Spell the Month in Books: August

 

Reviews From the Stacks

For 2025 I have decided to have a go at Spell the Month in Books which is hosted at Reviews From the Stacks. The link party opens on the first Saturday of the month, but I won't be posting until after that as I already have other things scheduled every Saturday and for the first two Sundays of the month. I will be sharing this post with Sunday Salon hosted at Readerbuzz.

The idea is that you use the titles of books to spell the month name. The theme for August is Written by your favorite author(s). To be honest, the two U's in this month have made this a bit tricky. Thankfully these are the last U months for the year. 

It is also Aussie August 2025 and so I have chosen to use only Australian authors. So here are my choices for August

Addition by Toni Jordan - I always love the sound of Toni Jordan's books. She has a new book coming out soon and again it sounds great! (My review)

Urn Burial by Kerry Greenwood - This is book number 8 in the Phryne Fisher mystery series. (My review)

Glitter Rose by Marianne de Pierres - This is a bit out of left field for me as I don't remember much about this short story collection. When I did read it, I gave it a 4.5 rating. (My review)

Undercover Billionaire by Amy Andrews - I had a lot of fun reading this book earlier this year. (My review)

Silver Wattle by Belinda Alexandra - I have really enjoyed the Belinda Alexandra books I have read! (My review)

The Tea Ladies by Amanda Hampson - I have read all three books in this series this year and I gave them all 4.5/5! (My review)

September's theme is Something to savor – longer books (define as you will) OR ones that have been on your TBR for a long time. The challenge for September is going to be finding three E books. That is three titles beginning with E, not three ebooks as I have hundreds of them on my Kindle

Will you be joining us?

Top Ten Tuesday: Sports Romances

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week's theme is Genre freebie (Pick any genre you’d like and build a list around it. You can even narrow the topic if you’d like, such as: thrillers with unreliable narrators, fantasy romance with fae characters, or historical romance with suspense elements.)

This week I thought I would focus on sports romances. Now, I wouldn't say I read a lot of these any more, but back in the day I read a lot of Jaci Burton's books which all featured men with bare chests on their covers. Part of the reason for doing this topic is also because I have read a couple of books recently which have more unusual sports than just ice hockey or American football. This is a mix of old and new books. 

Head Over Wheels by Leonie Mack - I really enjoyed this book which features two professional cyclists who fall in love. Can't wait for the next book set in this world. (my review)

Tigers and Devils by Sean Kennedy - I read this one years ago now. This is a m/m romance where one of the main love interests is a professional Australian Rules Footballer. (my review)

Wicket Maiden by Chrissie Harrison - The main female character in this book is a professional cricketer. (my review)

Breaking the Ice by Amy Andrews - The main male character in this book is an injured ice hockey player who is working in his late grandmother's bookstore while he is recovering. (my review)

A New Dawn at Owl's Lodge by Jessica Redland - The main male character in this book is a former Olympic gymnast (my review)

Clean Point by Meg Jones - This is a tennis romance. It's on my kindle but haven't read it yet

Red Dust Running by Anita Heiss - One of the main characters in this book is a rodeo rider! I heard Anita Heiss speak about this book at Melbourne Writers Festival and it sounds like so much fun.

The Perfect Play by Jaci Burton - Given I mentioned Jacy in my intro I couldn't imagine not including one of her books in my post.

It Had to be You by Susan Elizabeth Phillips - SEP was writing hockey romances when they were hot the first time round. I have to say though....can you imagine a book getting published with this cover now?

Double Play by Jill Shalvis - I used to love Jill Shalvis' books a lot but I haven't read one for years now and I have no idea why. 

Do you know of any sports romances which feature unusual sports?

Top Ten Tuesday: Surprise!

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week's theme is Books that Surprised Me (in a good or bad way)

I wasn't sure how I was going to go about this topic, but in the end I found ten books which surprised me in different ways

The Rose Garden by Susanna Kearsley - I was recently looking through the reviews that I have written for Susanna Kearsley books, and I came across this review for The Rose Garden where I said that I gasped in surprised when I read the big twist!

My Sisters Keeper by Jodi Picoult - This was a surprise in a bad way. That ending made me want to throw the book against the wall. And I have never read another one of her books in the 20 years since.

