What I’ve Been Reading

But someone is playing dangerous games at the expense of Jen and the Lilac Lane Fashions family. When the scheme turns murderous, beautiful Caribbean Marshall, Jen’s best friend and lead model, falls victim.

Cari’s children, nine-year-old twins, August and January, are caught in the snare. Did they witness their mother’s demise … or worse? Is the killer hiding behind a mask of familiarity?

To complicate matters, Colin—Cari’s brother and Jen’s former crush—arrives on the scene. Devastated that her best friend kept secrets, Jen questions her future with the kids and the tenuous control she’s gained over her own tumultuous past. The one certain thing in her life is her faith … or is it?

When the twisted rules change once again, Jen and Colin must work together to save the twins and win the deadly game of murdered model.

Ready to buy your own copy? Click here.

My review:

Ooh, I love a good mystery. And Cathy Rueter delivers.

This story delves behind the curtain of the high fashion industry, centered in Dallas, Texas. Jen runs Lilac Fashions, and you’ll enjoy hearing the tidbits about her job without it taking over with a huge dump of slow-paced backstory and details.

The mystery part is strung out with enough enticing red herring details to send you down a rabbit hole, but without giving the whole plot away. I always hate it when I figure out the “whodunnit” in chapter three, but it’s equally as bad when you get to the big reveal and you’re left scratching your head wondering how you were EVER supposed to figure that out. Rueter gets the balance just right.

This is a tender story that shows the love a family can share, even if they’re not blood-related. You’ll be cheering for Jen and the twins by the time you reach the end.

And best part is this is only book one.

Five stars!

(My star ratings: 5-Fantastic book; 4-I really enjoyed it; 3-I finished it but wouldn’t read again; 2-I didn’t like it or I didn’t finish; 1-I hate it.)

Get to know the author: Cathy Rueter

After the success of The Outlander, it seemed like every new time-travel book had something to do with a Stonehenge-type setting, and it all got a bit derivative. I stopped reading them. But The Black Umbrella was different. I truly enjoyed the book and am waiting for book two to be delivered. It’s fun, it’s historical, and you’ll enjoy yourself. Read the book.

When her parents inform her the family is slotted to go overseas again, she balks. Her life on the island—her job, her friends, even the handsome hero in her Sunday School class—makes her want to put down roots. But to do so, she’ll need to find a place to live, face being on her own, separated from any close family—something she’s never done before.

Firefighter and EMT Wade Hampton can face pretty much any emergency, except his matchmaking grandpa threatening him with disinheritance if Wade doesn’t get married in just three months. Not that Wade objects to the idea of marriage, but how does a guy who has no problem running into burning buildings find the courage to ask a girl like Kerrie out for a date? She’s a role model for everything good, and he comes from a rough and broken home. Not to mention, Christmas is right around the corner!

Ready to buy a copy? https://a.co/d/00bajsJo

This is almost a marriage of convenience trope. (The story ends with the engagement.) But the sense of “we gotta do this now” is a main theme in the story. I enjoy reading stories that take place in areas of the country where I’ve never been. Almost like taking a mini vacation. This short novel takes place in the Outer Banks, off the coast of North Carolina. Wade is endearingly shy and stumbles in his efforts to ask Kerrie out. Kerrie struggles with the desire to leave the nest and her fear of cutting ties with her family, who plan to leave on their next mission adventure yet again. With a little boost from Wade’s interfering grandfather, the two finally acknowledge the attraction both have felt for quite a while. Set around Christmas, this love story is sweet and shares themes of family, roots, and redemption.

It took me a bit of time to figure out who the major players were, as there were several characters who popped in all at once in chapter one, but with a novella, the author doesn’t have a lot of time to ease things in. I give this a healthy four out of five stars. You’ll enjoy this as a Christmas treat.

But Hester lives in a superstitious time ruled by men. And these men don’t take kindly to her independent ways.

Aaron opens news doors for Hester, and she dives into his teaching with enthusiasm. Anything to take her mind off the lumpen fisherman her mother wants to marry her off to.

You will cheer for Hester as she steps out in a bid for independence and the chance to plot the path of her life. Once you start reading, Burman’s detailed descriptions will pull you in. You’ll surface hours later wondering where your garden path and your river nymphs have disappeared to.

Get this book! But only if you have several hours to set aside. Enjoy!

Gorgeous prose, heart-rending love story, keeps you guessing till the end. This book tells the story of Raine and her brave struggle to survive … survive the war, survive her father’s illness, survive when her husband leaves. She has two wildly different men who love her, one she can depend on, one who at one time made her heart soar. Burman keeps you guessing till the very last chapter what Raine does for herself. It is a lovely story of courage, perseverance, and filled with beautiful descriptions of Australia.