Catching Christmas by Terri Blackstock

As a first-year law associate, Sydney Batson knows she will be updating her resume by New Year’s if she loses her current court case. So when her grandmother gets inexplicably ill while she’s in court, Sydney arranges for a cab to get her to the clinic.

The last thing cab driver Finn Parrish wants is to be saddled with a wheelchair-bound old lady with dementia. But because Miss Callie reminds him of his own mother, whom he failed miserably in her last days, he can’t say no when she keeps calling him for rides. Once a successful gourmet chef, Finn’s biggest concern now is making his rent, but half the time Callie doesn’t remember to pay him. And as she starts to feel better, she leads him on wild goose chases to find a Christmas date for her granddaughter.

When Finn meets Sydney, he’s quite sure that she’s never needed help finding a date. Does Miss Callie have an ulterior motive, or is this just a mission driven by delusions? He’s willing to do whatever he can to help fulfill Callie’s Christmas wish. He just never expected to be a vital part of it.

What a good "feel good" book.  Finn and Sydney are both in a struggle about finding themselves.  Finn has a failed restaurant and Sydney is trying to win an unwinnable case in court.  Her bosses don't see the need for her to take time off the take care of her ailing grandmother.  Finn keeps telling everyone he's just the cab driver.  As the story unfolds, they both find what's the most important.

I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys a feel good book.

 I received a complimentary copy of this book from Thomas Nelson through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. 

A Rumored Fortune by Joanna Davidson Politano

Tressa Harlowe's father did not trust banks, but neither did he trust his greedy extended family. He kept his vast fortune hidden somewhere on his estate in the south of England and died suddenly, without telling anyone where he had concealed it. Tressa and her ailing mother are left with a mansion and an immense vineyard and no money to run it. It doesn't take long for a bevy of opportunists to flock to the estate under the guise of offering condolences. Tressa knows what they're really up to. She'll have to work with the rough and rusticated vineyard manager to keep the laborers content without pay and discover the key to finding her father's fortune--before someone else finds it first.

This book is about greed and what it can do to people.  Tressa has to find her fathers fortune so they can pay their bills so they don't get kicked off their estate.  Her mother thinks Tressa can just produce the money.  Her ex fiance shows up all contrite for breaking off their engagement.  Her cousin and his wife show up to offer their support.  All the while, all they are doing is searching for the fortune with no intentions of sharing.  Then there's the new estate manager.  Tress doesn't know what to think about him.  Is he after the fortune or does he really want to help.

Parts of the book were good.  Other parts were kind of slow.  Overall, it was an enjoyable book with some twists and turns. 

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

Burden of Proof by DiAnn Mills

Reeling from a negotiation gone wrong, FBI Special Agent April Ramos is caught off guard when a frazzled young woman shoves a crying baby into her arms, then disappears. Worry for the child’s safety quickly turns to fear when a man claiming to be the girl’s father abducts them at gunpoint. April puts her hostage negotiation skills to use to learn more about who she’s dealing with: Jason Snyder, a fugitive accused of murder.

As Jason spins a tall tale about being framed for the killing of his business partner, April must sort through his claims to find the truth. A truth that becomes all the more evident after April overhears a conversation between Jason and the local sheriff and realizes something more sinister may be happening in their small town of Sweet Briar, Texas. But aligning herself with a known fugitive to uncover the burden of proof could cost April her job . . . or worse, her life and the lives of other innocent people.

An edge of your seat story that kept me up late reading.  April is caught in the middle of a baby kidnapping.  Then she gets kidnapped herself.  Her faith and Jason's faith is tested all along the way.  She doesn't know who to believe.  Jason or the law authorities that say he is a murderer. Then to top it all off, she is starting to have feelings for Jason. I really enjoy reading Ms Mills books and this was no exception.  I recommend book to anyone who loves suspense with a little romance thrown in.

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

On Magnolia Lane by Denise Hunter

Pastor Jack McReady has secretly carried a torch for Daisy for two long years. She’s a member of his congregation, after all, and she’ll never see him as more than a trusted counselor. Jack’s best friend Noah has taken every opportunity to encourage his lovesick friend, but when Noah catches wind that Daisy has joined an online dating site, he takes matters into his own hands and orchestrates a meet-cute of the most unconventional kind.
Owner of the local flower shop, Daisy Pendleton is content with her small-town life, but she’d sure like someone to share it with. After several disastrous first dates, she’s about to give up—and then she finds a seemingly wonderful man online. Daisy gets to know TJ through a series of messages but finds herself spending more time with Pastor Jack outside of the church at the same time. What she doesn’t know is that her online prospect and Jack are one and the same.
Just as Daisy’s love life starts to look promising, a mysterious woman appears in town. Daisy is faced with a revelation about her family that turns her world upside down, and she looks to both TJ and Jack for help.
Jack must find a way to reveal himself as her online suitor without breaking her heart and losing her trust. As Daisy faces Jack’s betrayal, she’ll have to learn to extend grace to herself, her family, and the man she’s grown to love.
Jack and Daisy are both looking for love.  Jack knows who he loves Daisy.  But doesn't know how to express himself.  He thinks he's too old for her and besides he's her pastor.  What would people think? Daisy wants to find love.   But where to look?  An interesting read about Jack and Daisy as they come to find love.
On a side note.  I am a pastor's wife and I could relate to how Jack felt about living in a fish bowl.  Pastor's are human beings and have feelings just like everyone else. 
I was given this book by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  I was not compensated in any way.

