Eileen Goudge has captured me with this trilogy. Carson Springs is a place that I would want to live. In this second installment, the story focuses on Gerry Fitzgerald and her family. It is a wonderful story of a mother meeting her daughter that was given up for adoption, the struggle to help her children understand, and of a woman wrestling with the idea of falling in love again. The characters from the first book are all present. The story picks up right where Stranger in Paradise left off. I can't wait for the third book.

Gerry Fitzgerald, a feisty, independent divorced mother raising two children in the beautiful valley of Carson Springs, California, has decided to find the daughter she gave up for adoption 28 years ago. She was impregnated while in the convent by the parish priest, and for many years has been consumed by guilt and emptiness. She finds her long lost daughter, Claire Brewster, who is now an attorney in northern California, engaged to be married to her childhood sweetheart, Byron, who is in his medical residency at Stanford Hospital.

When they finally meet, Gerry finds that Claire is more beautiful and successful than she could have imagined, but Claire is bewildered and conflicted because of the smothering parents who adopted her and are fearful of losing her to her real mother. Gerry's younger teenage daughter is jealous of the attention that Claire is getting from her mother. Justin was also shocked at hearing the news that he had another older sister and angry at his mother for keeping her a secret for so long.

After her brief introduction to her new family, Claire returns to her home and Gerry doesn't hear from her again for more than 6 weeks. She is afraid that Claire doesn't want to be part of their family. However, Claire was so impressed with Carson Springs and the people there that she decided to quit her job as an attorney, and go into partnership with her best friend by opening a tea shop in Carson Springs in a quaint Victorian home that she had spotted when she was in town.

Taste of Honey is filled with interesting and realistic characters, including the nuns at the convent where Gerry works, her current lover, Aubrey who is a world-class symphony conductor, her best friend, Sam who is having a late-in-life baby, Claire's contractor, Matt, and many other colorful locals. Claire is torn between two lovers, Gerry is denying the fact that she is falling in love with Aubrey, and Gerry and Claire are trying to forge a new relationship after many years apart.

I was thoroughly absorbed and engaged by this heart-warming story and look forward to more in this series set in Carson Springs.

Eileen Goudge has a gift of seeing into people's hearts and in this second book of the Carson Springs series she takes us back to this serene little town in California to visit with people who feel as real as our own friends.....Gerry Fitzgerald seeks a grown daughter she was forced to give up at birth. Even though she has two other children she always felt a void in her life.....After she found her daughter, Claire, she struggled to meld her family with Claire. Claire Brewster agreed to travel to Carson Springs to meet her "new family" and fell in love with the town and the people she met there......With the help of her friend, Kitty Seagrave, Claire left her "safe" job to start a new career in Carson Springs to the dismay of her adoptive family and her longtime love. She became torn between two loves.....This move has made her birth mother, Gerry very happy, but caused mixed feelings with her two other children......Gerry has been having a relationship with a famous symphony conductor, Aubrey Roellinger. Aubrey is a widower with loving feelings for his late wife. Gerry is divorced from her husband after a disappointing marriage. Both Aubrey and Gerry do not want to remarry, but agree to have a non-commited relationship....Gerry finds herself falling deeply in love with Aubrey and he with her. It took the near death of their freinds Sam, Ian, and their unborn baby in a car accident to make them realize that they need to give up their obsessions of the past and start to live in the present and go on with each other in the future for a full complete life......I can hardly wait for next book in this series.

This is my first book by Dinah McCall, but it will not be my last. Sharon Sala is also a favorite of mine and I just found out tonight that Dinah McCall and Sharon Sala are one and the same.

consistently drawn characterization with a grasp of some current law-enforcement problems. Mix this with sharply aware interpersonal interactions and enough realistic science and psychology, and one can see why this is a book not to be put down . This book joins my entire keeper shelf of Sharon Sala/Dinah McCall books, all of which are equally enthralling.

This is one of the BEST books that I have ever read! I started to read Dinah McCall when I found out that she was also one of my Favorite authors, Sharon Sala.

Chase The Moon is about a man who out for the blood of the man who murdered his brother. Jake and John Baretta were identical twins, so once John was killed, Jake was able to take his place without the people knowing. (They were investigators in a huge weaon and drug bust).

This is one of the best books that I ever read and it is also one of the most moving!

