The Songweaver's Vow

There are countless fictionalized tales of Greek and Roman mythology, but hardly any on Norse Mythology. Central Indiana author, Laura VanArendonk Baugh, seeks to remedy that with this compelling and fantastical tale full of Viking lore and adventure. Euthalia is excited to travel with her merchant father but when Vikings attack and her father trades her off to the enemy in an attempt to save his own skin, she has to hope that she'll be taken for a bride rather than a slave or a sacrifice. She is given to a god as a bride so she is lucky... to an extent. Her new husband seems decent, but he only visit her at night and won't let her look upon him. Euthalia spends her nights with her mysterious husband and her days telling Greek legends and tales to the Norse gods. She gets a reputation as a storyteller and all seems well. That is, until one of her stories inspires a god's murder and she discovers that her husband might really be a monster. What follows is a horrific retribution and Euthalia finds herself caught in the middle of it with no allies in Asgard. Euthalia must seek help with a spiteful goddess to sway Odin, discover the truth about her husband, and save Loki before bloody tragedy opens Ragnarok, the prophesied end of the world.

Casino Royale

A quick and dirty summary for those of you not familiar with the world of James Bond. This is the first in the series and it introduces us to a suave, calm and collected secret agent who is being sent to France to play high-stakes baccarat in order to knock Le Chiffre and his organization down a few pegs. His superiors send a woman to "assist" him and he finds her distracting. He wants to bed her, but her presence annoys her (she belongs in a kitchen.... eye roll). I wish I could give this 5 stars, but the sexism factor is quite high! I know, I know, it's a product of it's time, but man! It was a lot! The movie follows this book fairly closely so I knew a lot going into it, but I still really enjoyed it! I listened to the audiobook which had a superb English narrator. It really helped set the tone for me.  

Mending Broken Roads

Mending Broken Roads is a sweet Christian romance about a plus size woman with no friends or family (besides an abusive aunt) who decides to finally leave her hometown of Indianapolis. Callie no longer has anything holding her back so she decides to randomly point at a map and go wherever her finger lands. She ends up in Edenton Bay, North Carolina with no plans other than a fresh start. Callie has been saddled with grief from the loss of her parents and shame at her looks and the way she was treated by her aunt. Callie vows that this fresh start will turn her life around. During her first week in Edenton Bay she meets a handsome man at grief group but decides pretty quickly that he could never be interested in a fat girl like her. Colt strongly disagrees; he thinks she is beautiful, no matter what her size is and works hard to make Callie like him. He invites her to live in an empty cabin at his ranch and help out with the horses as rent. Not having any other plans, Callie decides to move onto Redemption Ranch. Working alongside each other every day becomes a joy and their attraction to each other is palpable. However, Callie is so filled with self-doubt that she is certain tat he doesn't want to purse anything other than a friendship with her. What will it take to heal her heart and allow her to trust Colt? This debut novel is the first in a series by local author, Elizabeth Woodrow, who currently resides in Whiteland, Indiana. A quick inspirational read that is a little light on editing but heavy on heart. 

Camino Island

I always thought that Grisham was this big literary giant, but the storytelling is... kind of flat. It opened up very promising, right in the middle of the action and then it just.... was. There isn't much guesswork or mystery, it's fairly flat. The premise is that Fitzgerald's manuscripts have been stolen from Princeton's library by a bunch of amateur bad guys who want to flip them for some serious money. Enter Mercer, a broke barely getting by author who is contacted by an insurance company to act as a spy... it's as ridiculous as it sounds. Mercer has the "perfect alibi" so she was recruited to spy on the main "suspect" Bruce. Bruce wasn't the man who stole the manuscripts but he is a bookstore owner who dabbles in stolen and rare books. I mean. It was fine. Maybe I will read the next, but I am not rushing into it. 

Cat Poems

Maybe I don't really like poetry or maybe I just didn't like these poems. It was an ok collection but there were really only 4 or 5 that I actually enjoyed. Some seemed like a bit of a stretch to include. An ok book, but one I doubt I will pick up again. 

The Strawberry Patch Pancake House

This series continues to be fun and adorable. The fourth book in the Dream Harbor series focuses on Iris, a flighty and fun job hopping diva that can't seem to commit and Archer, a world travelling chef who has just received some world changing news. Archer just discovered that he is the father to a precious five year old girl he never knew existed. When her mother is tragically killed in an accident he is found listed on the birth certificate. He drops everything to fly into Dream Harbor and meet his daughter. In order to get custody he has to live in town so he quits his fancy culinary job to become a small time diner cook and a full time dad. He hired Iris to be his live in nanny while he figures things out and boy are sparks flying between the two. They better both figure out what they really want though because they don't need to mess with Archer's daughter's heart. Charming single dad romance. Loved it!