White Mulberry by Rosa Kwon Easton - The surprised for me in this one was that I didn't know that Japan had occupied Korea for so long! I knew that they had invaded Manchuria in the years before WWII but not Korea.

The Lost Love Song by Minnie Darke - I searched my blog for the word surprise and this is one of the books that came up. I do love this book! (my review)

Undercover Billionaire by Amy Andrews - The surprise for this one was that I forgot to add it to my blog tours list and suddenly realised I had to read and review it in the space of a couple of day! Surprise! (my review)

Return to Virgin River by Robyn Carr - I was surprised that this book was released 8 years after the previous book in the series. Still haven't read it!

The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club by Helen Simonson - I am a bit surprised I haven't read any more of Helen Simonson's books given how much I loved Major Pettrigrew's Last Stand which I reviewed here. I will be reading this one soon!

A Christmas Surprise in Pelican Crossing by Maggie Christensen - I was surprised I had so few books with the word surprise in the title! (my review)

Midnight in Paris by Gillian Harvey - I am a bit surprised I have had so many 5 star reads so far this year. Normally I have two or three but so far this year I have had 6! This was the first. (my review)

Pictures of You by Emma Grey - And this was the most recent!

Blog Tour: Undercover Billionaire by Amy Andrews

 

When this book came up as being available for a blog tour I immediately said yes because Amy Andrews is an Aussie and I try to support Aussie authors as much as I can, and I have read her books before. If I am going to be totally truthful, I never even read the blurb. I then missed adding it to my tour list so kind of forgot that the tour date was coming up.

We are going on holidays in the next few days and I have been reading away trying to get all my reviews written before we leave. I was therefore quite surprised when I realised on Monday that I still needed to read this! I was even more surprised when I realised that this book is set on a cruise ship (we are going on a cruise), and that the ship is called Hellenic Spirit (our ship is called Spirit too but with a real cruise line). That's probably where the similarities end. The Hellenic Spirit is sailing the Mediterranean and we are doing Japan and Korea. Oh, and I am not going to be falling in love with an undercover billionaire. I am pretty sure my husband would be pretty upset at me if that were to happen.

Ari Callisthenes is the CFO of his family's shipping line. He is on board the Hellenic Spirit undercover because it is a ship that doesn't perform as well as the other ships in the line, whether you are talking about customer satisfaction, repeat business, or staff turnover. He has been sent by his brother, the CEO, to find out what is going on. Because he is undercover he is even staying in an inside cabin - no luxury suite here. Part of the reason that he has been nominated for this job is because his family think he needs a holiday as he suffered a terrible tragedy a few years before and has thrown himself into work ever since.

Australian Kelsey Armitage has been working on cruise lines for 6 years. Her plan is for one more year and then she will have saved enough money to be able to buy a cottage in a small seaside country town with her mum. Of course, she would have been able to do this a lot earlier if her love rat ex boyfriend had not stolen her savings all those years before. In doing so, he also stole her ability to trust in men.

When Ari meets Kelsey, sparks fly, which is unusual for both of them. Kelsey is usually pretty good at sticking to the no fraternisation with passengers rule, but she just can't seem to resist Ari. And Ari is writing a report on what is going wrong on the ship in terms of health and safety, interpersonal relationships, and yet he also can't resist Kelsey.

There were a couple of things that I had to just let go which enabled me to really enjoy this book, and I sped through it in a couple of hours. I kind of struggled with the idea that no one on board the ship would recognise Ari. I got that he deliberately wasn't very public, and had a fake name, but surely his picture would still be in the board report? The other thing was the shower sex. I've been in a couple of standard cruise ship bathrooms and there is no way that there is room for shenanigans. Or maybe that is just for me and my husband who are both on the bigger side. I am pretty sure we won't be testing it out on our cruise! lol

I should mention that this is a steamy romance, so there is a lot of open door sex scenes! 

I really liked Ari, and I enjoyed reading about his investigation on the ship. Kelsey was good too, although maybe a bit stubborn. She had been hurt by her ex and it had taken a lot to get her dreams back on track, but even when Ari showed how committed he was to her it took her a long time to come round.

In the end notes, the author mentions that there is a story featuring Ari's brother and Kelsey's best friend. I am there for that story! 

Be sure to check out other stops on the tour shown below. Thanks to the publisher, Netgalley and Rachel's Random Resources for the review copy. 

