WHAT’S ON YOUR READING SHELF? PART 2 by Cheryl Pierson

Hi everyone! Like most everyone I know, I’m always on the lookout for good reads (even thought I’ve got a huge stack of books on my nightstand, and I’m a VERY slow reader!) From time to time, I like to blog about some favorite books, and hopefully you all will comment about some of your faves, as well! This gives me more books to add to my to-be-read pile, and I love that because I learn, from you all, about books and authors I might not have known about otherwise. 

I have sure read some wonderful books lately, when I’ve been able to have time to read! I’ve been working on my own story, LANDON, for the GUN FOR HIRE series and so my reading time recently has been pretty limited. But–I always find time for a good story, even if it’s just a chapter when I sit down to eat lunch.

Right now, I’m reading Kristin Hannah’s wonderful story, THE WOMEN. This is about a young girl who impulsively joins the Army as a nurse during the Vietnam War. This book is especially poignant for me since I grew up during that era, and both my brothers-in-law were serving in the military over there.

I was too young to consider going, and I didn’t know any women who were there–this book makes the point that even people who SHOULD have known there were women serving as nursesin Vietnam did not know it, and Frankie, the heroine, had that–among other things–to contend with when she finally came home. No one believed she had been a combat nurse for the past two years.

 

Here’s the blurb, and it’s a wonderful story, told in a way that puts you right there with Frankie during everything. 

 

BUY ON AMAZON: https://tinyurl.com/4v3zm6w3

Women can be heroes. When twenty-year-old nursing student Frances “Frankie” McGrath hears these words, it is a revelation. Raised in the sun-drenched, idyllic world of Southern California and sheltered by her conservative parents, she has always prided herself on doing the right thing. But in 1965, the world is changing, and she suddenly dares to imagine a different future for herself. When her brother ships out to serve in Vietnam, she joins the Army Nurse Corps and follows his path.

As green and inexperienced as the men sent to Vietnam to fight, Frankie is over-whelmed by the chaos and destruction of war. Each day is a gamble of life and death, hope and betrayal; friendships run deep and can be shattered in an instant. In war, she meets?and becomes one of?the lucky, the brave, the broken, and the lost.

But war is just the beginning for Frankie and her veteran friends. The real battle lies in coming home to a changed and divided America, to angry protesters, and to a country that wants to forget Vietnam.

The Women is the story of one woman gone to war, but it shines a light on all women who put themselves in harm’s way and whose sacrifice and commitment to their country has too often been forgotten. A novel about deep friendships and bold patriotism, The Women is a richly drawn story with a memorable heroine whose idealism and courage under fire will come to define an era.

Another wonderful story I just finished reading is called THE KEEPER OF HAPPY ENDINGS by Barbara Davis. This is my first book by her that I’ve read, and it definitely will not be the last! What a wonderful storyteller she is, and I love her masterful weaving to all the storylines together to bring the novel to an end that I never would have suspected. 

Buy here on Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/48ybtv3x

An enchanting novel about fate, second chances, and hope, lost and found, by the Amazon Charts bestselling author of The Last of the Moon Girls.

Soline Roussel is well schooled in the business of happy endings. For generations her family has kept an exclusive bridal salon in Paris, where magic is worked with needle and thread. It’s said that the bride who wears a Roussel gown is guaranteed a lifetime of joy. But devastating losses during World War II leave Soline’s world and heart in ruins and her faith in love shaken. She boxes up her memories, stowing them away, along with her broken dreams, determined to forget.

Decades later, while coping with her own tragic loss, aspiring gallery owner Rory Grant leases Soline’s old property and discovers a box containing letters and a vintage wedding dress, never worn. When Rory returns the mementos, an unlikely friendship develops, and eerie parallels in Rory’s and Soline’s lives begin to surface. It’s clear that they were destined to meet—and that Rory may hold the key to righting a forty-year wrong and opening the door to shared healing and, perhaps, a little magic.

I’ve discovered a wonderful author, thanks to fellow-filly Linda Broday, named Lisa Wingate. Lisa, I learned, is also a fellow Oklahoman. She writes some excellent stories, and every one of them has been intricately researched down to the finest detail. She also includes a very extensive bibliography of all her references, which I LOVE. But now, more about the stories I want to tell you about. I started with her second book, THE BOOK OF LOST FRIENDS. I can’t do justice to it, so I’ll include the blurbs for it and for the other one, BEFORE WE WERE YOURS. A lot of her books are based on actual historical events–things you might never have heard of. These were both new to me, and very interesting. She has a wonderful way of putting her characters in these stories and making them come alive. I keep a box of tissues handy, and my goodness, I NEEDED THEM! 

Here’s the blurb for THE BOOK OF LOST FRIENDS, and the buy link in case you want to read it. I highly recommend it.

Buy here at Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/yswmfshc

Bestselling author Lisa Wingate brings to life startling stories from actual “Lost Friends” advertisements that appeared in Southern newspapers after the Civil War, as newly freed slaves desperately searched for loved ones who had been sold away.

