A Borrowed Dream by Amanda Cabot

Catherine Whitfield is sure that she will never again be able to trust anyone in the medical profession after the town doctor's excessive bleeding treatments killed her mother. Despite her loneliness and her broken heart, she carries bravely on as Cimarron Creek's dutiful schoolteacher, resigned to a life without love or family, a life where dreams rarely come true.

Austin Goddard is a newcomer to Cimarron Creek. Posing as a rancher, he fled to Texas to protect his daughter from a dangerous criminal. He's managed to keep his past as a surgeon a secret. But when Catherine Whitfield captures his heart, he wonders how long he will be able to keep up the charade.

With a deft hand, Amanda Cabot teases out the strands of love, deception, and redemption in this charming tale of dreams deferred and hopes becoming reality.

I enjoyed reading this book.  I didn't realize that plastic surgery had been around that long.  We take our modern medicine for granted not realizing what was acceptable 100 years ago could kill you. 

Catherine did have a legitimate reason for distrusting doctors.   So I can see why Austin would hesitate to tell her he was a doctor.  Let alone that if it got out him and his daughter would be killed.

I enjoyed reading this book.  It wasn't an edge of your seat book.  But still had mystery to it.  I would recommend this book.

I was given this book by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  I was not compensated in any way. 

The Heart's Appeal by Jennifer Delemere

Strong-minded and independent Julia Bernay comes to London to study medicine and become a doctor--a profession that has only just opened up to women. She witnesses a serious accident, and through her quick actions saves the life of an ambitious young barrister named Michael Stephenson.

Coming from a family that long ago lost its money and its respectability, Michael Stephenson has achieved what many would have thought was impossible. Hard work and an aptitude for the law have enabled him to rise above his family's stigma and set him on the path to wealth and recognition. But his well-laid plans are upended when the accident brings Julia into his life.

Michael soon discovers he's met a woman every bit as stubborn and determined to make her mark on the world as he is. Sparks fly--but will they find common ground?

An interesting read about the struggle women had in becoming doctors.   Even though Julia saved Michael's life she still wasn't looked upon as good enough to be a doctor just because she was a woman.  Nurse was fine but men were the only ones smart enough to be doctors. 

I judge books on:  does it hold my interest and is it one I would consider reading again.  I can say yes to both.  I recommend this book to everyone.

I was given this book by NetGalley for an honest review.  I was not compensated in anyway.

Beneath the Surface by Lynn H. Blackburn

After a harrowing experience with an obsessed patient, oncology nurse practitioner Leigh Weston needed a change. She thought she'd left her troubles behind when she moved home to Carrington, North Carolina, and took a job in the emergency department of the local hospital. But when someone tampers with her brakes, she fears the past has chased her into the present. She reaches out to her high school friend turned homicide investigator, Ryan Parker, for help.

Ryan finds satisfaction in his career, but his favorite way to use his skills is as a volunteer underwater investigator with the Carrington County Sheriff's Office dive team. When the body of a wealthy businessman is discovered in Lake Porter, the investigation uncovers a possible serial killer--one with a terrifying connection to Leigh Weston and deadly implications for them all.

This book was a new author for me.  All I can say is that I will be on the lookout for more of her books.  There was edge of your seat suspense.  It kept me guessing right up to the end.

I was given this book by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  I was not compensated in any way.

Blind Betrayal by Nancy Mehl

Deputy U.S. Marshal Casey Sloane has worked at the St. Louis marshals office for two years and is given a routine assignment to help transport a reporter to D.C. to testify before a grand jury. Valerie, the reporter, was writing a story about an up-and-coming environmentalist who suddenly disappeared and, she later discovered, whose backers purportedly have ties to a terrorist.

When the seemingly ordinary assignment suddenly takes a shocking turn, Casey is forced to put aside her own feelings about the unexpected reappearance of a man from her past as she and two other marshals take Valerie on the run. And as it becomes dangerously clear Valerie's testimony has even bigger implications than they knew, they'll do whatever it takes to make it out alive.

Casey will do anything to protect her witness.  Even protect them with her life.  That is precisely what she is called to do on this case.  What she doesn't count on is E.J. showing up to assist.  She met E. J. while working in the D. C. office.  She also doesn't count on terrorists coming after her and doing everything they can to stop her and E. J. from getting the witness to testify. 

