Monday Memes

Monday is Meme day for book bloggers.  One popular meme is Mailbox Monday, which is hosted this month at Library of Clean Reads.  My snail mail box only had one package this week:

Bridge To Happiness From the luxury of San Francisco's famous hills to the wild freedom of the majestic snow-covered Sierra Mountains, BRIDGE TO HAPPINESS is the intensely dramatic story of one woman's life, the idyllic moments, her humanity, her love, and finally, the difficult road she must walk alone...to discover the strong woman she is destined to become. When March Randolph meets Mike Cantrell, she has no idea how her life will change, and how time will change her. For over three decades she and Mike forge a marriage, a family and a business together, helping to make snowboarding into a popular, worldwide winter sport, and raising four strong-willed and independent children into a adulthood, never once fearing the future won't be as golden as their past. In a heartbeat everything changes, and March and her family suffer a tragic change, one that drives a schism into her once perfect life, and will test the bonds of love and family far beyond any definition of recovery. Suddenly March is stuck in the past, unable to move forward, and only if she, alone, finds the strength and will to move on, can any of the Cantrells have a single, glimmer of hope at a new life of happiness. "Bridge To Happiness is a beautiful and poignant exploration of loss, love and unexpected opportunities. This book is for any woman who has ever loved and lost and dared to reach for happiness." Kristin Hannah, New York Times Bestselling Author of Winter Garden.

I grabbed a few Kindle freebies this week:

Blood Ransom (Mission Hope Series)
Natalie Sinclair is working to eradicate the diseases decimating whole villages in the Republic of Dhambizao when she meets Dr. Chad Talcott, a surgeon on sabbatical from a lucrative medical practice now volunteering at a small clinic. Meanwhile, things are unraveling in Dhambizao. Joseph Komboli returns to his village to discover rebel soldiers abducting his family and friends. Those that were too old or weak to work lay motionless in the African soil. When Chad and Natalie decide to help Joseph expose this modern-day slave trade---and a high-ranking political figure involved in it---disaster nips at their heels. Where is God in the chaos? Will Chad, Natalie, and Joseph win their race against time? Romance and adventure drive Blood Ransom, by Lisa Harris, a powerful thriller about the modern-day slave trade and those who dare to challenge it.

Heart of Stone: A Novel (Irish Angel Series)Landis, inspirational fiction author of more than 20 novels, offers readers who value gentle love stories this first title in the Irish Angels series. Laura Foster (aka Lovie Lane), wealthy widowed owner of a refined boardinghouse in Glory, Tex., is running from her tainted past and ruined childhood in a tale set in the 1870s. Laura does everything in her power to overcome the odds and create a life free of shame and abuse. Partly succeeding, she is thrown off-kilter when handsome Rev. Brand McCormick, a widower, takes a romantic interest in her. Laura knows with dead certainty that Brand would never come calling if he knew the truth of her past, so she rebuffs his attention at every turn. But the good reverend just won't be put off. Both characters have much to reveal that will test their love, faith, and loyalty to one another. Landis's writing is crisp and neatly presented; however, much of the story is too formulaic for discerning genre readers. (Mar.) -- Publisher's Weekly -

A Time to Love (Quilts of Lancaster County Series #1)War correspondent Jennie King thinks she’s just a temporary guest in her grandmother’s Amish community while she recuperates from the devastating injuries sustained in a car bomb attack that changed her world. But when she meets Matthew Bontrager, the man she had a crush on as a teenager, she wonders if God has a new plan for her. Jennie has emotional and physical scars and though she feels she has come home to this man and this place, she's not sure she can bridge the difference between their worlds.

I also grabbed a couple from NetGalley:

Bless This Mouse A resilient and quirky colony of church mice fears another Great X more than they fear cats. Under Mouse Mistress Hildegarde’s leadership, they save themselves from one danger after another—sometimes just by the skin of their tails! Can one ultimate act of bravery during the feast day of St. Francis get Father Murphy to bless these mice and keep them safe forever?

Rife with humor and personality, this young middle-grade novel has an old-fashioned feel with the makings of a modern classic.

Wintergreen Lorna Whitaker will do anything for her nine-year-old son, Johnny—even if it means asking his late father's family for help. Cast out by the Whitaker clan after her husband, Richard, accused her of being unfaithful, Lorna has been struggling to make ends meet as a single mom ever since. But desperation finally forces her to turn to Richard's older brother, Matthew. The last thing she expects is to fall for the man...

Matthew Whitaker is struck by the reappearance of his brother's former wife, and the very un-brotherly feelings Lorna inspires in him. Though he's eager to explore the new chemistry between them, he still can't trust her—and he still doesn't believe Johnny is his nephew..

Moonlight Road (Virgin River)With her beloved younger siblings settled and happy, Erin Foley has empty nest syndrome. At age thirty-five.

So she's hitting the pause button on her life and holing up in a secluded (but totally upgraded—she's not into roughing it) cabin near Virgin River. Erin is planning on getting to know herself…not the shaggy-haired mountain man she meets.

In fact, beneath his faded fatigues and bushy beard, Aiden Riordan is a doctor, recharging for a summer after leaving the navy. He's intrigued by the pretty, slightly snooty refugee from the rat race—her meditating and journaling are definitely keeping him at arm's length. He'd love to get closer…if his scruffy exterior and crazy ex-wife don't hold him back.

But maybe it's something in the water—unlikely romances seem to take root in Virgin River…helped along by some well-intentioned meddling, of course.

It's Monday, What Are You Reading is hosted by BookJourney.  For me, the answer it "not much".  I read and reviewed 

A Time to Heal - Quilts of Lancaster County Series #2   My Review.

A Time to Love (Quilts of Lancaster County Series #1)  My Review.

As far as my plans this week, I will be posting about

Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist: Unlocking the Secrets of the Last Supper  I've started it; will have the first chapter Wednesday, hopefully with a review.  

Other than that,well, my Kindle is full of unread books so it will depend on what strikes my fancy.