travelers are sent to see if they can meet Jane Austen. They are assigned to befriend her and to locate a manuscript that is thought to be lost.  Of course the directive to alter history as little as possible and the social customs of 19th century England made this somewhat difficult.  Overall I am glad I stuck....

The Lying Game by Ruth Ware turned out to be better than I expected. I guess I had let some mediocre reviews cloud my impression before I even started the book.  So the book is about four girls at a boarding school in England and the dark secret that forces them apart and ultimately back together years later. Of course there is plenty of suspense, and the author is skilled at writing characters wh....

This book really made me smile. It is one of those books that skips back and forth between the present day and the past. Each skip reveals more of the story between an Iowa farm girl and a young German POW who happens to be held close by, and who comes to help on her family farm. There are lots of geographical references that I happened to be familiar with: Clear Lake, Mason City, and the Grotto O....

I Let You Go is a novel that I have mixed feelings about. The writing is excellent and the characters thoughts and dialogue are realistic and convincing. What I question is some of the characters motives, actions, and reliability. The novel starts with a Prologue where the reader witnesses a child dying in a hit and run accident. Then Part One begins with main character Jenna living, if you can ca....

Into the Water is the latest novel by Paula Hawkins.  Like her previous best seller, The Girl on the Train, it is a blend of troubled relationships and murder.  The novel starts out fast with Jules Abbott being notified that she needs to return to her hometown as her sister Nel is dead. Seems like Jules would be crushed at this news, but no, she seems angry.  I feel that the relationship between t....

I started reading The Fever Tree without really knowing anything about it, and I am so glad I did. This novel by Jennifer McVeigh is one of the most compelling stories I've read in a long time. Frances Irvine finds herself in terrible circumstances after the loss of her father. Her mother passed away when she was a child and there is really no one left who cares for her. On top of that her father ....