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Garden Spells

This book is exactly like Practical Magic but less scary.  Two sisters are part of a family well known for their “abilities”.  One sister has stayed in the old family home making use of the garden to create unique dishes for her catering business.  The other estranged sister shows up after many years with a daughter needing a place to stay (sound familiar?).  A new neighbor takes an interest in one of the sisters which she tries to dissuade. The story is cute, sweet, and a short read if that is something you are looking for.

Come Sundown

Nora Roberts has always been a guilty pleasure of mine.  The fact that I haven’t put any of her books on my lists so far is something you should give me credit for.  This story has the romance like usual but also some murders, a captive, and mysteries too.  Set in Montana, a family runs a very successful ranch and upscale resort.  A close family friend comes back to work at the ranch when mysterious murders start occurring leading to a decades-old family mystery.

She Regrets Nothing

I really didn’t like the majority of this book but at least it got more interesting at the end.  Most of the book is about a wealthy, well-known family of which one daughter is a hard-worker.  The other two siblings are twin socialites who annoy the reader along with a long-lost power climber cousin who believes the only way to get ahead in life is through marriage.  In the end, something happens to one of the siblings you really didn’t see coming and the rest of the book is sorting through what actually happened.  The end is the only saving grace of this story.

The Great Alone

A great book that deserves 4 stars but I couldn’t get over the anger I felt toward the main character’s mother.   I don’t understand why women stay in abusive relationships, I don’t get it, especially when children are involved.  Otherwise, the story was very well written. A family in the ’70s spontaneously decides to head for Alaska to homestead.  They arrive with very little funds and are completely unprepared.  Their sparse neighbors help them learn how to survive the Alaskan winter and make a home.  The father’s nightmares and problems dealing with reality after being a Vietnam POW continue in Alaska.  The main character takes you through her childhood to eventually having a child of her own.

Check out what I read for the month of May.