THE DEPOSIT SLIP BY TODD JOHNSON

At the risk of loosing everything he has, Jared Neaton, a young lawyer, on the verge of bankruptcy takes on a case in which the only evidence he has is a worn old deposit slip and  the feeling deep in his gut that something isn't right. A deposit slip for 10 million dollars that seemed to just vanish into thin air. Money that doesn't exist except if this were true someone is going to an awful lot of trouble to conceal the transaction ever took place. With the decision to take on the case comes a trip back in time for Jared to his home town and a revisitation of old wounds and a time in his life he'd much rather forget. Can Jared find the evidence in time to avoid loosing everything? Can he stay alive long enough to prove he has what it takes to beat his old colleages? Read this exciting new thriller from a new author and find out.

TOUCHING THE SKY BY TRACIE PETERSON

Laura Marquardt's first encounter with the handsome Captain Brandon Reid left little to be desired. Despite the insults hurled at her by the brave Captain Laura finds herself drawn to this new man in town. Laura and Brandon find themselves both eager to support and educate the colored people that have come into their town. With the people of the South finding themselves licking their wounds from the loss of the war the harmony of the town she lives in doesn't share her passion. Laura's sister Carrisa, marries a Confederate soldier who uses her as a dirversion for  his true motives. After overhearing a disturbing conversation from Carrisa's beau  Laura fears for her sister's life and that of her own. Can she trust Brandon to protect her and Carrisa from this treacherous man?

PRIZE OF MY HEART BY LISA NORATO

I received the book, "Prize of My Heart",  through Bethany House Publishers in exchange for a review. i will have to say that the surprise factor was not just a one time thing in Lisa Norato's book. This story is about two people with secrets they are willing to fight to keep hidden, secrets that when made known turns everything upside down for one and into everything  wished for the other. All due to the presence of a small boy who's lost his family. There is one mystery after another that is revealed throughout this book making it a fulfilling story from beginning to end. i really enjoyed it.

THE BRIDE WORE BLUE BY MONA HODGSON

I received "The Bride Wore Blue," by Mona Hodgson from the "Early Giveaway" program on Librarything.com. I didn’t read the first book in the Sinclair Sister Trilogy so I wasn’t able to get the beginning of Vivian’s story but I did read "Too Rich for A Bride" about when her sisters came to Cripple Creek. Having siblings who so effortlessly seem to make all the right choices even though she didn’t, made me only want her to succeed on her own even more. The lives of Kate, Ida, and Nell were interesting but dulled in comparison to Vivian’s. After being humiliated by her beau and having her request to travel to Paris to be with her father rejected, Vivian carried with her a sense of low self worth. Coming to Colorado was not her idea of success. Vivian had to be able to show her sisters she was not coming to Cripple Creek to be "babysat" but to prove she was grown up. Vivian, being strong willed, wanted so much to prove herself capable and independent it just so happened that the way she achieved that got her into a lot of trouble. Her pride pushed her to refuse her sister's help in finding employment since this would only show she was indeed still the baby and needed looking after. By making the decision to hide her insecurities Vivian continued to move further and further away from the bond that her sisters wished to share with her. Hiding what she did from her sisters and even from the woman at the boarding house became easier with each lie. I totally enjoyed Vivian's story of struggles and adventures because I saw some of myself in her in my younger days of making fool hearty choices. She was Feisty, proud and stubborn and yet so venerable. I do wish that Vivian and Carter’s relationship would have developed slower allowing me to experience some happier moments for her. All in all I gave the book four stars out of five because I really did like the difference of the rebellious independent sister who brought excitement to Cripple Creek, turning everyone's life upside down. I think in the end they all realized that they didn’t know Vivian as well as they thought they did which taught them to pay a bit closer attention to what lies between the lines.

THE FIDDLER BY BEVERLY LEWIS

I received this copy of "The Fiddler" by Beverly Lewis, from the Early Release giveaway and enjoyed it very much. The author did an excellent job of making the characters in the book one's you could relate to. It leaves you with the age-old question of "When two people who just meet, fall in love is that an  accident or is it fate"? Is it just pure accident when a wrong turn leads Amelia Devries down the very road where a young Amish man by the name of Michael Hostetler lives?  Or could it be fate? Amelia a young Englisher whose career as a concert violinist holds more promise than she could ever dream, begins searching for something different. In secret she starts playing a fiddle in out of the way places known only as Amy. After one of her shows during a heavy rainstorm she looses her way and winds up in front of Michael's house where that something different starts to take a deep hold on her very being. Michael, who has left the Order but still keeps some of the Amish traditions falls hard for Amelia. The differences in the way they live makes a possible relationship not something within their grasp or so it seems. The way that the author pulls the souls of each character into a common place makes love between two people who couldn't be more different become a love that welds so beautifully into one.

