Linda Reads: You’re The One By Robin Kaye

This is book two in Robin Kaye’s Bad Boys of Red Hook series.  They do not have to be read in order.  Book one is Back To You and is available at the Cheshire Library.  The series concentrates on three men who bounced around the foster care system until a New York cop took them under his wing.

You’re The One centers around Logan Blaise, the manager of a successful Napa Valley winery.  He’s engaged to the winery’s owner’s daughter and living the high life.  When his foster father becomes ill, Logan heads back to New York to temporarily oversee his father’s restaurant, the Crow’s Nest.  No sooner does he arrive, the chef has a family emergency and has to quit.

Skye Maxwell comes from a famous restaurant family in San Francisco.  She has four brothers who were gifted with their own restaurants on their 30th birthday.  Being an exceptional chef, all Skye has ever wanted was a kitchen/restaurant of her own and she expects to receive her own restaurant on her 30th birthday.   Instead, she is promoted to Business Manager of all the family restaurants.   Devastated,  she very quietly and secretly disappears.  She heads to New York City, hoping  to find a job as a chef on her own merits, not on her family’s reputation.   She ends up in Brooklyn and stumbles upon the chef wanted sign in the Crow’s Nest’s window.

Right away there is an attraction between Logan and Skye – a love/hate attraction.  Both characters have to overcome formidable obstacles in their pursuit of love, happiness, independence, and acceptance.  Both have families interfering with their journey, both have self-doubts to overcome, but neither one can deny the incredible chemistry that exists between them.

Ms. Kaye writes a heartwarming, believable story set in the wonderful backdrop of Brooklyn and San Francisco.  It is warm, funny and very entertaining.  Secondary characters add another interesting layer to a very well-written story.

Linda reads : The Apple Orchard by Susan Wiggs

New York Times Bestselling Author Susan Wiggs has written more than 40 novels and she has another winner with The Apple OrchardThis is the first book in a new series.

The reader is introduced to the world of an auction house provenance specialist.  This is a person who finds lost heirlooms – jewelry, china, pottery, artwork – authenticates it, and returns it to its rightful owner or auctions it for the owner.  It is a fascinating line of work and the character of Tess Delaney adds her own family history to this intriguing novel.

Tess knows nothing about her father, and her mother was pretty much absent in her life.  She was raised by a grandmother who died when Tess was in her teens.  She enjoys the process of researching a family’s history in order to track down the heirlooms because she has no family history of her own.   Her life in San Francisco is going well, with a big promotion in the works and lots of friends.  But things turn upside down when banker Domenic Rossi comes calling to tell her a grandfather she never knew she had is in a coma and that his will has named her to receive half of his estate, with the other half going to a sister she didn’t know she had.  Tess takes a leave of absence to visit the estate – Bella Vista, a hundred-acre apple orchard located in the Sonoma Valley town of Archangel.

The story takes place in present day, but the reader is taken back to World War II and the occupation of Denmark through flashbacks to learn about Tess’s grandfather and, ultimately, the father Tess never knew.  Tess’s half sister is a wonderful cook and each of the book’s ten parts starts with a recipe that incorporates apples, wine, or a dish from the region.  The orchard is in danger of foreclosure and Tess is uncomfortable with her new found family and the situation and is determined to return to her job.  But she didn’t count on falling in love with the estate, new family, the lifestyle and the banker.  She learns to enjoy the simple pleasures of food and family, nature, and all the new experiences she has encountered.  She finally learns that she indeed has a family history that is rich in tradition, loyalty, and love.

This is an insightful family drama that is well-written.  Ms. Wiggs does an outstanding job of intertwining the present and the past.  The reader is immersed in beautiful settings with lush descriptions and vivid details.  The characters are complex, captivating and vibrant.  It’s a very enjoyable book about love and family with fascinating historic details and beautiful romances.

Author Profile: Bella Andre

bella andre

Bella Andre

New York Times and USA Today best-selling author Bella Andre is one of the rare self-published phenomenons who has become an ebook millionaire.   She recently signed a groundbreaking 7-figure print-only deal with Harlequin MIRA for her Sullivan series.  They will be released in mass market paperback in a global launch with continuous back-to-back releases from June 2013 to April 2014.

She started out writing songs, then non-fiction books.  When she wrote her first Romance novel, she knew she’d found her perfect career.  She’s a savvy marketer who works non-stop to improve the sales of her titles.  When she released her first original self-published story in July 2010, she wrote a personal email to everyone who had ever written to her in the last five years to get the word out.  She is known for her sensual stories with sizzling alpha heroes and strong women.

Besides writing, her favorite things to do are reading her favorite authors, hiking, and swimming.  She is married with two children and splits her time between Northern California and a 100 year old cabin in the Adirondacks.

Available (or soon to be) at our library:

Sullivan Brothers Series

The Look of Love

From This Moment On

Can’t Help Falling In Love

*Coming Soon*

I Only Have Eyes for You
If You Were Mine
Let Me Be The One
Come A Little Bit Closer
The Way You Look Tonight
Book 10    coming Fall 2013

Also Available:

Hot As Sin

Never Too Hot

Wild Heat

Ebook (Overdrive Catalog) – Candy Store

2013 RITA Awards Honor the Best in Romance

Each year the Romance Writers of America (RWA), the trade association for aspiring and published romance fiction authors — recognizes excellence in romance novels and novellas. The 2013 Rita Awards were announced in July, here are some of the titles now available at Cheshire Library.

