Cathy Maxwell

Cathy Maxwell's series called Marriage has been my latest conquest. The three books in that series are:
1. Married in Haste
2. A Scandalous Marriage
3. The Marriage Contract
Fabulous. Wonderful. Terrific. The writing was easy to follow, there were no unnecessary added tidbits, and there was no groveling or fainting women or fanciful words to drown in. It was straightforward, had a great story to follow and a tremendous ending. She has several other series and I hope to read them all!!
Tess, Leah, and Anne brought much to their marriages, and learned a great deal in the process about themselves and the people around them. It was a good adventure in life's good and bad moments.
Go, read these!!!

http://www.cathymaxwell.com/

Paula Quinn

I just finished reading the Risande Family series from Paula Quinn. Included in the series are the following titles:
1. Lord of Desire
2. Lord of Temptation
3. Lord of Seduction
I really wanted to like these books. The writing style bothered me immensely. She would write broad "time" statements just as, "several hours later" without really building up to anything nor really leaving you with enough to imagine what may have happened during that time. I'd think, "well, they ended here and the written words lead me here before they ended, is my imagination supposed to take me further?" Then, when the story continued 'several hours later' there wasn't anything of impact that occurred to the characters just slept or ate dinner or whatever. I would have preferred her to write something along the lines of, "several hours after their long cozy nap...," or "after succumbing to slumber for several hours..." Either would have been intimately better than just leaving it wide open with no direction.
I preferred the first and third stories better than the second. The story line was just as good, the execution of the interaction between the characters left me a bit bored. It was too much 'gush' on occasions (in contrast to the nothingness of the broad time statements) and it could have been scaled back just a bit.
Overall, I would recommend these books. I delight in reading all authors, so far, and am happy to have included these.

http://www.paulaquinn.com/

Christie Craig

Talk about delightful! I cannot wait to read her Texas books!!!! Being a divorcee myself, reading her books reminds us that just because we have failed in love once, does not mean that it is gone forever. As long as we still draw breath, life can hold love....and we can be held by that love!

Divorced, Desperate
1. Divorced, Desperate and Delicious
2. Divorced, Desperate and Dating
3. Divorced, Desperate and Deceived

Novels
Weddings Can Be Murder
Gotcha!
Shut Up and Kiss Me

The 3 novels are 'crime' based which gives the story a nice flow and a purpose. She keeps the interest up, the story moving and the humor sparking through in her books and I enjoyed every one of them.
Looking forward to more!!!

www.christie-craig.com/

Candace Hern

Ms. Hern has some cute series to offer and I have read two of them as well as a stand alone novella. They were quick enjoyable reads and I look forward to delving into more of hers in the future.

Proper Companion Series
1. A Proper Companion
2. A Change of Heart
3. An Affair of Honor

Garden Folly Series
1. A Garden Folly
2. The Best Intentions

Desperate Measures, a novella

http://www.candicehern.com/

Assorted Short Stories

My favorite book store, Barnes and Noble, offers free ebooks on their website and may of them are short stories. I read the reviews, and the synopsis. I will rarely download a book with fewer than two stars for its review unless the overview just captures too much of my imagination to care what others thought of it. I also look at the size of the book. If it is rated very highly, even though it is a very small file size, I will go ahead and take a peek at it; for free, why not?
Some of my recent "short" downloads have been:

Bed Times by Suzy Stewart Dubois. Very cool. It gave more background than many short stories. It was a time travel novel, based on an bed with roses carved into it...and the heroine's name is Rose. The bed maker is from the past and Rose is from the present. When they are both in bed, they are together. Once they get out of bed, they are in their own time.

The Blind Date by Nikki James. You have to like erotic, or not mind reading it, to be able to get through this short story. It was cute, a nice read, and I would read more by this author. I can't say much more than that due to it being a short story, it would give it all away to say too much more.

The Plan by J. J. Westendarp. Wow. Just Wow. Incredible. I really really enjoyed this story. The detail, the build up, the reference back to the title, the whole darn kit and kaboodle was just wonderful!!! I am going to be looking for this author's works!!!! I hope my finds don't disappoint because this one sure was a winner!!!

A Gift of Snow by Missy Maxim. Snow and lots of it. This was one of those stories that if you really let your imagination wander, this is what you would do it a stranger knocked on your door in the middle of a snow door out in the wilds of the mountains! And what happens after that allows you to smile at the choices made. I rather enjoyed the bathroom mirror references. Anyone who was truly honest with themselves, if they hadn't already enjoyed the scene, would being willing to try that one!!!

Quittin' Time by Delores Fossen. This one just made me want to know the beginning of the story. It was a great ending.

Lucky in Love by Cari Hislop. Where to begin. Weird? **scrunched forehead** Really? Strange? All of these words and facial contortions came to me during and after reading this short story. I can't say it was bad nor good. I can't say I don't recommend it, but then I can say that I do either. If you really are at a loss of what to read next or if you just want to try something different, out of your ordinary and don't expect too much, go ahead, this one fits that bill.

I have a few more in my collection and when I get through them, I will share.

Marcia Gruver

Marcia Gruver has a trilogy called Texas Fortunes. The first in series, Diamond Duo, is based on real events that occured in Jefferson, TX. She used real names, events, and locations while creating a fictional story around the history. The next two in the series involve the children of two of the characters from the first book. Ms. Gruver had a way with reminding me that God is as much as we let him be in us, but he has all to give. We have to believe, accept, invite, allow and evolve with him as he is always there waiting for us. He never leaves us, it is our perception of what we choose to belive of him that makes a difference. These books also reminded me that what we think someone else is thinking is often NOT what they are thinking at all. It helps to talk about it, delve into all possibilities and ask for God's help in interpreting what we find, what we think we have found, and sorting out the truth.
The Triology includes these titles:
1. Diamond Duo (2008)
2. Chasing Charity (2009)
3. Emmy's Equal (2009)

http://www.marciagruver.com/