Flabbergasted by Ray Blackston

A nice little piece of fluff to pass the time.

Hurricane by Karen Harper

Julie Minton runs a camp for self-abusive girls in south-western Florida. It is the hurricane season and she needs to make sure her girls get home to the mid-west ok. When her 14-year-old daughter takes off on a jet ski with 17-year-old Thad Brockman who she barely knows, unbeknown to Julie, tempers begin to shorten and when they don't show up in a reasonable length of time, fear sets in. Local authorities are busy evacuating residents and don't have time to look for the missing kids, who they don't consider missing yet. Thad's father, Zack, and Julie begin an all out search for the kids. Threats and bodies start appearing and the storm is a category three. Batten down the hatches! Harper writes a page-turning tale of life in the semi-tropics. A good read.

Becoming Lucy by Martha Rogers

Seventeen-year-old Lucinda Bishop arrives in Oklahoma to live with her aunt and uncle after her parents die. Ranch life is a real change from Boston but she is determined, with God's help, to adjust to ranch life. Also on the ranch is drifter Jake Starnes, running from the past. When the two are attracted to each other, Jake makes a double decision to embrace Christianity and go back to Texas to turn himself in for murder. Will Jake return? Will Lucinda have faith that God's will might be done? Will justice reign? A good story exploring the true meaning of love and forgiveness.

Painted Ponies by Amanda Harte

Recovering from injuries from a fire, Anne Moreland returns home after a year, hoping to get back to normal. But nothing is normal. Her twin Jane is involved with someone her family doesn't approve of; her brother is married; and nothing is the same. Attracted to a wood carver who is creating a carousel for her, she resists change. A piece of fluff.

A McKettrick Christmas by Linda Lael Miller

Lizzie McKettrick is returning to Indian Rock with Whitley Carson who she suspects will ask her to marry him. When the train is assaulted by heavy snows in an avalanche, Whitley's true colors show and Lizzie finds herself drawn to young Doctor Morgan Shane. With the engineer and the conductor killed in the wreck, some of the passengers hurt or sick, Lizzie and Dr Shane step up to the task of caring for them. Praying that the McKettrick clan is on the way to the rescue, Lizzie experiences a miracle of Christmas. Heart-warming story of family love and caring.

Explosive Eighteen by Janet Evanovich

Stephanie Plum is returning from Hawaii with an envelope in her bag she didn't have when she left. Now her seatmate is dead, and she is being chased by pseudo-FBI agents, real FBI agents and one scary Razzle Dazzle who is determined to do her in for the picture in the envelope. Only she doesn't have the picture any more. Trying to do her job as bail bondsman, her car is stolen by Big Buggy repeatedly, Lula falls for one of the skips, the temporary headquarters goes up in flames and horror of horrors, Joyce Barnhardt moves into Stephanie's apartment. Joe Morelli and Ranger seem to be eyeing each other warily. Evanovich continues to create chaos for Stephanie Plum, bail bondsman.

Mr. Paradise by Elmore Leonard

Eighty-four-year-old Detroit lawyer Tony Paradiso (Mr. Paradise) has manipulated people for years. Kelly and Chloe are roommates. Kelly is a Victoria's Secret lingerie model and Chloe is a paid escort of Mr. Paradise's. Montez and Lloyd are former cons, working for Mr. Paradise as gofer and house man. One evening, with the girls as entertainment, Mr. Paradise and Chloe are murdered. The plot thickens, Montez is angry. He has been written out of the will. Lloyd is playing it safe. Kelly is playing the field. Enter Homicide Detective Frank Delsa, with a double murder on his hands. Who has motive? Will Det. Delsa fall for Kelly's charms? Does Montez get revenge? Is Lloyd as innocent as he portrays? Leonard writes a challenging mystery with plenty of dialogue and action. A good read.

Montana Creeds: Tyler by Linda Lael Miller

Tyler Creed, the youngest of the Creed brothers is ready to return home, mend some fences and see if Lily Ryder Kenyon is around. An old girlfriend has a 13 year-old son who just might be Tyler's boy and guess what. Davie's mother wants Tyler to raise him. Lily is back with her father, local vet who is recovering from a heart attack and her daughter Tess. Husband flew into a bridge a couple of years ago and Lily is rather at loose ends. When Tyler and Lily get together, the sparks fly, hormones are raging and testosterone is at an all time high. A racy read. A good third book in the series.