Brilliant description of the harbor explosion and its historical impact. Some great character background and a strong narrative. The priest is just too pathetic a character to draw much sympathy--others fare little better, but despite the chaos, the book is still interesting. Biggest letdown is the tendency to instill too much 1990s self-asorption, psycho-babble, me me me mentality into a different era in history, when the outlook and lives of people were quite different than they are in the North America of today. Still, a more appealling work overall than most of the fiction I've run across the last 10 years.

This book I cannot recommend enough!!! My interest in "BURDEN OF DESIRE" was first kindled when I heard Mr. MacNeil talk about the 1917 Halifax tragedy on National Public Radio a few years ago. I was intrigued because I had never heard of this tragedy before. Then around Christmastime, I bought and read "BURDEN OF DESIRE". I became so wrapped up in the lives of the main characters (each of whom Mr. MacNeil creates with a full-bodied and multi-dimensional personality) that I felt as if I were a fly on the wall, watching events unfold.

I give Mr. MacNeil special kudos for the way he created the main female character. From the way he wrote this novel, you'll feel that it is a real woman confiding her inmost thoughts in her diary.

On so many levels, this is a well-written and beautiful story. Read "BURDEN OF DESIRE" and savor it. You'll be glad that you did.

Based upon an actual event in history I was swept away, brought into the web of this story, constantly wanting to read on to what was next and what I expected did not happen, great ending!!!

It's not like me to trash on a book, I try to be open minded. But the family ties between Brandy and Ian kind of wierded me out. I know they did that then but... Well anyway that was really the only thing that disturbed me. If I forgot about it, it was a very good book! And what she thought was wrong with her, Huge breasts and a tiny waist, poor girl. Such an obstacale to overcome.: ) It did make me laugh though.

Don't think this book is bad it is actually really good . the plot is interesting and the book is really descriptive in what happens but its's still kind of sick them being cousins and all.

It was one of the best books I ever read. Catherine Coulter is a very talented writer. I can't wait for her next book. I think that Brandy was very luck to have met Ian. The thing about them being married as cousins was common back then. Also they weren't close cousins. They were distant cousins. So I don't think it was a "sick" book. It was very romantic novel. The setting of Scotland and timing of the book made it even better.

In a novel like Sebastian Faulks outstanding "Birdsong" the personal horror and romance under the umbrella of war can be explored to maximum effect. The fact that Ben Macintyre's story is true makes it equally special. But in the end less satisfying because the focus of the book is far more than the story of the Englishman's Daughter. In England the book was published under the title "A Foreign Field" which really is a better title, in that the book explores the whole story of the war and it's effect on the Village of Villeret, France. The story of Helene Digby's conception and the execution of her father Robert Digby is the major emotional center of the book. What I found strange is that towards the end of the book Mr. Macintyre tries hard to finger who may have betrayed the Englishman, but I did not seem to care. I somehow thought it was understandable that the whole village did, and the fact that the Englishman, including Robert Digby could not have possibly survived the eventual total destruction of the village underscored the ultimate betrayal. The war itself.

This is a wonderfully written book on several levels. To begin with, and perhaps most importantly, Macintyre is a terrific writer, researcher, and storyteller. This is not a dry history about names and dates, but rather about relationships and the misfortune of living in the wrong area at the wrong time. Macintyre beautifully illustrates the shifting alliances in a small town in France, Villeret, which found itself tucked just behind enemy lines. Into this village come lost English soldiers in the opening months of World War 1, cut off from their divisions and a means of escape. Their impact upon Villeret during their 18-month stay is profound as one of the soldiers, Robert Digby, falls in love with a young French woman. Macintyre helps us understand the prejudices, jealousies, and emotions which shift and change among the townspeople throughout the war. During that time, the Englishmen become a little less loved and revered and their presence becomes resented. The Germans, conversely, become less reviled. Macintyre also deftly weaves the mystery of who betrayed the Englishmen into his tale, giving a convincing argument for his "best guess" at the end. In Macintyre's hands, this history truly comes back to life.