I was up quite late several nights reading this book.  I couldn't seem to put it down.

I recommend this book to all who like high suspense.

I was given this book by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.  I was not compensated in anyway.

Honeysuckle Dreams by Denise Hunter

After Brady Collins’ ex-wife dies, he receives devastating news—his nine-month-old son Sam isn’t his son at all. And Sam’s wealthy maternal grandparents want custody of the child. Brady knows he’s in for the fight of his life. But regardless of what any blood test says, Sam is his son, and Brady will go to any lengths to keep him.

Brady’s attorney tips him off that one major life change would virtually assure him of winning guardianship of baby Sam at the final hearing: an impending marriage. And his friend Hope is willing to step in as the loving and devoted fiance.

Local radio celebrity Hope Daniels has been driven by a solitary goal her entire life, and after a happy accident she’s finally offered her dream job. But if the truth comes out about her arrangement with Brady, she may miss the chance of a lifetime and stand in the way of a dear friend’s dreams.
As Brady and Hope make sacrifices to help each other in their times of need, they risk uncovering a truth neither of them expects to find.

I found this to be a story about bad choices gone even worse.  Brady finds out that the child he believes to be his in reality is not.  But he has helped raise Sam for all his young life.  He will do anything to keep him.  Hope has helped Brady out by babysitting Sam and loves Sam like her own so she suggests her and Brady marry.

I recommend this story to those who enjoy a good love story.

I was given this book by Netgalley in exchange in for an honest review.  I was not compensated in anyway. 

Keturah by Lisa Tawn Bergren

In 1772 England, Lady Keturah Banning Tomlinson and her sisters find themselves the heiresses of their father's estates and know they have one option: Go to the West Indies to save what is left of their heritage.

Although it flies against all the conventions for women of the time, they're determined to make their own way in the world. But once they arrive in the Caribbean, proper gender roles are the least of their concerns. On the infamous island of Nevis, the sisters discover the legacy of the legendary sugar barons has vastly declined--and that's just the start of what their eyes are opened to in this unfamiliar world.

Keturah never intends to put herself at the mercy of a man again, but every man on the island seems to be trying to win her hand and, with it, the ownership of her plantation. She could desperately use an ally, but even an unexpected reunion with a childhood friend leaves her questioning his motives.

Set on keeping her family together and saving her father's plantation, can Keturah ever surrender her stubbornness and guarded heart to God and find the healing and love awaiting her?

Overall I found this book to be entertaining.  There were spots that were slow and I kept waiting for something to happen.  I didn't care for the slave issues.  But at the time this story takes place in the Indies it was a very common practice and to not have slaves would have been out of place.  It was interesting to see the rise and fall of sugar plantations during their hey day.

I would recommend this book for a light romantic read with a little mystery thrown in.

I was given this book by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.  I was not compensated in anyway.

The Sea Before Us by Susan Sundin

In 1944, American naval officer Lt. Wyatt Paxton arrives in London to prepare for the Allied invasion of France. He works closely with Dorothy Fairfax, a ÒWrenÓ in the Women's Royal Naval Service. Dorothy pieces together reconnaissance photographs with thousands of holiday snapshots of France--including those of her own family's summer home--in order to create accurate maps of Normandy. Maps that Wyatt will turn into naval bombardment plans.

As the two spend concentrated time together in the pressure cooker of war, their deepening friendship threatens to turn to love. Dorothy must resist its pull. Her bereaved father depends on her, and her heart already belongs to another man. Wyatt too has much to lose. The closer he gets to Dorothy, the more he fears his efforts to win the war will destroy everything she has ever loved.

The prologue sets the story for Wyatt to join the Navy and go to England and be part of the D Day planned invasion.  Dorothy is English and assists in the planning.  There was a lot of history in the books that I wasn't aware of and found quite interesting.  At times I did find there was too much detail on the invasion. 

Wyatt found God's forgiveness for his past deeds.  But he couldn't seem to forgive himself.  Dorothy helps him with that and Wyatt finds himself falling in love with her.  Dorothy has a childhood infatuation with a British Naval Officer.  She does everything she can to get his attention.  Even to not being herself.  Wyatt sees her true self and loves her for her. 

I look forward to the next book in the series.

I was given this book by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.  I was not compensated in anyway.