Rating 4.5/5

About the book

Undercover Billionaire

A SPICY Billionaire forbidden romance from USA Today Bestseller Amy Andrews

Cocktail waitress Kelsey Armitage needs her job on board the Callisthenes cruise ship. Nursing a broken heart and an empty bank account, her trust is destroyed and she’s vowed never to fall for a man again. Instead, she’s only in the mood for one-stands. Not Happy Ever After’s.

But when a mysterious passenger orders a drink from her, she’s powerless to resist him. And soon one night turns into stolen and illicit moments at every opportunity. But romances with the passengers is strictly forbidden… and Kelsey is enjoying breaking all the rules.

Brooding billionaire Ari Callisthenes, heir to a Greek shipping line is undercover on his own cruise liner. His standards are impossibly high but his business is underperforming. He’s determined to find out why. However, he doesn’t expect the instantaneous chemistry with sexy cocktail waitress or the whirlwind fling they find themselves entangled in. She awakens a part of himself he believed dead. But a future together is out of the question because he can’t tell her who he is…

Purchase Link - https://mybook.to/undercoverbillionaire

About the Author

Amy is an award-winning, USA Today best-selling, triple RITA nominated, Aussie author who has written eighty-nine contemporary romances in both the traditional and digital markets. Her books bring all the feels from sass, quirk and laughter to emotional grit and sizzling heat.

For many, many years she was a registered nurse which means she knows things. Anatomical things. And she’s not afraid to use them! She lives in a pretty little coastal town where she gets to look at the ocean all day.

Social Media Links –

Facebook: @AmyAndrewsAuthor

Twitter: @AmyAndrewsbooks

Instagram: @amyandrewsbooks

Newsletter Sign Up: bit.ly/AmyAndrewsNews

Bookbub profile: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/amy-andrews

This week...

 I'm reading

It's been a busy week socially and so there wasn't much time for reading this week, or at least this is my excuse for not reading much.

I finished reading The Girl with the Red Ribbon by Carly Schabowski, which I reviewed here. I then had a complete change of pace and read Breaking the Ice by Amy Andrews. I reviewed that book here.

Now I am reading the fourth book in the Ever After Agency series, Someone Like You by Sandy Barker. 

I am about 40% of the way through The Missing Sister by Lucinda Riley, so it feels like I am making good progress there.

I'm watching


It is surprising me just how little time I am spending watching TV. If I do put it one, I will watch a baking show, or a history show, but I haven't really committed to watching any series at this point in time.  I do suspect I will start watching Christmas movies soon though.

We did go to the movie and watch Conclave, which stars Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow and Isabella Rosellini amongst others. Based on a book by Robert Harris, it tells the story of the internal wranglings when the Pope dies, and the cardinals must be sequestered in Rome until a new one is elected. It was a very good movie.

Here's the trailer

Life


As I mentioned it has been a very busy week for us this week, after a busy week last week too. Fortunately this week will be a bit quieter I think.

On Wednesday night we went and saw British boy band Take That which was a lot of fun. It seems weird to call 3 men in their 50 a boy band, but they still did a lot of those boy band style moves and the crowd reacted in just the same way as they would have 30 years ago! 

They were supported by Sophie Ellis-Bextor whose most famous song is Murder on the Dance Floor, and she was amazing! She really got the crowd engaged right from the beginning of her set which doesn't always happen with support acts.

On Thursday night we went to see the musical version of Beauty and the Beast. I wasn't really intending to go and see it but we got some cheaper tickets so thought why not. And it was great! I was keen to see how they did some of those songs like Be Our Guest from the movie, and they managed it very well.

Finally, on Saturday night, we went to see Australian singers, and married couple, Anthony Callea  and  Tim Campbell doing the songs of George  Michael and Elton John. It was such a fun and joyful night. I hadn't seen either of them live before but I would go again to see them. Here's a bit of a taste:

Max


Max is much more lively than he has been so the medication is taking effect which is great! He will go back to the vet next week for a follow up visit.

