Another good installment in the small town contemporary series. This time we find Jackson Sansbury, the last living member of Trinity Falls, OH founding family, owning and running a cabin resort at the edge of town. Jackson has had a rough couple of years; his wife cheated on him while he was at the hospital with their daughter who was fighting (and ultimately lost her battle with) cancer. With the towns 150th birthday celebration just weeks away, the citizens of Trinity Falls hope that he can come around to celebrating with them; but for now he is just dealing with his grief in his own way by being a grumpy recluse.

Until Audra "Penny" Lane comes to spend a summer in the one renovated cabin at the resort. Her manager is a native of Trinity Falls and thinks that getting Audra away from the pressure cooker that is Los Angeles will help her get over her writer's block (Audra is a songwriter who just won a Grammy) and help with her insomnia. She finds the small town life very liberating and begins to find her muse again. 

Jackson and Audra make a sweet, wonderful couple and both their exes can die in a fiery mosh pit. Doreen amps up her mayoral campaign and gets caught in a sort of love triangle (but let's face it, anyone is better than that asshole Coach Leo). I kind of knew what secret woman Darius was seeing in the next town over and was proven right. The secret coming to light was a nice bit of fireworks to end Trinity Falls celebration.

Plot wise, this book moves slow in the first half and then layer upon layer of revelations begin to emerge and makes the story so engrossing. There are other plotlines that are a continuation from the previous book and are left hanging somewhat to be continued in the next book, but these plotlines give the reader a fuller sense of the world building and help set up the next book. Darius really shines in this book and I can't wait to read his story.

I have a four day weekend, courtesy of a Family Day (military's way of adding days to holiday weekends so to give servicemembers time off) and Memorial Day. I plan on doing an extra shift at the library, then take the kids to our local pool tomorrow. Saturday through Monday I am just chilling out at home, reading, playing more Stardew Valley, and cross stitching. 

I am halfway through I'll Be Gone and I am loving it despite the non-linear storytelling, which is surprising that I can still follow what is going on. The crimes around the Sacramento area weirds me out a little, as we were stationed at Beale for five years and know the areas pretty well - in addition to my husband being a native of Sac. For a true crime book, it is fairly light on graphic descriptions of the crime scenes....or I have read too many In Death books to be affected by descriptions of said scenes.

To give myself a break from rape and murder, I am looking at putting more time into Harmony Cabins and get that completed by Monday and start He's So Fine. I am also trying to put in some time to The Sleepwalkers, but it is great at combatting my seasonal insomnia.

Have a safe Memorial Day weekend to my fellow Americans and happy Bank Holiday to my UK peeps.

To all the Star Wars fans: May the 4th be with you. 

I adulted so hard this week, including a five hour drive to/from Central London for a 15 minute VA medical appointment that could have been done via a telephone call. So I am going to enjoy this beautiful bank holiday for all it is worth, starting tonight with taking the family to a food truck rally on base (which means I don't have to cook dinner!).

Books: I finished The Miner's Lady (Land of Shining Water #3) by Tracie Peterson last night. So I am going to start on To End All Wars by getting part 1 (six chapters). I borrowed from OverDrive Harmony Cabins (Finding Home #2) by Regina Hart and He's So Fine (Lucky Harbor #11) by Jill Shalvis. I borrowed from RB Digitial When Snow Falls (Whiskey Creek #2) by Brenda Novak. Seems like a contemporary romance binge is coming this week. 

Hope you all enjoy this first weekend of May.

Reading more from my WWI reading list: To End All Wars: A Story of Loyalty and Rebellion 1914-1918 by Adam Hochschild and The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War in 1914 by Christopher Clark. Then I am taking the summer off from reading WWI nonfiction.

Bout of Books Cycle 22 (May 14th-20th) - going to focus on reading more of the short books on my NOOK and Kindle. Sign ups started yesterday.

I am the second person in the que for I'll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara, so I hope to at least get it before the month is done. 

Going to try and work on some series:

1. Serpent's Kiss (The Beauchamp Family #2) by Melissa de la Cruz

2. Harmony Cabins (Finding Home #2) by Regina Hart

3. When Snow Falls (Whiskey Creek #2) by Brenda Novak

4. He's So Fine (Lucky Harbor #11) by Jill Shalvis 

5. The Miner's Lady (Land of Shining Water #3) by Tracie Peterson (a holdover from April)

I have had the first three books of the Finding Home series on my wishlist in my account at OverDrive and decided to go for the first one over the weekend. I am so glad I did - this small town contemporary romance brings something fresh to the sub-subgenre, most notably a more diverse town population. 

This is the story of Ean, a man who was ready to move back to his hometown and put down roots after achieving his goals in NYC and Megan, a business owner and hometown girl. This is also the story of Quincy, BFF of Ean and a professor of history at the local university and Ramona, the mayor of Trinity Falls and Megan's cousin/Ean's ex-girlfriend. This is also the story of Doreen, mom of Ean and newly widowed and Coach Leo, also a widower and Ean's former football coach. Finally, this is also about the relationship between Ramona and Meghan.

I actually liked that the book had three relationships to follow, each distinct enough to keep them straight in the reader's head. The main relationship, Ean and Meghan, was hot and emotional, with Meghan growing a lot both on her own and with Ean. My favorite relationship though was Quincy and Ramona - what a wonderful gut punch! Ramona had a lot of working on herself to do, but Quincy had her back every step of the way - and that NYE kiss in her office was a big payoff after watching their relationship wind its way. Doreen and Leo were sweet, and their relationship's conflict came across as very true especially as widow/widower and older characters.

The big baddie was the economic conditions of small towns, which I loved. Meghan, Ean, Doreen, and Ramona all love their hometown, but each had different ideas on how to save it without gentrification taking over. Very timely concern and I always enjoy the villain being something the characters have to work together to overcome rather than catching the bad guy in the act.

I am looking forward to reading books 2 and 3!