On Folly Beach by Karen White

This is a wonderful novel that bounces back and forth between the early 1940's and present day.  In the 1940's we are dealing with World War 2, relationships, passions, deceit and love.  In the present day we are dealing with loss, change and figuring out a mystery.  White wove these two times together almost seamlessly.  Her characters were vibrant and you could feel all of the emotions -- the hurt, the loss and the love.  When is enough enough and when should you move on?  Questions I am sure we all ask ourselves at one point in time or another.  I have never read anything by White and am looking forward to finding more of her books!!

Decaffeinated Corpse by Cleo Coyle

This was so much better than her last one!!  This time there seems to be as much intrigue as there is murder.  New discoveries lead to secrecy, lying and affairs.  Of course Clare has to get involved and gets her ex mother-in-law involved also.  A couple side stories were there but were not over powering, so it will be interesting to see how she uses them in the future.  A very fun book that left me wanting to know what Clare will get involved in next.

One Small Thing by Jessica Barksdale Inclan

A woman plans her life.  As a child things were rough and this was her way to control things.  It was not going as planned.  She was unable to get pregnant and had been trying for two years.  Then, on the 4th of July her husband gets a phone call that turns their world upside down.  You are not sure how she will handle it and I was surprised at first.  This was very well written and really plays with your emotions.  You are not sure who to stand behind or which way things are going to go.  The whole thing makes you wonder how you would react in the same situation.

Married in Seattle by Debbie Macomber

This was two short stories.  One was about a grandfather arranging a marriage for his granddaughter.  The other about a daughter taking out an add on a dating site for her mother.  Neither of them were very good.  I was rather disappointed knowing how much I enjoy her books.  The story lines were a little lame, there was not much flow in the writing and there was no depth.

The Walkabouts by Mike Saunders

Subtitle: A Family at Sea -- What an interesting read.  The biggest reason I was reading it was because it met the requirements for this months world literature challenge of Sub-sahara and I fell in love with it.  The family was not happy with how things were going in Rhodesia so they decided to sail to England.  They had never done anything like this and there was a huge learning curve.  They were working on the boat in the most unpleasant conditions and started sailing in conditions that were not much better.  Many things broke, there was illness, but also a feeling of accomplishment.  At times the boat and weather really wore them out, but they had some amazing experiences.  Not something that is on my bucket list, but what a well written adventure.

Fonduing Fathers by Julie Hyzy

This time Ollie is trying to figure out what happened to her father 25 years ago.  She has never been satisfied with what her mother had told her.  Needless to say, she gets into some hot water, meets some interesting people and does get to the bottom of things.  There truly is never a dull moment.  The other thing happening through out the book is the development in her relationship with Gav.  I do hope that this was not the last book of the series, because I want more, much, much more.  Hyzy does a great job with the story line, bringing other characters in without a lot of extra garbage and developing the characters that are all ready there.

The Postmistress by Sarah Blake

This takes place near the beginning of World War 2 and follows three people.  There is the postmistress, a radio gal and a woman whose husband goes to help.  This is not about war action as much as it is about things going on while the war is happening.  Blake layered the stories well and you could feel the helplessness of the people and the frustration.  Time and again you just need to keep on moving and hope to get through each situation to the next.  A bit long at times, but nice to have a different perspective during war time.

Murder Most Frothy by Cleo Coyle

This was not as good as her others.  There were a lot of back stories that I felt never really helped the story line.  On top of that, Clair, who likes to play detective, puts herself in some very, very unrealistic situations.  Some of the main characters were not working well together and I just wanted to bash their heads in.  I know that I will read more of the series, I just hope they are better than this one.