Posts from the last week


Top Ten Tuesday: Horses

Blog Tour: The Girl with the Red Ribbon by Carly Schabowski
Blog Tour: Breaking the Ice by Amy Andrews
Weekend Cooking: Widow Cliquot

Historical Fiction Reading Challenge: October statistics




I've linked this post to It's Monday, what are you reading? as hosted by Book Date

Blog Tour: Breaking the Ice by Amy Andrews

 

After reading my last book, which was quite an intense WWII novel, I needed something completely different and this book provided that! After all, this is a funny, spicy sports hero, bookshop centred romance.

Sam is an ambitious career woman who is aiming to go even further up the chain - she is determined that the coveted corner office is going to be hers. She also suddenly has a ticking biological clock. She has gone from being a woman who had no interest in having children to being obsessed with the idea of meeting Mr Right and having babies...now.

The one person who she turns to to help her find the right guy is Nick. Nick is an injured NHL star who has been asked  by his family to run his grandmother's beloved romance bookstore until he gets back to his hockey career. Sam is a big romance reader and she has long loved visiting Birdie's bookstore, so when Birdie passes away she is relieved that the store will still be operating, although she is concerned that Nick will make wholesale changes.

When Sam quits her job after her boss promotes his smarmy nephew, she finds herself working at the bookshop, alongside Nick. Sam is a bit curvy and Nick is a handsome professional athlete so she thinks that there's no way that he could possibly be interested in her. He also does not want kids, so he doesn't meet her brief. She therefore asks him to help set her up with blind dates to help find the man who does.

We follow Sam as she goes on date after date, with Nick watching on wondering why she doesn't see how attractive she is. And when Sam and Nick do give into their attraction, the chemistry leaps off the page.

I loved that Nick and Sam were able to share their reading with each other. Whilst Sam is a diehard romance reader with a penchant for pirate romance, Nick loves Westerns and they challenge each other to read each other's preferred authors. 

My favourite of the secondary characters was definitely Sam's straight talking sister who often called Sam out on her shortsightedness when it comes to her life, and definitely when it comes to Nick.

Whilst I thought that this book was a lot of fun and I liked it a lot, there was one aspect that was overdone for me and that was Sam's eggs, as in her reproductive system. They were described as being mutinous, as cheeping, noisy, talking and recalcitrant, and that is just in the first chapter. Whilst it was fun at first, by the end of the book it was too much.

These spicier, sports romance are a little out of my current reading zones, but I will be happy to read more  of these from Amy Andrews, not least of all because she is an Aussie author. This book was previously released under the title Risky Business. I will be interested to see if her next release is another re-release or if it will be something new.

.I am sharing this review with the New Release Challenge hosted by The Chocolate Lady's Book Reviews and the Bookish Books Reading Challenge hosted at Bloggin' Bout Books. Be sure to check out other stops on the tour shown below. Thanks to the publisher, Netgalley  and Rachel's Random Resources for the review copy.

Rating 3.5/5

Breaking The Ice

A bookshop face off!

NHL hot shot, Nick Hawkeye Hawke has 4 months to recuperate from a potentially career ending injury. All he has to do is take it easy and keep things low key. So, looking after his grandmother's beloved second hand romance bookshop and working very closely with the ruthlessly efficient Samantha Evans is just what he needs right? Wrong!

Career driven Sam has impulsively decided to swap her highly stressful corporate job for a slower pace in her favourite bookshop at the exact time her biological clock has started to tick. And she wants absolutely none of that. But when your boss is a hot hockey superstar and you can’t stop daydreaming of him being your baby daddy, forced proximity takes on a whole new meaning.

With temptation around every book shelf, Nick and Sam find themselves skating on thin ice until they put themselves firmly in the friend zone. But the more they try to resist their slow burn, the more they want each other. How long can they stay in the zone until one of them breaks the ice?

Previously publishd as Risky Business

Purchase Link - https://mybook.to/breakingtheicebook

Author Bio –

Amy is an award-winning, USA Today best-selling, triple RITA nominated, Aussie author who has written eighty-nine contemporary romances in both the traditional and digital markets. Her books bring all the feels from sass, quirk and laughter to emotional grit and sizzling heat.

Social Media Links

Facebook: AmyAndrewsAuthor

Twitter: @AmyAndrewsbooks

Instagram: @AmyAndrewsbooks

Newsletter Sign Up: bit.ly/AmyAndrewsNews

Bookbub profile: @AmyAndrews

This week....I mean month..