Called to Protect by Lynette Eason

For the past year, Chloe St. John has been working as a K-9 cop with her German shepherd partner, Hank. After being dumped by her fiancé for another woman, Chloe has decided that Hank is just about the only male she likes. She's over the whole romance thing and focuses her attention on doing her job. Because a serious case of human trafficking with connections to her missing cousin just landed in her lap.

When US Marshall Blake MacCallum's daughter goes missing, he's ordered to kill the judge he's protecting and tell no one about his daughter's disappearance or she will die. Blake races against the clock to rescue his daughter while Chloe and Hank are asked to be a part of the task force assembled to bring down the traffickers. Chloe finds herself attracted to the silent, suffering man, but thanks to her previous bad judgment, she wonders if she can trust him. And can Blake trust himself around this firecracker of a woman?

Bestselling author Lynette Eason warns readers to buckle in for a fast and furious ride that will have their hearts pumping from the very start.

Lynette Eason has done it again.  There is suspense everywhere you turn.  Chloe gets into all kinds of situations where her life is put in danger.  Blake is put in a terrible situation.  Does he kill or does his inaction get his daughter killed.  This is a fast paced story with a little romance thrown in.  I highly recommend this book and look forward to the next installment of this series.

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

A Rebel Heart by Beth White

Five years after the final shot was fired in the War Between the States, Selah Daughtry can barely manage to keep herself, her two younger sisters, and their spinster cousin fed and clothed. With their family's Mississippi plantation swamped by debt and the Big House falling down around them, the only option seems to be giving up their ancestral land.

Pinkerton agent and former Union cavalryman Levi Riggins is investigating a series of robberies and sabotage linked to the impoverished Daughtry plantation. Posing as a hotel management agent for the railroad, he tells Selah he'll help her save her home, but only if it is converted into a hotel. With Selah otherwise engaged with renovations, Levi moves onto the property to "supervise" while he actually attends to his real assignment right under her nose.

Selah isn't sure she entirely trusts the handsome Yankee, but she'd do almost anything to save her home. What she never expected to encounter was his assault on her heart.

An interesting book about the reconstruction in the South after the Civil War.  The animosity between the North and South is alive and well in Mississippi.  The only way for Selah to save her families plantation is to take and bold step.  Even bolder will be people she employs to help her.  I enjoyed this book and recommend it to anyone.  I have never read any books by Beth White.  I will be looking for other books by her.

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

A Vast and Gracious Tide by Lisa Carter

Caden Wallis has suffered several devastating blows that have left him reeling. He’s lost friends and now his girlfriend to the ravages of war. He arrives on the Outer Banks for one final mission—to thank the woman who sent him a quilt while he was recuperating from his wounds at Walter Reed Army Hospital.

McKenna Dockery knows all about loss. She lost her mother at a young age, and her father has never been the same since he came home from his own war. She juggles the family business, her ailing father, and an aging grandmother. Much to Caden’s surprise, she is the quilter—not sTome elderly lady. The quilt was something she’d begun for her future husband but shipped to the military hospital after the tragic death of her fiancé.

When a man is found snared in a net and murdered on McKenna’s property, she and Caden must work together to bring the killer to justice. Each must learn to trust the other, or no one will be safe in the tangled web of conspiracy, greed, and deceit lurking in the tidal marshlands of the Outer Banks. A nor’easter, a sea turtle named Cecil, and a surf-crazy hound named Ginger conspire to bring these two searching hearts together through the vast and gracious tide of God’s love.

McKenna and Caden are both struggling with loss.  McKenna the loss of her fiance and Caden the loss of his leg and his fiances rejection.  Cade's solution will be very final.  McKenna is just living one day at a time.  The book was very enlightening about the effects of life altering changes and how the public react and how that effects the person it happened to.  This was a very good story about love and redemption.  I highly recommend it.  I have never read a book by Lisa Carter.  I look forward to reading her next one.

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