"The Englishman's Daughter" is wonderfully well researched and written. I've been doing extensive research on this exact time period and place on the Picardy plain as background for a novel. I found (with one minor exception) Macintyre's descriptions and context to be nearly flawless. He has expertly packaged most of what I have gleaned (and much more because his narrative includes French and German points of view for an extended time frame), into an accessible, multidimensional story. It offers a perspective on WW1 that is both more nuanced and timeless than most novels. Read it for the love story, the history or to solve the mystery and be broadened by the other aspects. This book is a marvel.

Son Martin has 150 barrels of mooonshine that have been ageing for eight years. It is time to go to market and then Frank Long shows up. He is an old Army buddy plus a Prohibition Agent. Does not take long for Frank to realize he needs to be a partner with Son and get his share of the whiskey money and forget about being an Agent. He calls Dr. Emmett Taulbee, a former dentist and now a mooonshiner his self, to help. Befor long Taulbee, Dual Meaders, his hired killer, an others take over. There is lot of breaking up stills and shooting before it all ends. Son is tough and smart, will he win out? A lot of action, a quick read and you won't want to put it down. I was thinking five stars until the last few pages. It seems like the book just quit. There was no real ending. There are a least four people, that you care about, that you don't know what happened to them. I won't name them so it won't ruin the book for you. I guess it is a five if you write your own ending.

I picked up this older Elmore Leonard at a used book sale -- very glad I did. It is one of the best Leonard books I've read. The main (male) character is a strong, silent type -- even more inscrutable than many of Leonard's other leading men. And there's a nice mixed bag of bad guys. The plot has very good momentum, and though it may seem to end somewhat "abruptly" I liked the ending because it wasn't pat.

I loved this book! It was so good, I couldn't put it down and finished it within 24 hours. The ending surprised me....I had another ending in mind. Don't get me wrong ...it was a good ending...it just surprised me. Happy Reading!

This is one of Susan Andersens older books and I'm really glad that they re released it again. It's one of her darker books and is really easy to get into.

Olympic silver medallist, Sasha Miller, is the darling of the figure skating world. Even the drug scandal associated with her former partner, Lon Morrison, hasn't diluted her popularity or prevented her star from rising to fabled, glorious heights. Oh, her professional reputation has been tarnished by the whispers and innuendos, but Sasha has managed to rise above it all to embrace her childhood dream. Her provocative routines heat up the ice, and defy the conventional expectations of a figure skater: Sasha has a passion for skating, and it shows -- in every shimmy, shake and gracefully executed jump.

No one would suspect the saintly Sasha of trafficking in drugs, however. No one, that is, except Special Agent Mick Vinicor of the DEA. Someone in "Follies on Ice," the touring show Sasha is a star attraction of, is selling high grade cocaine to junkies (and killing them with the drug's potency), and it's Mick's job to find out who's doin' the selling and then bust their sorry hump. This isn't his idea of an ideal undercover operation, though. Infiltrating the namby-pamby world of figure skaters is giving him the chills, in fact, and thoroughly testing his patience. Miller has gotta be as guilty as sin, but Mick is beginning to question his own judgment.

Sure, lusting after his number one suspect is stone-cold stupid, but his gut is trying to tell him that Sasha is innocent...and the intended target of a would-be killer on the prowl.

Conflicting loyalties and misplaced trust put Sasha and Mick on the warpath (once Mick's not-so-tiny white lies are exposed for what they are). On Thin Ice has reams and reams of thick, sexual tension to entertain a reader, however, and to compensate for this frustrating failure to communicate. Susan Andersen's Avon romances are by and large lighter, fluffier fare than this dark, somewhat plodding plot of romantic suspense. Night and day style wise, there are still certain commonalities to be found in this middling-to-high octane story: mainly, the spectacular chemistry percolating between Ms. Andersen's hero and heroine.

Why, the sensuality level is pea soup thick, and steamy enough to fog melted glass! There's no questioning Mick and Sasha's compatibility as a couple, but there are a few lamentations to be uttered regarding the lack of honesty in their relationship (and the high-handed, alpha male posturing of a vulnerable hero striking out in a knee-jerk reactionary manner). I really can't deny my infatuation with Mick, however, or the appeal of his politically incorrect take-charge attitude. Sasha has plenty of spunk and spirit to combat Mick's free-roaming egotism -- or should that be despotism? -- at any rate. Strain will test the strength of her emotional reserves, however, and create an illusion of fragility, further inciting Mick's protective instincts.