I'm reading

Well....I was intending to keep on doing these weekly posts while I was on holidays, but it turns out I was too busy having a great time, so I have missed the last three weeks, but I am back now.

I don't normally read much while I am on holidays but this time I managed to read quite a lot, mainly because we weren't doing all that much driving. We used a lot of public transport, and we were on a coach for the best part of a week.

Since the last time I posted I finished reading The Mapmaker's Promise by Catherine Law which I really enjoyed and which I reviewed here.

I then read The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. No, I can't believe I have never read it before either! This is the current selection for Cook the Books so I will be sharing my review once I have figured out what I am going to cook to go with the post.

Next up was Look What You Made Me Do by Amy Andrews which I reviewed here.

I then read The Start of the Story by Jane Lovering. The book itself is set on the moors, I was reading it while we were driving through Scotland and it felt like a really timely read. 

From the moors, my reading then took me to France where I read A French Country Escape by Jennifer Bohnet. My review for this and the previous book will be up shortly.

Still in France, I then decided to read something just for fun and so I chose The President's Hat by Antoine Laurain.

In the last post I talked about a collection of short stories that I had read a couple of while on the first plane trip of our holiday. I read another one of those on the last plane trip. This time it was Amelia's Shadow by Marie Benedict.

Finally, I started Written in the Stars by Helen Rolfe, which I finished today. 

Last night I started reading The Before Life of Eliza Valentine by Laura Pearson. So far I love this book! As in really love it. Hopefully it will continue to be amazing.


I'm watching

After watching quite a lot on our first flight I didn't watch much at all on the next four flight. On the last flight we couldn't watch anything anyway given that the entertainment system wasn't working. The same thing happened when we had an overnight flight from Singapore last year too.

The one movie I did watch was Bernadette, which is called The President's Wife for it's English release. It's the story of Bernadette Chirac, wife of the French President, Jacques Chirac from 1995-2007. It was a movie that I wanted to see as part of the French Film Festival but couldn't fit it in so I was very happy to find it available to watch.

Here's the trailer:

Life


Life's pretty good when you are on holidays!!

Posts since last time 


Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Have Read on Holidays
Blog Tour: The Secret Keeper by Renita D'Silva
Weekend Cooking: What We Ate on Holiday - South Africa
Weekend Cooking:What We Ate on Holiday - London
Blog Tour: The Map Maker's Promise by Catherine Law
Weekend Cooking: What We Ate on Holiday - Scotland
Historical Fiction Reading Challenge - September links
Blog Tour: Look What You Made Me Do by Amy Andrews
Weekend Cooking: What We Ate on Holiday - Scotland/Hong Kong

Six Degrees of Separation: After Story to The Stolen Hours




I've linked this post to It's Monday, what are you reading? as hosted by Book Date

Blog Tour: Look What You Made Me Do by Amy Andrews

 

If you keep track of your reads for long enough, you can see how much your reading changes over a period of time. For example, around 12 years ago I went through a phase of reading sports romances. More precisely, I went through a phase of reading sports romances written by Jaci Burton mostly. I did read some other authors as well, but I really don't recall when I last read one. I do know that sports romances are kind of a big deal at the moment but still, it's not my first choice. So what made me agree to read this one for this blog tour? It was the fact that the author, Amy Andrews, is an Aussie! 

Ella Lucas is the principal of a struggling high school. She has come along way from her small home town, where everyone assumed that she would turn out just like her mum (or should I say mom!). She left town as early as she could with some scandalous rumours swirling in her aftermath.  Another person who has left that same home town behind is Jake Prince, He made it all the way to the NFL until he was forced to retire in mysterious circumstances.

The book opens with an encounter between Ella and Lucas when they both happen to be back in town. Ella is there for her mother's funeral and Jake for his father. They both have long term parent issues and both can't wait to get back out of town as soon as possible. That is a little bit complicated for Ella as it turns out that she has a brother that she didn't even know about who is now her responsibility. 

Fast forward two years, Ella's school is in danger of being closed down completely. After running into Jake at his newly opened sports bar, one of her friends suggests that one way she could help the school is to set up a football program. If they were successful it could raise the profile of the school enough to save it. Who better to coach the team  than a retired superstar? Jake reluctantly agrees, but he has some conditions. The main one is there must be no media involvement. He wants no media. She needs a high profile success story. What could go wrong?

