Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Best Books to read in the Winter

When the snow is falling, when it's cold, all I want to do is stay indoors, keep cozy and read a good book. I've read and enjoyed all these books. I would enjoy them all year round, but because they are set during the Winter season it's that much better. Are there good winter reads that you recommend?

          The First Love Cookie Club by Lori Wilde
Series: Twilight, Texas #3
Genre: Contemporary Romance

On Christmas Eve, if you sleep with kismet cookies under your pillow and dream of your one true love, he will be your destiny."

The townsfolk of Twilight, Texas, believe the legend, but not Sarah Collier--not since she was a pudgy teenager, running down the church aisle on Christmas Day in a jingle bell sweater and reindeer antlers, trying to stop Travis Walker from marrying someone else. She may be grown-up, slimmed-down, bestselling children's book author "Sadie Cool"now, but Sarah will never forget that day. And she'll never fall foolishly in love again!

But when a letter from a sick fan brings Sarah back to Twilight, she's shocked to discover that Travis is the little girl's father--unattached and hotter than ever. His smile still makes her melt, but Sarah knows that ship has sailed. Travis, however, might have different ideas.
This story truly brought home the message of the miracles of the season. I was rooting for Sarah and Travis from the sweet. I couldn't resist the sweet girl who needs her own personal miracle. Very sweet and it left me with a good feeling.

Snowfall at Willow Lake by Susan Wiggs

Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Lakeshore Chronicles #4

Can a single moment change your entire life?

International lawyer Sophie Bellamy has dedicated her life to helping people in war-torn countries. But when she survives a hostage situation, she remembers what matters most—the children she loves back home. Haunted by regrets, she returns to the idyllic Catskills village of Avalon on the shores of Willow Lake, determined to repair the bonds with her family.

There Sophie discovers the surprising rewards of small-town life—including an unexpected passion for Noah Shepherd, the local veterinarian. Noah has a healing touch for anything with four legs, but he's never had any luck with women—until Sophie.

Snowfall at Willow Lake speaks from the heart about all the loves that fill a woman's life, and all the ways that love is tested and made to grow. It's the story of what comes after a woman survives an unspeakable horror and finds her way home, to healing and redemption and a new chance at happiness.

I love this series, and this book is one of my favorite of it. It can be read standalone. Features a handsome and vet, who I believe is younger then the heroine. Sophie has a dark past and definitely needs a change of pace, which small-town living brings. I could tell right away that Noah was just what she needed.

Blackberry Winter by Sarah Jio
          Genre: Fiction
   
In 2011, Sarah Jio burst onto the fiction scene with two sensational novels--The Violets of March and The Bungalow. With Blackberry Winter--taking its title from a late-season, cold-weather phenomenon--Jio continues her rich exploration of the ways personal connections can transcend the boundaries of time.

Seattle, 1933. Single mother Vera Ray kisses her three-year-old son, Daniel, goodnight and departs to work the night-shift at a local hotel. She emerges to discover that a May-Day snow has blanketed the city, and that her son has vanished. Outside, she finds his beloved teddy bear lying face-down on an icy street, the snow covering up any trace of his tracks, or the perpetrator's.

Seattle, 2010. Seattle Herald reporter Claire Aldridge, assigned to cover the May 1 "blackberry winter" storm and its twin, learns of the unsolved abduction and vows to unearth the truth. In the process, she finds that she and Vera may be linked in unexpected ways...
There are two storylines, one of Vera from the 1930s and of Claire from the present. The mystery was very intriguing. I felt so much for Vera and Claire. It's interesting the similarities between their lives. Claire finds there is so much more to Vera's story and discover it's closer to her life than she imagined.

Devil in Winter by Lisa Kleypas
Genre: Historical Romance
Series: Wallflower #3

A devil's bargain

Easily the shyest Wallflower, Evangeline Jenner stands to become the wealthiest, once her inheritance comes due. Because she must first escape the clutches of her unscrupulous relatives, Evie has approached the rake Viscount St. Vincent with a most outrageous proposition: marriage!
Sebastian's reputation is so dangerous that thirty seconds alone with him will ruin any maiden's good name. Still, this bewitching chit appeared, unchaperoned, on his doorstep to offer her hand. Certainly an aristocrat with a fine eye for beauty could do far worse.
 But Evie's proposal comes with a condition: no lovemaking after their wedding night. She will never become just another of the dashing libertine's callously discarded broken hearts -- which means Sebastian will simply have to work harder at his seductions...or perhaps surrender his own heart for the very first time in the name of true love. 
One of my favorite of the Wallflower series! You have to meet this family. They're each a bit eccentric but with a lot of love to give. The unlikely hero, previously a villain in another book definitely needs some of that love. Two opposites attract in a wonderful way.