On Thin Ice has a thinly stretched suspense subplot that will easily crack under pressure, though, so it's best not to test or tamper with Ms. Andersen's premise. Nimble pacing of the storyline, spectacular sexual sparks, and complex, likeable characterizations make this novel a showstopper, if not an out and out heart stopper.

Reviewed by C.L. Jeffries

I loved this book! I think it is a re-release. This one is on my keeper shelf.

I love the fact that she makes him grovel, and that when he does something wrong that she calls him on it.

The killer was pretty obvious, it had an o.k. storyline. I loved the chemistry between the main 2. Definately a romance, if you like this book, I highly recommend Obsessed and Shadow Dance. They were great. Also, you would probably like Helen Myers and Lisa Jackson books. Also Erica Spindler is really good. And always, Nora Roberts and Mariah Stewart!

If you want more mystery and less romance, I would try Robin Burcell, and Iris Johanson.

Likable political thriller, but I just didn't get a real feel for any of the characters. Not even the senator. I never came to care about him and his family. I also didn't think it was compelling enough and the baddy bad enough. The novel never grabbed me and made me want to know how the case would be solved. ... Not attention getting at all. That being said, Ms. Lee is a favorite author of mine, so I'll just have to see what she gives us next.

This was an interesting book in more ways than one. The plot was good- and there was an interesting twist. The romance was nice- it didn't go too fast and it didn't feel forced. The romance was only a small part of the book and some of the actions and words of the characters implied the gwowing attraction without going into detail. The only part that I found a little disappointing was that the lead detective didn't do enough investigating. It seemed like the leads just fell into her lap and she didn't have to work for them. Otherwise I really enjoyed the book!

Suspense and romance winds up swift in Rachel Lee's latest politick thriller as detective Karen Sweeney undertakes investigation on a double murder of nanny Abby Reese and dancer Stacy Wiggins, both connected to hot-shot senator Grant Lawrence. Jerry Connelly, his aide has moved the body of Stacy to mitigate suspicion but the truth is ferreted out soon when the murderer slips evidence of their connection to the media. Suspects and enemies turn up as Grant's resolution-52 on environmental protection may spell agro-economic gloom as well as Stacy's spurned lesbian lover. Rachel Lee propels the story with gripping suspense and a drama fuelled by vendetta as morality clashes with deception. She takes readers through grisly procedurals, explosions and heart-rendering human drama which makes With Malice a relentless spree.

The first thing I appreciated about this book was Ms.Litton's departure from the traditional Regency romance setting of London. Instead the majority of this novel takes place on the ficticious island nation of Akora.
Lady Joanna is looking for her brother Royce who has disappeared on his voyage to Akora. Because Joanna is determined to find him she stows away aboard the ship of an Akoran prince, Alex, and arrives on the island amid controversy and speculation. It would be difficult to say more without giving away the happy ending.
What's nice about this story is that although political undertones and the typical romance elements exist throughout, the characters of Joanna and Alex are well written, completely believable, and likeable as well. I'm looking forward to the next book in the trilogy.

I bought this book merely because it was on sale at a local bookstore. I needed a book to read on a flight to a business trip. It started rather boring before leaping into action at the second chapter.
A willful English outcast, Joanna desperately wants to find her brother, Royce, who traveled to the fabled land of Akora to seek out its secrets. Akora is a fortress of solitude and isolation. No one gets in and no one gets out. That's what the society is encouraged to believe. Joanna is not just anyone. She's a willful woman who only wants her beloved brother back home where he is safe.
She is usually quite conventional, but to her surprise, when Lord Alex, prince of Akora, refuses to help her, she takes a leap (literally) into the dangerous clutches of an age-old evil. She steals away into an Akoran ship which happens to be the ship of the dangerous yet mysterious Alex. He hasn't the heart to do what he should, cast her into the ocean or deliver her to her enemies in desperation to preserve the cruel image of Akora.
Joanna finds herself in a world of legend. Descending from Greek origin, the anciently isolated land of Akora is both old and new. Their knowledge, information, and society is a mixture like Joanna has never seen. Lord Alex, Prince of Akora, is unlike any man she has met.
She has an instant attraction, and he feels the same way, but neither want to let the other interfere with their business, but when a growing political enemy of the leader of Akora threatens Alex's beloved Joanna, he won't let them get away. It doesn't help that Joanna is anything but naive and thrusts herself into the greatest evil in a desperate attempt to save her brother, he must take action.
Another twist to the book is Joanna's odd but exciting power thats orgins are traced to Akora. This is a book that is no stranger to action, love, and excitement. Don't miss the sequel in which Kassandra, Alex's brother, and Royce, Joanna's brother, meet in a dreadfully challenging time in England.
The only downfall in the book would be its confusing revelations about the orgin of Akora and the evolution of the Akorans. Everything else is mostly exciting, although it would have been funner if Joanna played more hard-to-get, but overall, it was enjoyable.