Montana Creeds: Dylan by Linda Lael Miller

Leaving a rodeo life of riding bulls and romancing women, Dylan is ready to pack it in. Needing to make amends with his brothers, Logan and Tyler, he arrives home with a two-year old daughter, Bonnie, in tow. Bonnie's mother is too busy with her life to be a mom and expects Dylan to step in and become the father he hasn't yet been. When romance blooms again with old girlfriend Kristy Madison, Dylan's life gets even more complicated. Miller sprinkles this story with a mystery. Someone is breaking into Kristy's house and leaving threatening e-mails. The local sheriff announces that he thinks there is a body buried with her old horse on the home place where she used to live and wants permission to exhume the horse's grave. A great second story in the series.

Montana Creeds: Logan by Linda Lael Miller

Logan Creed has finally returned to the old home place, ready to settle down. Now a lawyer, ex-rodeo man and from a family of brawlers, he is ready to mend fences. Briana Grant, divorced mom, has been living in Dylan (brother of Logan) Creed's house while he is gone. Dylan rescued her when her ex-husband left her and their boys in the Walmart parking lot. Logan and Briana are definitely attracted to each other. When her ex reappears and her home is vandalized, Logan comes to the rescue, bonding with her boys and wanting to make her his third and final wife. Miller writes good romantic fiction, and this western is great.

Wild Horses by Linda Byler

Sadie Miller has a history with horses. The family moving reluctantly with Dat to Montana, she is 21 and not yet ready to give up her dream of having her own horse. Dat is not crazy about the idea. Her Mamm seems to be ailing but Dat says there is nothing wrong. When she encounters a dying horse on her way to work, she also meets Mark Peight who catches her eye. Her employer at the ranch encourages her to tend to the horse and thus the tale begins. Wild horses are rumored to be causing trouble among the ranchers, and talk of registered horses being stolen are circulated. Mamm is getting worse, Dat doesn't want to recognize there's a problem, the kinner are fearful that their home is falling apart. Byler writes a story that leaves the reader wanting more. Can hardly wait for the second book.

The Christmas Wedding by James Patterson and Richard DiLallo

Widow Gaby Summerhill has surprised her four grown children with a video stating that she is going to get married Christmas Day. Always supportive of her community and family, she has three men who have proposed to her and she is making them wait until THE DAY of the wedding to tell them who the lucky man is. Patterson and DiLallo write an amusing and compelling story of family relations and interaction, leaving the reader with longing for more of the story when you reach the end. A great little Christmas story.

Ice Station by Peter Tonkin

Richard Mariner has responded to a call to Ice Station Zemlya in need of assistance. The floating Russian nuclear facility has lost some key people due to apparent accidents and is attempting to dock at Leningradskiy. An approaching ice storm is cause for alarm and when people keep disappearing or dying Mariner is suspicious that there is more going on than appears on the surface. An intriguing tale of modern cooperation between nations in the nuclear age. A good read.

Lilly's Wedding Quilt by Kelly Long

Lilly Lapp finds herself engaged to be married to a man she has loved from afar, Jacob Wyse, due to an unfortunate chain of circumstances. Jacob has loved Sarah King, but when she marries another, his heart seems broken. Can he find true love with Lilly? Will his impulsiveness ruin two lives instead of one. Can Lilly adjust to married life with a man she isn't at all sure of? Long writes a spicy little novel of life in the Plain community. A good read.

The Harvest of Grace by Cindy Woodsmall

Sylvia Fisher, the oldest in her family and only girl, loves her cows and her Daed lets her plan and run the dairy part of the farming. She also thinks Elam is wanting to marry her, but is she ready to get married, living with a man who wants to be in charge? Aaron Blank has been dry for six months now, and he wants to go back to his father's farm to talk them into moving to town and sell plain appliances. Since there are no other siblings, he feels they may be willing to sell the farm but he has not reckoned with Sylvia, now the hired hand. Woodsmall also winds up Lena and Ephriam's courtship as well and Israel and Ada's. A good ending to this trilogy. I enjoyed it very much.

