WINTER'S RESPITE: IT'S ALL ABOUT TEA and READING!

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Signups remain Open until end of Friday cst during A Winter's Respite Read-a-Thon. * Coming off a 28 hr global readathon for a LibraryThing ReadaThing in conjunction with National ReadaThon Day. I enjoyed Saturday off with a couple great reads.  Both were lengthy and entirely different genres. * Canadian author, Murray Pura writes at the top of his game in this family saga,  The Danforths of Lancashire, keeping me spellbound for the final installment of the trilogy. LONDON DAWN amazed with gripping, well researched, historical battle scenes and the impact of war that repeatedly tested the Danforth family's strength and character.  Loved it.   Compelling WWII story replete with life, death, betrayal, and romance . What I loved?  It was filled with Light in the midst of war's destruction. Tears?  Definitely, yes.  Yet hope prevails.   My heart remained captured by relationships and actions long after the cover closed.
* I also completed a long anticipated read of Brit author,  Vanessa Greene's The VINTAGE TEACUP CLUB

At a car boot sale in Sussex, three very different women meet and fall for the same vintage teaset. They decide to share it -
and form a friendship that impacts their lives.

Jenny can't wait to marry Dan. Then, after years of silence, she hears from the woman who could shatter her dreams.
Maggie has put her broken heart behind her and is gearing up for the biggest event of her career - until she's forced to confront the past once more.
Alison seems to have it all: married to her childhood sweetheart, with two gorgeous daughters. But as tensions mount, she is pushed to breaking point.

Dealing with friendship and families, relationships and careers, life’s highs and lows, The Vintage Teacup Club is women's lit storytelling with plenty of surprises along the way.

* Prior to the National Readathon Day, I posted for MizB's new book/blog meme SHARE WHAT YOU KNOW [ S.W.Y.K.] Click to link to the topic I chose - sourcing eBooks
to which I also added sources for audiobooks. If you'd like to know or if you'd like to S.W.Y.K., please let us know! * Another completed book ?  An unexpected book reserve I found  awaiting me at the library, FINDING FATHER CHRISTMAS A charming story of finding unexpected love at Christmas, I was pleased it came available. [Even if  one Christmas is past and another 11 months ahead!]

A poignant Christmas novella about a young woman, daughter of a deceassed actress, desperate for a place to belong, who finds herself in London a few days before Christmas, looking for the father she never knew.

Miranda Carson's search for her father takes a turn she never expected when she finds herself in London with only a few feeble clues to who he might be. Unexpectedly welcomed into a family that doesn't recognize her, and to whom she's quickly growing attached, she faces a terrible decision.  Should she reveal her true identity and destroy their idyllic image of their father?  Or should she carry the truth home with her to San Francisco and remain alone in this world?  

Whatever choice she makes during this London Christmas will forever change the future for both herself and the family she isn’t ready to leave.  Lyrical writing unique characters, and a well-crafted story kept me entranced and easily led me on to part 2, Engaging Father Christmas.

* I also completed last week's anticipated read of  The DAUGHTER OF HIGHLAND HALL by Carrie Turansky.

Book 2 in the Edwardian Brides series This novel is set in 1912, giving insights to the conflicting thought and changes in society of that era.  Familial conflicts vie with our protagonist's heart and expectations of society as she develops strength of character to withstand the course her aunt has determined for Katherine's future. Excellent journey from self -focus to other-focus filled with struggles and danger in the travels revealed in this picture of  England's contrast between poor and wealthy.  * What am I anticipating for #WintersRespite ReadaThon? Several books I've been wanting to get to from library reserves, including Stephanie Barron's newest [and though its Christmas, its just in]  so I must read now that it's available ... JANE AND THE TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS

Christmas Eve, 1814: Jane Austen has been invited to spend the holiday with family and friends at The Vyne, the gorgeous ancestral home of the wealthy and politically prominent Chute family. As the year fades and friends begin to gather beneath the mistletoe for the twelve days of Christmas festivities, Jane and her circle are in a celebratory mood:Mansfield Park is selling nicely; Napoleon has been banished to Elba; British forces have seized Washington, DC; and on Christmas Eve, John Quincy Adams signs the Treaty of Ghent, which will end a war nobody in England really wanted.

