A few books...

I SOMEHOW did not stay up to date on my book reviews this year...SURPRISE SURPRISE!!!  BUT now that the year is starting over I WISH I had my list (like years in the past) and I keep thinking....I read that book but cannot remember if I liked it.  PLUS I had 4 different people ask for book suggestions in the past month and could not remember the names or the authors for them.  SOOOO here is my late attempt at keeping myself organized.  BTW. I have a list of ALL of the books I read this year on my sidebar if you wanna see what I have been up to:)

This year was a year of AMISH books.  I am obsessed a bit with Amish culture and have LOVED learning more about their society.  SEEK ME WITH ALL YOUR HEART by Beth Wiseman was a book about an Amish girl whose family moves all the way to Colorado to start a new life in a smaller less strict Amish settlement.  She has been attacked (BADLY) and is trying to run away from the stigma and memories of the past, and trying to get over the fear of men.  This was an ok book, but I am not planning to read the remaining books in the series...TOO predictable. 

The Orchid house by Lucinda Riley was a super interesting book.  The main character has recently lost her husband and child in a car accident and is trying to get through her grief.  She returns to Wharton Park (think Downton Abbey) and begins learning about the past.  This book jumps back and forth between the 1930’s in England, to Tailand during WWII, and to the present day.  This was a hard book for me to LOVE, because I hated all of the characters—the ones from the past at least.  They made some horrible choices that led to MORE horrible choices...I wanted to punch most of them.  BUT I did think this was SUPER well written. 

EDENBROOKE by Julianne Donaldson was one of those books that I chose MOSTLY because the cover looked AMAZING!!!  This was a very JANE AUSTIN book...in a good way.  It was sweet and cute and filled with British charm.  The main character travels to Edenbrooke to help her sister snag the handsome LORD, but ends up falling for him instead.  OOPS!! 

LILIES IN MOONLIGHT by Allison Pittman was another OK book.  The main character is a flapper who passes out drunk in the yard of a rich family and then moves into their home to help heal a twisted ankle.  The MAN of the house is a war veteran who is terribly scarred from burns and his mom is suffering from dementia and doesn’t remember that he is damaged.  They join together to travel back to take Lily home and to face her horrible past.  Some good parts but not life-changing.

CHRISTMAS IN CEDAR COVE by Debbie Macomber was a typical Debbie Macomber book.  Cute and Christmasy and a little TOO sappy and such for my liking.  Ok for a vacation read.

THE ROSE GARDEN by Susanna Kearsley was one of the best books I read this year.  There is love, time travel, a cottage, a manor house, and roses.  That is all you need to know...just go read it for yourself.