A light hearted and enjoyable summer read about two women who decide to swap jobs for the summer. Ginny is the manager of a high end hotel in Seattle and is in dire need of a break. Her job is demanding and her boss is a tyrant. Jacqueline is sick of running her grandfather's fishing lodge and is ready for the finer things in life. The two women both reply to an ad about a job swap and then the two switch places. Jacqueline is in awe of the glitz and the glamour but is in way over her head; she may have lied a bit about her managerial experience. Ginny on the other hand is happy for the firs ..read more

  Beautiful and masterfully crafted; Carys Davies delivers a unique and moving novel about a minister tasked with evicting the lone inhabitant from a small distant island. During the 1840s the Scottish Clearances were in full effect, removing thousands of poor residents through mandatory evictions. John, a poor Scottish minister desperate to earn some income, takes the job of removing Ivar from a remote island. When John finally arrives at the island, he immediately falls off a cliff and is nursed back to health by Ivar, who has no idea what John's arrival means for him. Used to being so ..read more

Always Sunshine Yellow is a profoundly moving collection of deeply personal and emotional poetry. Maria doesn't shy away from reflecting inward and her prose is all the more brilliant from it. This poetry collection is broken into three sections: Faith & Hope, Lessons & Resilience, and Love & Family. Each section contains poems that reflect joy, introspection, triumph, and hope. The poems themselves range from a few lines to a few pages, but no matter the word count, they all elicit emotion from the reader. One of my favorites is a short poem entitled, "Excess."  Lord, pour ..read more

Twisty, turny, and expertly narrated - I found myself easily captivated in this thriller. The story took a while to pick up speed, but even in the beginning I was intrigued enough to see where the story would leave. After a tragedy claimed twelve of their classmates and teachers, the nine remaining survivors get together each year on the anniversary of the accident to stay connected. This year however, they are down to just seven. A lot happened that fateful night and the survivors weren't entirely truthful with the police, their yearly gathering helps reinforce that they all have each other ..read more

I think this book is an excellent starting guide for teens that are interested in politics, leadership, and making a change. Written by Christina Hale, a former Indiana State Legislator, this book has excellent personalized stories to help drive her point across. She is able to speak from experience and use her wins and losses to drive the book. Not only does she use her personal experience she ties in the experience of a lot of other changemakers as well. No matter your politics this book is a great guide to getting the youth involved ..read more

  A fun and fast-paced novella written by bestselling authors Fiona Davis and Greg Wands; perfect for fans of the roaring twenties and mafia thrillers. New York City in the early thirties is a hotbed of gangsters, crooked cops, and thirsty citizens. Jo Hayes is an independent young woman bucking societal norms by being an auto mechanic. After a series of impulsive actions she finds herself as a getaway drivers for a bunch of rum runners. When she gets into a serious accident, Jo heads for the big city determined to salvage things and work her way up in the business. There she meets Lydi ..read more

Definitely a unique concept, Wild Conviction is a coming of age novel set right before the Civil War. Twilight (yes, that's really her name) is living with her well to do family in Memphis, Tennessee. When she opens a letter from her dear GrandMama on her 16th birthday she discovers that not only does she have secret powers, but she also has an African American ancestor (which is practically a death sentence in those times). No one in her family knows and to keep her family safe she should burn the letter (which she obviously doesn't). Growing up she has always hated slavery but now she real ..read more

Super intriguing concept and unlike anything I've ever read before. On the surface it's a horror novel about two teens lost in a corn maze that keeps killing them as they try to escape. But below that it is so much more. Sadie and Logan skip their senior trip to King's Island and decide to drive around aimlessly, a favorite past time of theirs. While they haven't been friends for years, they got really close their senior year of high school and now the pair is inseparable. But there is a lot they don't know about each other and this twisty, messed up maze is going to bring a lot to the surfa ..read more

Landry Hutton and her daughter have been living a quiet unassuming life in Gossamer Falls. Landry is an artist in residence at an exclusive resort and she will finally have enough money to build a house of their own. The contractor she chooses to build her house turns out to be a wonderful human as well as contractor. He takes Landry and her 5 year old daughter under his wing and has soon introduced her to his entire extended family. Landry ran from a troubled past and has no family to speak of so she is incredibly grateful. When a fire at the resort takes out most of her pottery inventory ..read more

The premise of this story (which is based on real events) is good. It's compelling and interesting. Unfortunately, I don't think the story was executed very well. The characters seemed very two dimensional and I didn't care all that much for any of them. They all lacked a spark to make them feel real and important. Emilie is a mixed blood. Her father is Scottish and her mother is Dakota. She straddles both worlds and loves them both pretty equally. When the US-Dakota War of 1862 erupts her clan is embroiled in it and her home is destroyed. Her father goes missing in the chaos and she is dete ..read more