Driftwood Bay - Irene Hannon

After tragedy robs her of everyone she loves, Jeannette Mason retreats to the tiny Oregon seaside town of Hope Harbor to create a new life. Vowing to avoid emotional attachments, she focuses on running her lavender farm and tea-room – until a new neighbour with a destructive dog and a forlorn little girl invades her turf. But she needn’t worry. Dr Logan West is too busy coping with an unexpected family, a radical lifestyle change, and an unruly pup to have any interest in his neighbour.  Yet when both Jeanette and Logan find themselves pulled into the life of a tattered Christian family fleeting persecution in war-torn Syria, might they discover that love sometimes comes calling when it’s least expected.

I’ve long enjoyed Irene Hannon’s suspense novels, but I’m now really enjoying her contemporary romances too despite this not being a preferred genre for my reading choices.  Pre-disposed to be uninspired by a ‘single dad, sad daughter and tearaway dog with an interesting but ‘uninterested’ female neighbour’ book I found that I was actually swept up into the story right from the start.  This is not a twee romance, it deals with some difficult issues, some of which we aren’t really aware of for some time into the book.  As well as the story of Jeanette and Logan’s growing  friendship, we also meet a refugee family who are trying to come to terms with the traumas of their past and find their feet in a new country and community.  All of the threads are woven together really well, and I came to be very fond of all of the characters.  Current issues for churches and families are well addressed here, but without being heavy-handed or preachy.  This was my first visit to Hope Harbor, but I’m ready to find another of Irene Hannon’s books set there and get to know some of the other residents.

9780800728816 Paperback, 2 May 19

Flight of the Raven - Morgan L Busse

Catalogue copy: Selene Ravenwood, one the heir to House Ravenwood, is now an exile. On the run and free from her family’s destiny, Selene hopes to find the real reason her family was given the gift of dreamwalking. But first she must adapt to her new life as wife to Lord Damien Maris, the man she was originally assigned to kill.

When I began the first in the Ravenwood Saga Mark of the Raven I wasn’t sure I’d actually enjoy it but I did – it was a tremendous read.  (In fact, it has just won an INSPY Award, so a lot of bloggers clearly loved it too.)  So when I saw the second was due out, I was keen to read it and I think it’s an even better read than the first.

In Mark of the Raven we met Selene Ravenwood and her fierce and dangerous mother Lady Ragna. House Ravenwood appears to outsiders to be a house which has lost its gift and is therefore in decline, but this is far from the truth. As Selene comes into her powers as a dreamwalker she finds herself at the mercy of her mother’s political manoeuvring. Before long she stands in a terrible position and must make a life-changing decision. If you’ve not read the book, I strongly recommend doing so before coming back to read Flight of the Raven.

Without giving away any details of the when, why or how, at the start of Flight of the Raven Selene finds herself abruptly married to a man she barely knows, cut off from her own past and people, and undertaking a dangerous journey with a group who are largely strangers to her.

Despite now being Lady Maris, her Ravenwood gift of dreamwalking is strengthening.  But her dreams take her to dark places as well as light, and nightmares fill her sleep.  As she learns to adapt to her new situation, the world she has left behind grows in menace and the threat to both Selene and her new people – not to mention the other Great Houses – is growing.

I loved this book. The relationship between Damien and Selene is wonderfully written and develops in a way to please any romance reader. The world which Morgan Busse has created and the powers and people of the various Houses is beautifully detailed and never disappoints.  Good and wicked characters are equally well and believably described, and in this world bad things do happen to good people.  There’s an element of the fairy story about this series, but not in a cute Disney way. This is a fast-paced read and it can genuinely be referred to as epic.  I’m really, REALLY looking forward to the third book in the series, due out next year, and to finding out how Lady Selene fulfils her calling.

A five star recommendation to any lover of fantasy, and an excellent introduction to the genre for anyone looking to widen their fiction reading range.

Wooing Cadie McCaffrey by Bethany Turner

Catalogue copy: After four years with her boyfriend, Cadie McCaffrey is thinking of ending things. Convinced Will doesn’t  love her in the ‘forever’ way she loves him, Cadie believes it’s time for her to let him go before life passes her by.

And so begins the second of Bethany Turner’s entertaining ‘chick lit’ novels.  

I really enjoyed The Secret Life of Sarah Hollenbeck, so I was looking forward to this new novel and generally I was not disappointed. Like the first novel, this one is an out and out romance, with quite a bit of ‘sizzle’ and some outright ‘scorching’ moments.  The story is mostly told from Cadie’s perspective, with large elements of Will’s point of view too. 

The story rolls along briskly, and is compelling reading.  I read it from cover to cover in one sitting, and at the end I felt the way you do when you come out of the cinema after seeing a good film.  Quietly happy.  And I LOVED the final main scene in the book – ie. the one before the epilogue. I liked the peripheral characters, especially Kevin and Ellis, and I really warmed to Will, and was happy to see his career build throughout the story.  

But oh golly, was Cadie irritating at times! She had a tendency to come across as one of those film characters who’s determined to get her own way and yet ironically was angry with Will when she believed that he was manipulating situations to influence her.  I also found her respected role in her office surprising considering the amount of time at work which she spent flirting with Will or weeping on the shoulders of her best friend and colleague Darby.

Furthermore, the way Cadie referred to her parents, and Will’s references to them, seemed at real odds to the people we eventually meet in the story.  Nor do I really understand Will’s actions in relation to his connections with them.  And the incident with the box just seemed rather stupid of him!!  In terms of ‘things I don’t get’, I also found the idea of Will stopping in his apartment block stairwell to bow his head and close his eyes to pray was weird.  But that is probably just me.

Despite the above comments on our heroine and hero's shortcomings I'd definitely recommend this as a fun holiday read.  It's a compelling story, and there are lots of interesting characters besides the two ‘leads’.  And if you like to be annoyed by your leading lady, then it’s absolutely perfect!