Louisiana, 1875: In the tumultuous era of Reconstruction, three young women set off as unwilling companions on a perilous quest: Hannie, a freed slave; Lavinia, the pampered heir to a now destitute plantation; and Juneau Jane, Lavinia’s Creole half sister. Each carries private wounds and powerful secrets as they head for Texas, following roads rife with vigilantes and soldiers still fighting a war lost a decade before. For Lavinia and Juneau Jane, the journey is one of stolen inheritance and financial desperation, but for Hannie, torn from her mother and siblings before slavery’s end, the pilgrimage west reignites an agonizing question: Could her long-lost family still be out there? Beyond the swamps lie the limitless frontiers of Texas and, improbably, hope.

Louisiana, 1987: For first-year teacher Benedetta Silva, a subsidized job at a poor rural school seems like the ticket to canceling her hefty student debt—until she lands in a tiny, out-of-step Mississippi River town. Augustine, Louisiana, is suspicious of new ideas and new people, and Benny can scarcely comprehend the lives of her poverty-stricken students. But amid the gnarled live oaks and run-down plantation homes lie the century-old history of three young women, a long-ago journey, and a hidden book that could change everything.

I mentioned Lisa Wingate had two books I wanted to tell you about–actually, there are a whole slew of them, but I want to talk about BEFORE WE WERE YOURS since it was the first book she wrote, if I’m not mistaken. Once I read THE BOOK OF LOST FRIENDS, I could not get enough of her stories, and BEFORE WE WERE  YOURS did not disappoint at all.

Here’s the blurb:

Buy here at Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/y8me9dnc

Memphis, 1939. Twelve-year-old Rill Foss and her four younger siblings live a magical life aboard their family’s Mississippi River shantyboat. But when their father must rush their mother to the hospital one stormy night, Rill is left in charge—until strangers arrive in force. Wrenched from all that is familiar and thrown into a Tennessee Children’s Home Society orphanage, the Foss children are assured that they will soon be returned to their parents—but they quickly realize the dark truth. At the mercy of the facility’s cruel director, Rill fights to keep her sisters and brother together in a world of danger and uncertainty.

Aiken, South Carolina, present day. Born into wealth and privilege, Avery Stafford seems to have it all: a successful career as a federal prosecutor, a handsome fiancé, and a lavish wedding on the horizon. But when Avery returns home to help her father weather a health crisis, a chance encounter leaves her with uncomfortable questions and compels her to take a journey through her family’s long-hidden history, on a path that will ultimately lead either to devastation or to redemption.

Based on one of America’s most notorious real-life scandals—in which Georgia Tann, director of a Memphis-based adoption organization, kidnapped and sold poor children to wealthy families all over the country—Lisa Wingate’s riveting, wrenching, and ultimately uplifting tale reminds us how, even though the paths we take can lead to many places, the heart never forgets where we belong.

Last but not least, I’m reading my way through the GUN FOR HIRE series that I’m so fortunate to be a part of! Caroline Clemmons’ story, SHAD, just released, and you can buy the first seven stories in the series that are RELEASED now, as well as pre-order the other three that are yet to come! 

My story is called LANDON and I want to share the blurb and picture with you. 

PRE-ORDER ON AMAZON HERE: https://tinyurl.com/mt48unuz

GUN FOR HIRE SERIES PAGE ON AMAZON:  https://tinyurl.com/4vxwzkz7

Alissa Devine finds herself in an unthinkable situation when her father is murdered, and she’s left to raise her young brother, Zach. With $22 to her name and her no-account gambler father’s burial to pay for, Lissie has no choice but to carry on with her father’s plan to take part in the Oklahoma land run. But single women aren’t allowed on the wagon train.

Landon Wildcat’s mission for months has been to find the man who abducted his younger sister. His search ends when crooked gambler Happy Devine gets what he deserves at the end of Land’s gun. But that act of vengeance leaves Lissie and Zach alone with no man to accompany them on the wagon train.

Wagon Master Bill Castle hires Land as his scout; a devil’s bargain—for both of them. Land offers Lissie his protection, suspecting the unscrupulous Mr. Castle has indecent intentions toward her.

When one of the settlers is murdered, Land takes the outlaws on in a desperate battle to protect the only witness, and nearly pays the ultimate price. Land’s life hangs in the balance, but the wagon train moves on, callously deserting him and the teen boy he saved, along with Lissie and Zach.

Through the hardship, Lissie and Land both realize how much they love one another, and what they have come so close to losing. Though danger lurks around every curve in the road, Lissie believes with all her heart there is a place for their small band of settlers in this untamed Territory. Now that love has finally come, will Fate allow a miracle for their happiness with this new beginning?

What books have you read lately? Do tell! I love to add new books to my reading list!

 

 

CHERYL PIERSON BOOKS ON AMAZON: https://tinyurl.com/576zh766