Forever in a Moment by Charlotte O'Shay ~ a Review

by MK French

Samantha DeMartino fell into the life expected of her: she went to the best NYC schools, majored in economics, got a degree in law to work at her parents' firm, and became engaged to the accountant that was working in her mother's half of the family firm. It all fell apart when he called off the wedding two weeks before the date, so Sam went ahead to the Vermont ski trip on her own to figure out what she wanted in life. Jed Armstrong worked on the family farm and as a part-time ski instructor for Deerbourne Inn, and their attraction is instant. But with Sam returning to New York in a week, how can they make it work?

Random Acts of Kindness

by Susan Roberts

In 2014, Dete Meserve wrote a fiction novel called Good Sam about a good Samaritan secretly helping people in need.  Writing this book caused her to become more interested in the goodness in the world and the people who were doing good deeds for other people, often without recognition.  She and Rachel Greco worked together to publish Random Acts of Kindness which is full of stories about real people who help others.  At the same time, she started one of my favorite Facebook sites 'Random Acts of Kindness' where people post about the wonderful things that people do for others.  I must tell you that it's one of my favorite Facebook sites and even though it frequently brings tears to my eyes, it's wonderful to read good news instead of what we hear on the newscasts every day.  Here are my reviews of Good Sam and Random Acts of Kindness.

Celebrate Freedom with These Stories about WWII

by Susan Roberts

Image by Defence-Imagery from Pixabay

I read a lot of books about WWII and there are plenty of new books about this time period to choose from.  What I find so interesting is that very few of them are the same story - there are many people who played important roles in the war and their stories are finally being written about.  Many of these forgotten heroes were women who contributed much to the war effort.  Here are 8 new books set during the war.

Jackson by Emily March ~ a Review & Interview

by MK French

Caroline Carruthers married young to a much older man and didn't have much of an identity outside of the marriage. After her husband's death, she decides to relocate to the small town she had visited. Jackson McBride had returned home after his marriage ended in disaster and he felt at loose ends. They meet and become friends, but over time that deepens into something more.

We Went to the Woods by Caite Dolan-Leach ~ a Review

by MK French

I'm the wrong one to tell our story. I was the late arrival, the last on board, the self-effacing supplement to the lopsided structure of which Louisa and Beau were the main architects. If only it were Beau telling our tale, drawling his way through it, cigarillo dangling from his lips. Or Louisa, nattering on with her breakneck fluency. Best of all, maybe, Jack, with his sculpted insights, frank amazement, arms carving ut a circumference of joy. Chloe could convince anyone that we were beautiful and right and noble to do what we did. Instead, of the five of us, I am the only one left. I was the least important, the watchful cipher who served only as an audience and an extra body, an afterthought. Maybe Beau knew that he would need someone outside their tight quadrilateral, to record and capture them, to witness - an extra point to make a pentagon. After all, he was the only one who knew the ending of the story we all thought we were writing together. p. 3

Surfside Sisters by Nancy Thayer ~ a Review

by Donna Huber

I fell in love with Nancy Thayer's writing when I read The Guest Cottage (read my review), but I haven't had the chance to pick up any of her other books (I bought The Island House last summer in hopes of getting it read. Maybe this year). Because I so wanted to read another one of her wonderful Nantucket tales, I stalked NetGalley until I saw this summer's book, Surfside Sisters, listed.

Best Reads of June

Did you read any good books this month? Which book was your favorite? Donna and Susan their favorite reads of the month and encourage you to add these books to your reading list.