Contemporary  Romance Winner

The Way Back Home by Barbara Freethy. Ex-Marine Gabe Ryder has lost a lot in his life. His mother died when he was a toddler. His father succumbed to alcoholism. And a week before their last day of service, a horrific firefight takes the life of his best friend. Gabe must fulfill his friend’s dying wish by helping Rob’s twin sister, Alicia.

Historical Romance Winner

A Rogue by Any Other Name by Sarah MacLean. The scintillating story of a disgraced Marquess reduced to running a London gambling hall who hopes to restore his good fortune by marrying a very proper lady who’s secretly drawn to sin. The first book in the new “Fallen Angels” series.

Inspirational Romance Winner

Against the Tide by Elizabeth Camden.  Lydia Pallas, a translator for the U.S. Navy, is hired by Alexander Banebridge, or “Bane,” a man who equally attracts and aggravates her, to translate a seemingly innocuous collection of European documents, and finds herself in the middle of a secret war against some of the most dangerous criminals on the East Coast.

Romantic Suspense Winner

Scorched by Laura Griffin. When her investigation of a find from a remote Philippines dig leads her to the scene of her ex-fiancé’s murder, forensic anthropologist Kelsey Quinn turns to Navy SEAL Gage Brewer for help in unraveling a deadly conspiracy.

Young Adult Romance Winner

The Farm by Emily McKay. Life was different in the Before: before vampires began devouring humans in a swarm across America; before the surviving young people were rounded up and quarantined. And when trust is a thing of the past, escape is nearly impossible. Lily and her twin sister Mel have a plan. Though Mel can barely communicate, her autism helps her notice things no one else notices. Carter was a schoolmate of Lily’s in the Before. He has valuable knowledge of the outside world, But like everyone on the Farm, he has his own agenda.

On Our Shelves: New Fiction & Non-Fiction

New Fiction

 Snow Hunters by Paul Yoon – This is the story of the extraordinary journey of Yohan, who defects from his country at the end of the Korean War, leaving his friends and family behind to seek a new life on the coast of Brazil.

The Gravity of Birds by Tracy Guzeman – A family lake house, two sisters, and a young painter living next door – the decisions they make one summer will have lasting effects for all of them.

The Rathbones by Janice Clark – A gothic, literary adventure set in New England, Janice Clark’s haunting debut chronicles one hundred years of a once prosperous and now crumbling whaling family, told by its last surviving member.

The Queens Gambit by Elizabeth Fremantle – A tale inspired by the life of Henry VIII’s sixth wife follows her reluctant marriage to the egotistical and powerful king in spite of her love for Thomas Seymour, a situation that compels her to make careful choices in a treacherous court.

Little Black Book of Murder by Nancy Martin – Nora Blackbird may have been to the manor borne, but these days money is so tight, she can’t afford to lose her job as a society columnist. So when her new boss at the Philadelphia Intelligencer—Australian tabloid editor Gus Hardwicke—tells her to work the celebrity gossip beat or start checking the want ads, the choice is easy.

New Non-Fiction

 Boy 30529 by Felix Weinberg – Born into a respectable Czech family, Felix’s early years were idyllic. But when Nazi persecution threatened in 1938, his father traveled to England, hoping to arrange for his family to emigrate there. His efforts came too late, and his wife and children fell into the hands of the Fascist occupiers.

Nine Years Under by Sheri Booker – “Six Feet Under” meets The Wire in a dazzling and darkly comic memoir about coming-of-age in a black funeral home in Baltimore.

The Art of Thinking Clearly by Rolf Dobelli – This book by world-class thinker and entrepreneur Rolf Dobelli is an eye-opening look at human psychology and reasoning — essential reading for anyone who wants to avoid “cognitive errors” and make better choices in all aspects of their lives.

Serving Victoria by Kate Hubbard – Serving Victoria follows the lives of six members of her household, from the governess to the royal children, from her maid of honor to her chaplain and her personal physician.

Stonehenge – A New Understanding by Mike Pearson – Despite its being one of prehistory’s most alluring landmarks, before the Stonehenge Riverside Project led by noted archeologist Mike Parker Pearson, only half of Stonehenge itself—and far less of its surroundings—had ever been investigated, and many records from previous digs are inaccurate or incomplete.

New Romance

 Castaway Cove by JoAnn Ross – Single dad Mac Culhane has traveled to some of the world’s most dangerous war zones, but now he and his young daughter have settled in Shelter Bay, where he’s become the late-night DJ for the local radio station. The last thing he expects is to connect over the airwaves with a caller….

Behind His Blue Eyes by Kaki Warner – The first in a brand-new Western trilogy set in Heartbreak, Colorado, starring an advance man for the railroad—and the woman whose trust (and heart) he longs to win.

Midnight Games by Elle Kennedy – A master of disguise, Isabel Roma spends her life pretending to be other women.  Normally, her emotions are reined in tight—but sexy mercenary Trevor Callaghan has a knack for getting under her skin. The elite operative’s quiet strength and raw magnetism are a distraction that can quickly turn deadly in their dangerous line of work…

Surrender to Sultry by Mary Beckett – How do you stay under the sheriff’s radar in a town that prides itself on knowing everyone’s business? Leah’s not sure it’s possible, but she’s determined to avoid Colton Bea for as long as she can. Seeing him again would be too heartbreaking-and she knows from experience his bone-melting kisses are way too tempting.

Cowboy Seeks Bride by Carolyn Brown – Rancher Dewar O’Donnell is just an old-fashioned cowboy at heart, and he can’t wait to reenact the historic Chisholm Trail ride with his buddies. The trial-run cattle drive for a reality TV show sounds like a great time—until H.B. McKay pulls up in her slick red sports car…