What Else I Read or Listened to in December of 2014

Books:

Come Home for Christmas Cowboy by Megan Crane - Christina

and Dare are two interesting characters.. Dare knows he is not the man Christian thinks he is and to save her he runs her off. Then he does something really crazy. He goes after her. The story evolves from there. Christian will not go back to what their marriage had become and Dare has to accept that he needs to change. A nice story of Christmas. Not to long and not too short. It is just right.

A Christmas to Remember - Five fairly short stories that can read one at a time to satisfy your desire for a Christmas romance and still leave you time for shopping, baking and visiting during the holidays. There are also previews of upcoming novels from the different authors. Pick it up and enjoy.

A Kiss for Luck by Grace Burrowes - Sadie and Gideon are just

new neighbors but it seems they are destined to be even more but not without problems. I loved both characters. Sadie is just a little strange but Gideon get her. Of course there is a problem. It was fun to see how Gideon worked to get out of contract that he had signed with a very dangerous man. This is a prequel to the new contemporary series by Burrowes. It has the same great writing that you see in Burrowes' historical romance books.

Death by Didgeridoo by Barbara Venkataraman - I loved both

Jamie and her PI Duke. This is a cute short mystery with a well-developed plot and some great characters. Jamie's nephew Adam has Asperger's Syndrome and that adds additional tension to the story. I loved book one and have put they series on my must read list.

MockingJay by Suzanne Collins - A interesting ending as the Capitol falls and Katniss loses even more of the people she loves.  The conflict between Gale and Peeta Mellark grows and after some very unexpected twists ends as Katniss makes her choices.  Again the story really stuck with me.

The Christmas Cat by Melody Carlson - The cat on the cover

caught my attention and I put it on my must read list before Christmas.  When Garrison's aunt dies she makes sure he has to find homes for her cats.  Alone the way Garrison finds much more than homes for the cats.  He finds a place he belongs and a cat of his own.  A nice feel good Christmas story.

Audio Books:

Written in My Own Heart's Blood by Diana Gabaldon - It took part of two months to finish listening to the latest book in the Outlander series.  There were 45 disks and I only listed while driving.  There are some things that I notice more when listening rather than reading.  I found the amount of detail really amazing.  The level of research to provide it had to have been massive.  It was good to see many of the characters for previous books.  The ending left many things unresolved so I am expecting another book in a few years.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins - I saw the movie when it came out and decided to listen to the book to see how much I missed in the film version.  It is a scary intense books.  The main character Katniss Everdeen is both strong and weak and both play a part is her story of survival.  The book got under my skin and I could not get the story out of my head.


Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins - Katniss has become a catalyst for the rebellion.  The Capitol is out to get her and Catching Fire sets up the final conflict.  I hated the number of characters that end up dead in the books but once again the story stuck with me.



Midnight Crossroad by Charlaine Harris - This is my first

experience with anything by Harris.  Midnight Crossroad is the first in a new series so I decided to try it and if I liked it I could get in on the ground floor so to speak.  I liked the way Harris set up the story.  
There was a mystery to be solved and I did not have any idea who did it until the end.  Everything that happened revolved around the characters in Midnight Crossing and allowed the development of each characters.  I think the series has great possibilities and will be looking for the next book when it comes out.