"Healer Mail Order Bride and her Wounded Banker" by Florence Linnington

Martha lived in Germany. When her father died, she was left alone with no way to support herself. A friend of her father's placed an ad for her in a mail order bride catalog in the United States. She had just about given up hope when she received a letter from Luke McIver wanting to bring her to America to marry him. Unfortunately, that which seems too good to be true, often is.

When she arrived in the small town of Copperun only able to speak or understand a few words of English, she was directed to find Mr. McIver in the saloon. It turned out he was running the same con as he had in the past, inviting a woman to come and marry him, but instead forcing her to work as a scantily clad saloon girl and entertain the male customers. 

But once Martha began to understand what he expected her to do, she fled from the saloon leaving her few possessions behind. Fortunately she was rescued by Alexander, a man who was working to open a bank in the nearby town of Evergreen. Not being able to understand each other, he nevertheless realized she needed help and took her back to the hotel in Evergreen, where he knew she would find the help she needed.

As with Ms. Linnington’s other books in the series, I enjoyed this story. I was a little concerned at first when it began with a very similar plot device as an earlier book in the series. But from that point on it took a very different path. 

I enjoyed watching the main characters struggle to learn each other's language and seeing Martha find a place and a purpose that she had never dreamed of as being remotely possible. And as always, I enjoyed the expected ending to the book.

Anyone who enjoys mail order bride stories or stories written by Ms. Linnington would likely enjoy this book as well.

"A Groom for Carrie" by Marie Higgins

After most of the town's men died in an unexpected blizzard, the town's pastor had made it clear that the women all needed to either remarry or move elsewhere. From the letters they received after the town placed an advertisement in a matrimonial times, Carrie Porter chose to accept the proposal from Dr. Hamilton, as the town desperately needed a doctor. 

However after their wedding, she learned that he no longer intended to practice medicine, but instead planned on being a farmer. It also turned out that he was someone she'd known and been tormented by as a child. 

This was an interesting book to read. The characters had a lot to work through on their way to learning how to trust and care for each other. And as was to be expected, the journey wasn't an easy one. I enjoyed watching the characters work through their emotions and personal issues. Like most mail order bride stories, it is the emotional trials of the characters that is the most interesting.

As the second book that I've read in the Blizzard Brides series, I found this to be an enjoyable book. I believe that anyone who enjoys a good mail order bride story will like this one. It is a very quick read, but is also a nice, relaxing story.

"Goddesses Inc." By Autumn Bardot

Four immortal Goddesses are summoned to meet with Shee, their boss. The four women find themselves declared irrelevant and no longer needed in the modern world and suddenly find themselves fired. None of them even knew a goddess could be fired!

Mortal, they are now faced with all the needs, risks, and requirements of a mortal life. How will they support themselves?

What skills do they really have to survive in the modern world? What can an ancient ex-goddess even really do?

I loved reading this book. Mythology and history have always interested me, and this book combines both in a way that has you rooting for the 4 women who had & lost everything they thought was important, and needed to reinvent themselves in a modern world.  Watching them grow from shallow & relatively thoughtless to kind, thoughtful, and caring individuals was very enjoyable and cheered my day. 

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys mythology and stories where the characters have to find ways to begin over again unexpectedly and without the advantages they never expected to be without. 

"Spirited Western Bride and her Reformed Soulmate" by Florence Linnington

The owner of the General Store in Littlegrove was surprised to have been invited to Clarissa's wedding and felt quite embarrassed to arrive almost too late to see the ceremony after his 3 hour ride into Evergreen. Yet the only one who seemed to be offended by his late arrival was the beautiful but cold Caitlin, younger sister to the wife of Peter, Evergreen's General store owner and Colby's friend and business associate.

Circumstances soon seemed to keep throwing Colby & Caitlin together as the two families attempted to find a way to help both towns make it through what looks to be a rough winter ahead. But after her previous misfortune with Kyle, the man she had thought loved her,  can Caitlin ever learn to trust any man other than her brother-in-law Peter?