NOT THIS TIME BY VICKI HINZE

"Not This Time" By Vicki Hinze was awarded to me through the early review program. The story starts out in the first chapter with a major event which involves a lot of different people. I found it very hard to get into the first few chapters because of that. It was not until after i had read the book that i found out it was third in a series. The main characters were Beth and Sara who own a multi-million dollar business called SaBe which was the target of the attacks by the terrorist group called "NINA". Beth and Sara are best friends whose relationship becomes strained when Sara's husband comes up missing and a ransom is required for his return. With NINA setting up surprise attacks where the people of the town least expect it no one can figure out who to trust. It depends on Beth's new boyfriend Joe to slove the strange things that keep happening and to find out just which one of the people in the town of Seagrove is working against them and for the terrorist. There is a lot of action in the story such as kidnapping, murder, lying and love. I can't wait to read the first two now. The author had me had me captured from the very first chapter to the very end. I hope she will write a fourth in this series.

THE CAPTIVE HEART BY DALE CRAMER

After a year has passed, we find Caleb Bender resting on a ridge overlooking Paradise Valley feeling a twinge of loneliness. Life has turned out to be prosperous for the most part for Caleb’s family there was just something missing. There were no other families in which to share the hardships and joys. News had spread to the Amish families still in Ohio of the danger on the roads caused by the Mexican bandits keeping them from moving to this strange land. All is well in the settlement for the time being, Mamm is busy with Ada and all the household chores, Rachael is anxiously awaiting her beau, Jake to arrive with the next set of families, Miriam finds her niche in starting a school where both the Mexican and Amish children are thriving and they have a hired hand named Domingo who helps protect them when needed. Eventually, more families including Jake come to Paradise Valley along with the news that Poncho Villa is dead. The bandits become more aggressive and run even more wild than before. Miriam starts to fall in love with Domingo even though she knows that relationship is forbidden. She decides to accept a proposal from Micah the only available young Amish man hoping to push the thought of Domingo from her heart. Micah knows of her feelings for Domingo but tries hard to win her love. Then Diphtheria breaks out in the new Amish community, Rachael, Aaron, Ada and little 18-month Amos travel to the closest town for the doctor. After a few scary nights almost losing Amos to the disease, they are inoculated and ready to return home. On their way home El Pantera, the most evil of outlaws in Mexico, stops their wagon and attempts to take Rachael. Aaron steps in between and gets knifed. Ada gets scared and grabs Amos and runs toward home and El Pantera’s men put Aaron in the wagon and shove it down the steep hill. The gang takes Rachael and heads to their ranch. When Ada returns home with Amos Caleb and Mamm know something has gone very wrong. Caleb, Domingo and Jake immediately head out in search of the others. They find Aaron severely wounded and Rachael no where to be seen. Caleb takes Aaron and heads home in the buckboard and Domingo and Jake continue in search of Rachael. When they find she is being kept in El Pantera’s barn they come up with a plan to rescue her only to find that they were being watched all along and are surrounded by a group of El Pantera’s worst men. Domingo is beaten until unconscious and Jake is given an ultimatum. He will fight El Pantera and if he wins both him and Rachael will be free to go. Jake refuses to fight to kill but offers instead to wrestle. Out of amusement, El Pantera agrees, until he finds that Jake has beaten him. Then his men all jump Jake and drag both him and Rachael to the barn where they are chained. El Pantera and his men begin to celebrate the fun they will have with torturing them in the morning while one his men tries to rape Rachael. Jake attacks the man and kills him making a way for them all to escape. The bandits soon follow and start to close in on them. As they move closer, Domingo tells Jake and Rachael to run, while he makes a stand to let them get away. Rachael and Jake make it home safe and word from Domingo doesn’t come. Is Domingo alive? Dead? Miriam and Kyra, Domingo’s sister, make the journey to bring back his body for burial. What will they find on their search? Will they come across any trouble? Find out what happens to them all by reading the rest of the book.

This series was an easy read keeping the action going at a fast enough pace that I would consider it a page turner. The story I felt was very well written and the character’s easy to relate to. I only hope that their will be a number three in the series.