I'll admit it, I had high hopes for this book. I love the Atlantis idea and as I really enjoyed Josie Litton's first three books, I couldn't wait to read this one. I liked it alot but something seemed missing. Maybe the sensual tension was off? It just seemed slower moving than previous books. I didn't feel all that close to the characters but I did enjoy the story. I'm looking forward to KINGDOM OF MOONLIGHT.

The physics is fine but this is an autobiography. What kind of a man is Wheeler? I got the impression he spent as much time avoiding offending anybody important as he did on physics. He sounds like an amiable sycophant.

Having noticed over the years that Prof. John Archibald Wheeler's name turns up in an amazing variety of physics-related articles and anecdotes, I was particularly primed to read his autobiography. The book doesn't follow a simple from-birth chronology, but rather begins with Wheeler teaching at Princeton and volunteering to meet the ship carrying his mentor, Niels Bohr, at a New York City dock in January of 1939. From that pivotal moment at the brink of World War II, Wheeler fills out his story by reaching back to childhood and forward to his long career in teaching, research, and national service. We learn of his brother Joe, whose body lay in a foxhole on an Italian hillside until it was reduced to bones. Wheeler reminds us that if the Manhattan Project had geared up one year earlier, the lives of his brother and many others might have been spared.

Wheeler's remarkable character pervades the book and helps make it unique and interesting. In a profession legendary for strong intellects and egos, he has achieved and maintained a pomposity coefficient of zero. His judgments of other people are unfailingly generous, but also astute enough to be interesting and revealing. He provides candid firsthand impressions of legendary figures such as Bohr, Einstein, Oppenheimer, Teller, Ulam, Heisenberg, Fermi, Szilard and Feynman . We also learn about many less well-known colleagues, friends and students whom he finds memorable for various reasons. In contrast to the eminent-scientist stereotype, Wheeler has always enjoyed teaching undergraduates and is genuinely interested in the problems and aspirations of the young people entrusted to his care.

Like the brilliant George Gamow, Wheeler has a talent for explaining difficult concepts and illustrating them with whimsically inventive diagrams. The book's autobiographical threads are interwoven with a rich tapestry of subtle but plainly-spoken physical insights on dozens of topics, some arcane enough to leave even the author slightly bemused. I believe anyone interested in physics will find a personal revelation or two among Wheeler's lucid, informal scientific explanations. There are touches of Gamowesque humor too, such as his theory that the fates somehow conspired to entangle him with a string of Hungarian emigres.

The title concepts of the book -- Geons, Black Holes and Quantum Foam -- were all named by Wheeler himself. He began his career at the minute scale of particle physics, moved on to the grand sweep of relativistic cosmology, and finally circled back to the hyperminuteness of quantum foam. Of course there is nothing really disjointed about such a journey, since connections among the nested scales of nature constitute one of the grand unifying themes of physics.

During his tenure at Princeton university, John Archibald Wheeler has served as the mentor to such outstanding physicists as Richard P. Feynman, Kip Thorne and Hugh Everett. He was also great friends with such individuals as Albert Einstein & Niels Bohr. In short, his contributions to physics have been indispensable.

This present work of his traces his life, a life that is (as the cover says) one of science. However, one of the nice facets of this book is that it goes beyond just the laboratory & reveals the personal life of this great man. We learn of the moving death of his brother in WWII, his worries and concerns over nuclear war (as well as the grapples with his conscience that he endured over the invention of the hydrogen bomb) and many other aspects of his life. He also tells stories of some of his most memorable students; not all of these were necessarily his most gifted pupils. Above all, Wheeler reveals a genuine human passion that has characterized his approach to science over the greater part of this century. One of the best biographies of a scientist I have ever read.