Jane, however, discovers holiday cheer is fleeting. One of the Yuletide revelers dies in a tragic accident, which Jane immediately views with suspicion. If the accident was in fact murder, the killer is one of Jane’s fellow snow-bound guests. With clues scattered amidst cleverly crafted charades, dark secrets coming to light during parlor games, and old friendships returning to haunt the Christmas parties, whom can Jane trust to help her discover the truth and stop the killer from striking again? 

* I also hope to complete at least one of the audios as posted for last week's MONDAY READING. ANNE OF THE ISLAND by Canadian author,  L.M. Montgomery

Anne leaves Green Gables and her work as a teacher in Avonlea to pursue her original dream (which she gave up in Anne of Green Gables) of taking further education at Redmond College in Nova Scotia. Gilbert Blythe and Charlie Sloane enroll as well, as does Anne's friend from Queen's Academy, Priscilla Grant. During her first week of school, Anne befriends Philippa Gordon, a beautiful girl whose frivolous ways charm her. Philippa also happens to be from Anne's birthplace of Bolingbroke, Nova Scotia, Canada. Narrated by Colleen Winton [as the first 2 books in this series by Post Hypnotic Press] * Emailed today with a lovely surprise as Winner of BRENTWOOD'S WARD by Michelle Griep

Published just 3 weeks ago, I am thrilled to have this on its way in the post to me!.  Thank you, Kav.  [Best Reads Blog] Hoping to have it in time for #WintersRespite ReadThon... *

Place an unpolished lawman named Nicholas Brentwood as guardian over a spoiled, pompous beauty named Emily Payne and what do you get? More trouble than Brentwood bargains for. 

She is determined to find a husband this season. 

He just wants the large fee her father will pay him to help his ailing sister. 

After a series of dire mishaps, both their desires are thwarted, but each discovers that no matter what, God is in charge.

* Received in this weekend's post -
Margaret Feinberg's Feb 3rd release ~ * FIGHT BACK WITH JOY Celebrate More, Regret Less, Stare Down Your Greatest Fears.
Diagnosed with cancer a year ago, I'm thinking Margaret's thoughts on JoY will be worth discovering. I look forward to the exploration! Storytelling with unexpected humour and imaginative responses to life's battles.




* Jenn at Should Be Reading's Musing Monday random question asks -

Give a list of 4 books you read last year that you’d recommend to others — and why.

How would you respond?

Tough question when last year's total came in at 130 reads!

Here are 4 I'd recommend :

Born of Persuasion by Jessica Dotta - audio version especially as the narrator, Amanda McKnight adds incredible realism with her Brit accents.  The suspense of this historical romance is edge of seat intensity.

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A Lady's Honor by Laurie Alice Eakes - whose writing keeps me glued to the pages

from opening to ending.  National Reader's Choice Award for Best Regency novel

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For fellow Jane Austen fans - The Persuasion of Miss Jane Austen by Shannon Winslow

who knew how to keep a secret and surprise this reader with an ending of delight.

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Death By The Book by Julianna Deering

A winsome, debonair sleuth with the personality to win readers and skills to solve extreme murder cases all set in the English countryside... What more could I ask?

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That pretty much wraps up my week's reading past, present and upcoming. What's on your reading list ?
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Find more at Michelle's #WintersRespite Readathon signup list, * Sheila's Book Journey for Monday's What Are You Reading? * MizB's Musing Mondays , Ramona's Book Nook  *  Literacy Musing Mondays * Audio Walkers  * Shared With :
* Mom's Small Victories * * FIND MORE FHC on BOOK DEPOSITORY | PINTEREST | TWITTER | GOOGLE+ | GOODREADS | FACEBOOK | NETWORKED BLOGS | LIBRARYTHING
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