Zero Day by David Baldacci

Military investigator John Puller has been assigned a case involving the murder of a military person and his family in the small town of Drake, West Virginia. The local sergeant Samantha (Sam) Cole welcomes Puller's help and assistance. Puller is nothing if not thorough and the clues don't make any sense. Stubborn as a mule, he keeps digging as yet more people are killed with two attempts on his life as well. This reader predicts that John Puller will be found in more of Baldacci's novels. A thrilling page-turner, hard to put down.

Bullets in the Sun by Robert J Horton

First appeared as a serial in 1931. When the county sheriff arrives in Sunrise and inquires about a man named Bovert, curiosity and rumors spread. Gambler Dan Farlin and his daughter Gladys are wanting to head south to ranch and better climes but he needs money to pay for the ranch. Big Tom Lester runs the Red Arrow saloon and the town of Sunrise. Outlaw Ed Lawson has special immunity in Sunrise, therefore he leaves the town alone. Lester approaches Farlin with a deal to get fast money and Dan feels this is his only answer to getting Gladys out of this town. Bovert, or Jim Bond, arrives and starts to stir things up. Not a bad read.

Just Go With It (DVD)

Potty humor. Not too funny. Jennifer Aniston does a good job as Sandler's assistant Kathryn. He is supposed to be Danny Maccabee, a plastic surgeon, but is more interested in "animal house" type behavior. Having been left at the altar, he pretends to be married to pick up women, then love 'em and leave 'em. When me meets the girl-of-his-dreams, his lies catch up with him. Watch if you must.

The Ambler Warning by Robert Ludlum

Another "secret government installation" holds men prisoner, either because they are mad or because they are to be silenced. Having special talents, Harrison Ambler is a special security risk. When a helpful sympathetic nurse gives him the opportunity to escape, he takes it and heads for what he thinks is home. To his astonishment, no one recognizes him. Nothing is as it is supposed to be. And there are unknown enemies closing in on him. Turning again to the sympathetic nurse he spends thirty-three chapters searching, looking for his past, and embroiled in government deception, murderous plots, and continental flight. An ok read.

The Ballad of Tom Dooley by Sharyn McCrumb

Based on history, McCrumb spins a tale of jealousy, deceit, and murder following the events of the early spring of 1866 and Pauline Foster, kin to Ann Foster Melton whose lover was Tom Dula (Dooley). Mountain life in Wilkes county after the war was harsh, most of the young men lost in battle, single women had to do what they had to to survive. The song of Tom Dooley romanticizes his life, but in actuality, he seems to have been a loner, not much for working, and a lover of the ladies. Very interesting, moves right along, hard to put down. A good read.

Son of Stone by Stuart Woods

Stone Barrington and former love Arrington Calder are reunited. Their son Peter has big plans and ages two years with a phone call. When Arrington is murdered, Stone finds Arrington has left him in charge. An ok story, not much action.

First Grave on the Right by Darynda Jones

Forget the vampires. Charlotte "Charley" Davidson is the "grim reaper." Helping to enable people to pass over to the "other side," she poses as a Private Investigator to cover the conversations she has with dead people, usually ones who have been murdered. To complicate things, she seems to have a thing for a really "hot" supernatural being. Interesting concept. An ok read if you like this sort of thing.

The Litigators by John Grisham

David Zinc has worked for the Rogan Rothberg company, one of six hundred lawyers working fifteen hours a day 24-7. He arrives at work one morning, burned out, dreading one more day of work for this firm, turns around and heads out, not clear what he is going to do with his wife and for a job, but he has had it. Hitting a local bar, he proceeds to get plastered, in a nice way and the bartender finally calls a cab and sends him on his way. Seeing an ad for a couple of ambulance chasers, Finley & Figg, he tells the cab driver to take him there. When he gets there, he stumbles in, announces that he wants to go to work for them and collapses on the couch.

Grisham pens the greatest tongue-in-cheek novel about down-on-their-luck lawyers and how a really good guy (David Zinc of course) becomes an amazing litigator determined to do a good job. I recommend this latest novel. You will be highly entertained.

Shogun by James Clavell

Clavell writes a compelling history of Japan in the 1500's. An island unto itself, thousands of years of samurai and Emperors, Japan even today is affected by the beliefs and ideas of it's people and it's past. The reader follows the passage of an English ship, captained by a brave man, shipwrecked on Japan and assimilated into the people. A very interesting, a real page-turner.