Mailbox Monday is a meme started by Marcia of
To Be Continued. Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came in their mailbox during the last week. It now has a permanent home at the
Mailbox Monday blog.
Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles, and humongous wish lists.
It's a beautiful New England day here. The weather has cooled off a bit, so my hot flashes don't bother me so much.
After two months of life being crazy, I put on the brakes and decided to take a weekend off. Gasp! Did I just say that aloud? Finally said we were all overdue for some family time, so I played mom and wife this weekend. Even got in a bit of gardening. Also gave me a chance to celebrate Papou's 85th birthday.
As for my mailbox, nothing came from my wonderful mailman this week, but the Kindle fairy delivered me three books I can't wait to read.
The prequel to the Dominion Falls story that finally reveals how Jane Doe's best friend became the woman we know and love.
*~*
Katherine Daugherty will do anything to avoid an arranged marriage at the tender age of fifteen. Running away from Dominion Falls, the only home she’s ever known, seems her only hope. She enlists the help of the one man she knows will never tell her parents the truth—the town’s nefarious brothel owner, Cole Mitchell.
She makes her escape and winds up in Chicago. For three years she keeps her head down, but when she turns eighteen she steps into the world ready to take it by storm.
Katherine takes a chance and asks a well-known rake to help her learn a few indecent things. Little does she know, life itself is about to teach her more than she ever expected.
Cole Mitchell runs the busiest saloon and brothel in Dominion Falls. He keeps his women at a distance, unwilling to relive a past he worked hard to forget.
Until the night Jane Doe falls into his saloon bleeding and near death. She wakes with no memory, only the firm belief someone tried to kill her. In the strange world of amnesia she manages to find solace in Cole’s arms and he finds home in hers.
While they work together to solve the mystery of her appearance, their pasts – her lack of, and his buried – build a barrier between them.
To make matters worse, Jane’s past isn’t willing to let her go. A stranger proves he’ll kill to keep his secrets safe. With those she loves in danger, Jane’s errant memory is all that stands between them and death. Cole can only do so much to protect her, will it be enough?
[I've read some of Cole and Jane's story in its draft stages, so I am eager to experience the final product.]
Alan Richards returns to Lake Point for the holidays, counting the minutes until he can accomplish the dreaded goal of dealing with his aging parents and get back to the city. Finding his former soul mate living in the town they left together and swore they’d never return to tosses his ordered plans right on their head.
Ivy Nowell has never looked back since she left the city and her ballet career to raise her daughter in Lake Point. Alan’s homecoming dredges up old hurts and the love she never quite let go, but he hasn’t changed, with his relentless commitment to goals that differ completely from hers.
The attraction and instant understanding between them lingers, but neither are who they used to be. Alan wants to give it a chance, but Ivy is worried he’ll change his mind and won’t risk hurting her daughter.
It’ll take Santa and all his magic to keep them from walking away from each other again, maybe for forever this time.
That's it for me. What did you receive/buy last week?