This heart wrenching tale sucked me in quickly and several times caused me to tear up as I read. It was an amazing story of two people who believed themselves broken by their pasts came together to find hope in their future. But will that future be together? Or have they both been too damaged by their pasts to truly find love?

This was a story that highlighted how secrets from the past can cause harm in the future and why honesty is always the best way to move forward. As always, I love how Ms. Linnington takes her readers through a full range of emotions, yrt manages to end her stories with a happy and heartwarming moment.

I enjoyed this tale just as much as I have her previous books, and I believe this book will appeal to those who enjoy a good mail order bride story as well as those who are looking for something that they can trust to make them feel good after reading it.

"Lemonade and Lies" by Agatha Frost

After everyone in town receives an invitation to a garden party up at the nearby manor house, the rumors about what the big announcement is begin to fly. But no one expects that Katie Wellington-South, who is married to Julia's father, will be turning the location into a luxury resort spa.

Unfortunately, it seems that not everyone is happy with the idea, one of those people being Katie's brother Charles, who is very vocal about his opposition to the idea. And before the end of the party, his dead body is seen falling from a second story window. And Julia finds herself trying to determine who killed him, whether her father and his wife were involved in the death or not, and why.

Like the first book in the series, I found this one quite entertaining. There were a good number of twists and turns in this story, keeping me guessing most of the way through as to who really was the murderer. 

The plot was very well thought out, and like the first book in the series contains a side plot that definitely added to my enjoyment of the tale. I also enjoyed the british slang that was used in the story (which takes place in the small british town of Peridale.)

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys cozy mysteries that aren't always merely a simple, quick read but are just a bit more complex than might be expected.

"Black Heart of the Dragon God" by Jean Rabe and Craig Maerelle

Goranth the Mighty returns to the city of Barbertown at the request of an old companion, Rif the Barber. Rif promised him a fortune to help him capture a dragon. He planned to earn them all fortunes beyond imagination by raising, breeding, training, and selling dragons to other towns. After all, who wouldn't pay quite well to have a dragon to protect them?

However, the idea of catching dragons is very different from the reality of it, and far more dangerous. Can they actually manage it without getting themselves killed? And what other problems will arise when others learn what they are up to? 

I really enjoyed reading this book. Not only was it very well written, but it had me remembering some of the old Dragonlance books that I read back when I was in high school. This was sword and sorcery at it's best, written in a style that I haven't had the pleasure of reading in a long while. I look forward to reading more stories about Goranth the Mighty in the future. 

I believe that anyone who enjoys adventure stories, sword & sorcery tales, as well as reading about heroes who don't always set out to simply be a hero or who are even just trying to do the right thing, regardless of what it might wind up costing them\ will enjoy this book. I definitely recommend giving this one a try. I know I enjoyed it.

"Rise of the Fairy Queen" by Gemma Perfect

On Elsie's 16th birthday, she is finally released from her captivity at the castle. She is being sent for a political marriage overseas to a prince she has never met. She has not been allowed outside of her room for years, and the only person she has in her life is her handmaid, Meg, who was locked up with her.

But on her way to meet her future husband, Elsie learns the truth about what has been happening within the kingdom at the hands of her step parents, and she realizes that her homeland & people need saving from the atrocities being enacted upon them. And so she returns to her homeland, determined to find a way to help free her people.

I enjoyed reading this book. It was very different from the other tales of fairies that I have read. At times, the main character seems a little too trusting of the new people she meets, but then I have to remember that she is still young herself, and very naive with regard to other people's motives and their selfish desires.  Without having had any sort of life experience, how is she supposed to react to people who appear to only want to help & keep telling her that she can trust them? Naturally she is going to want to trust the people who appear to be helping her.

I enjoyed the chance to see this innocent young girl find her way in the world, learning to defend herself, and growing into the queen she wants to become. I think this is a story that will be enjoyed by anyone who enjoys reading twisted fairy tales and other young adult fantasy stories.