Cathy's Book Corner

Jo McMorrow is delighted when she discovers she is pregnant. She is not quite so happy to find out that her fiance David is a gambling addict. When she discovers that she was just days away from losing all of the assets from the sale of her home she panics. She runs away to Shetland to start a new life for herself. She is hoping for peace and quiet; after all, what could happen in Shetland? It is so far away from everything. What could go wrong? Everything it seems.

Dancing with the Ferryman is a nice, relaxing, easy to read story. On the same day that Jo discovers that she is pregnant, she also finds out that her fiance, David, has not been telling her the truth. She decides to move away from London and live off the proceeds from her house sale for a while. With a little help from best friend, Megan, she buys a house in Shetland and moves there alone a few weeks later. Although Jo finds life in Shetland to be lonely to start with, she soon makes friends with her new neighbour, Ruby, and gets introduced to lots of new people, including Ruby’s son, Magnus.

The relationship between Jo and Magnus builds slowly but steadily. I enjoyed the Captain and Mrs Birdseye segments, and the banter that passed between them. I realise that Jo was dealing with several major upheavals in her life, but I did feel at times as though she was rather horrible to poor Magnus. He was lovely though, and had so much patience and understanding. It was nice to read the epilogue at the end to catch up with events.

I loved the descriptions of the locations in Dancing with the Ferryman. I have never been to Shetland, but spent an hour looking at photos and maps on the internet to find out more about the area. I will have to visit sometime!

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A heart is called home…

Famous photojournalist Ryan Hunter has come back to a family torn apart by mistrust and resentment – to the father who disowned him, to the brother who betrayed him, to the little boy who shares his features. Ryan, the charismatic ‘bad boy’ son, has returned – stirring up past conflicts like a whirlwind… and throwing Kara Delaney’s fragile, passionate heart into turmoil.

… and love is waiting.

Kara has struggled back from a disastrous marriage to build a new life for herself and her little girl – a peaceful existence now jeopardized by vicious, small town politics, by her daughter’s fanciful ghost stories… and by Ryan’s return. Now nature’s impending fury threatens to expose long-buried secrets. And Kara must join with the enigmatic, misunderstood Ryan – to discover the truth that will save their families…. and to explore a dangerous, irresistible love as mighty and enduring as the onrushing river.

Ryan’s Return had a bit of everything – romance, family secrets and misunderstandings, birth and death… and even a ghost. There were a lot of people in this book, which could have become confusing but didn’t. Even the river seemed to be a character itself. Kara was a strong, independent woman, who had been let down by a hopeless husband, but was now rebuilding her life to create a safe place for her daughter, Angel, and herself. Ryan had left town twelve years earlier, and hadn’t had any contact with his family since then, but had been invited back by Kara for the town’s Centennial Celebration. Ryan’s brother, Andrew, and father, Jonas, were not at all happy about his return, and soon secrets began to be uncovered. Meanwhile, heavy rains had raised the normal flow of the Snake River to a dangerous level and Kara’s daughter, Angel, was convinced she’d been talking to a ghost.

Ryan’s Return revealed the secrets of the past in a fast moving tale that was really enjoyable reading. I loved the character of Angel and the stories that she came out with. I would recommend this book to anybody who likes a nice romance with added excitement and a bit of mystery.

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Natalie Daniels’ husband just dumped her. Her boss is scheming to replace her. And she’s falling in love with her sexy Australian TV news agent – who’s about to propose to somebody else.

What’s a woman to do? Dig deep and show what she’s made of – which just might land her both the job and the man of her dreams.

Falling Star had me hooked from the first chapter. Natalie is approaching forty, her husband Miles has just left her for a young bimbo, and Tony (the new head of the news channel she works for) wants to replace her with a younger (and cheaper) employee, Kelly. Natalie is determined not to give up her job as news anchor for a local television station, but Kelly is equally determined to get Natalie’s job, leading to disastrous events. Meanwhile, Natalie is slowly falling in love with her agent, Geoff, who is actually preparing for his wedding to Janet.

I felt sorry for Natalie right from the start of Falling Star. How can so many things go wrong for one person? Every time her life seemed to be getting back on track, something else happened to knock her back. I loved the way she kept bouncing back. As for Kelly – what a bitch! She only had her job because of Natalie’s previous kindness. How could she be so cruel as to try and steal her friend’s job and husband? Natalie’s husband, Miles, was evil anyway – couldn’t be trusted at all. Geoff was sweet, but unfortunately he was sweet on the wrong woman. Tony was only trying to do his job – raise the ratings and cut the costs – but he went about it totally the wrong way, and caused more mayhem.

Falling Star was a really enthralling read. The characters kept you interested, you really wanted to know what was going to happen to them next. The romance was a bit of a side-line, but I think that was alright – too much romance would have taken away from from the main story. I liked all the background information about television news broadcasting too, it really helped to give me an image of where things were taking place.

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Katherine Spencer is an up-and-coming architect in New York City. Her professional life is on the fast-track. Her personal life is a shambles. Katherine compares every man she ever meets to Nick Bancroft, the billionaire’s son who broke her heart one summer long ago. Now, twelve years later he’s suddenly reappeared, asking her to design a house at the cove where they shared their first kiss. Is he looking for an architect, or something more? And should she forgive him?

“No Cure for the Broken Hearted” is a contemporary romance about the heartache that comes with first love.

At first, I thought No Cure For The Broken Hearted was going to be about a holiday romance gone wrong. You know the sort of thing – girl meets boy, they fall in love, she goes home after holiday, meets him again after twelve years, they get married, they live happily ever after. But I was wrong. It was much better than that!

Katherine meets Nick while on holiday…and doesn’t hear anything from him afterwards. However, she’s still in love with him and immerses herself in her work as an architect. She avoids relationships with other men, although her friend, Amanda, tries hard to match-make. Katherine is totally thrown into turmoil when Nick asks her to design a house for him, and hopes that by attending his wedding she can bring closure to their relationship. Things don’t quite work out as you would imagine, and Katherine travels halfway around the world searching for Nick.

No Cure For The Broken Hearted is a lovely, easy-to-read romance. I liked almost all the characters, even poor Harriet in the end, and they were all suited to the parts they played. The story was fairly fast moving and had a few unexpected twists. Kenneth Rosenberg made a good job of describing the emotions and insecurities of the characters, and has produced an engaging novel.

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