If having work issues is not enough, she also has to raise Cameron, her brother. He too has grown up with all the fallout from being his mother's son and he blames Ella for not saving him earlier. Luckily, Ella has some support in the form of her best friend Rosa, and her eccentric aunties. They are Ella's found family and biggest supporter. They know that Jake and Ella will be good for each other way before Jake and Ella know that for themselves.

I don't know much about high school football in America. I do know that it is unlikely that you would be able to set up a new football program and achieve the success required in such a short time. However it does make for a good story as you see the way that the team comes together, about the difference having pride in themselves and their school has on them.

I read quite a few romances from this publisher, Boldwood. Mostly they are second chance romances or escape lit, where the main characters move to locations like France or Italy. This book surprised me a bit as it is spicier than normal. Maybe there are other spicier books on the publisher's list, but I don't normally read them!

As I was writing this review, I happened to see the copyright information and found out that this is actually a rework of an early book called Holding Out for a Hero. Guess what? I read this book 11 years during the phase I was talking about in my opening paragraph! It has been revised and it definitely feels fresh, fun and contemporary! This version is the first time that the book has been released in the UK, so I am going to count this for the New Release Challenge hosted at The Chocolate Lady's Book Reviews.

My read on a theme book club chose the theme of Sports at their last meeting, so this will be my choice for that as well.

Thanks to the publisher, Netgalley and Rachel's Random Resources for the review copy.

About the book:

Look What You Made Me Do

A disgraced football star, a high school in need of saving and a reunion too hot to handle

Headteacher Ella Lucas and football star Jake Prince have a very complicated history! Their mind-blowing encounter two years ago is proving impossible to forget now Jake is back, in her small town after being kicked out of the NFL.

She knew he was trouble then, but Ella has enough on her plate without having to worry about Jake Prince. Her school’s on the brink of closure, and she needs help. Then it dawns on her that maybe they can benefit each other - in more ways than one! Ella will help Jake to restore his disgraced reputation, if he can coach the football team to a winning streak. With nothing to lose, Jake reluctantly agrees....

As the school season heats up so does the inevitable chemistry between them. Far from being stuck in the past, the sparks between them are still there. And although he may look like her next mistake, Ella is determined that she will keep her hands off Mr Anti-hero even though she has an itch longing to be scratched. Because Ella's has one golden rule: this is strictly business, they are never ever getting back together....

Purchase Link - https://mybook.to/lookwhatyousocial

About the author:

Amy Andrews is an award-winning, USA Today best-selling, Aussie author who has written eighty-nine contemporary romances. Her books bring all the feels from sass, quirk and laughter to emotional grit and steam. She loves frequent travel, good books and great booze. For many years she was a registered nurse which means she knows things, anatomical things, and she’s not afraid to use them! Amy lives in a pretty little coastal town where she gets to stare at the ocean all day.

Social Media Links –  

Facebook: @AmyAndrewsAllStars

Twitter: @AmyAndrewsbooks

Instagram: @amyandrewsbooks

Bookbub profile: @AmyAndrews

Top Ten Tuesday - Last Ten Books I 1-clicked

 

 

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week the theme is Most Recent Additions to My Book Collection. I have limited my list to the last 10 books I 1-clicked.

The Proxy Bride by Zoe Boccabella - This book tells the story of Italian women who were married by proxy and then sent to Australia where they met the man they were already married to. It sounds really interesting.

The Beachside Christmas by Karen Clarke - One of the many Christmas books I 1 clicked recently.

Christmas at Red Robin Cottage by Sue Roberts - Oh look, another Christmas book!

Christmas in Paris by Tilly Tennant - And yes, another!

All's Fair in Love and Chocolate and You Had Me at Chocolate by Amy Andrews - Amy Andrews is an Australian author, but these book are set in US.

Becoming Beth by Meredith Appleyard - I can't remember why I bought this  one, but it does sound interesting

Snowflakes and Secrets in the Scottish Highlands by Donna Ashcroft - Sneaking another Christmas book in.

A Baby on the Doorstep and 

A Home for Unloved Orphans by Rachel Wesson - The second book was on sale for cheap, but I had to buy the first book as well. Yes, I am a marketers dream customer!

Have you read any of these?