Tag: JoAnn Ross

Sunday Spotlight: Summer on Mirror Lake by JoAnn Ross

Posted June 16, 2019 by Rowena in Features | 3 Comments

Sunday Spotlight is a feature we began in 2016. This year we’re spotlighting our favorite books, old and new. We’ll be raving about the books we love and being total fangirls. You’ve been warned. 🙂

Summer on Mirror Lake is the third book in JoAnn RossHoneymoon Harbor series and I’ve already seen some pretty good early praise for it. We’re pretty stoked to be featuring this book on this week’s Sunday Spotlight so check it out…

Sunday Spotlight: Summer on Mirror Lake by JoAnn RossSummer on Mirror Lake by JoAnn Ross
Series: Honeymoon Harbor #3
Also in this series: Herons Landing (Honeymoon Harbor, #1), Snowfall on Lighthouse Lane (Honeymoon Harbor, #2)
Publisher: Harlequin, HQN
Publication Date: May 21, 2019
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 384
Add It: Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
Series Rating: four-stars

Summertime is the best time to lose yourself in the romance of Honeymoon Harbor…

When he lands in the emergency room after collapsing at the funeral of a colleague and friend, Wall Street hotshot Gabriel Mannion initially rejects the diagnosis of an anxiety attack. But when warned that if he doesn’t change his adrenaline-fueled, workaholic lifestyle he could end up like his friend, Gabe reluctantly returns to his hometown of Honeymoon Harbor to regroup.

As he adjusts to the sight of mountains instead of skyscrapers, Gabe discovers advantages to this small Pacific Northwest town he once couldn’t wait to escape. But it’s irresistible librarian Chelsea Prescott who, along with the two foster children she’s taken under her wing, makes slowing down seem like the best prescription ever.

Over the course of their summer romance, Gabe gets a taste of the life he might have had if he’d taken a different path. But with his return to New York City looming on the horizon, he’ll have to choose between the success he’s worked tirelessly for and a ready-made family who offers a very different, richly rewarding future…if he’ll only take the risk.

Excerpt

Home, as someone had once said, was a shifting land¬scape. Although many things in Honeymoon Har¬bor had changed during the years since Gabe had left Washington—including, he’d noted as he’d driven off the ferry landing, an influx of new businesses and tourists crowding the sidewalks and slowing traffic down with their motor homes—it wasn’t, and never would be, like New York. Hell, it wasn’t even like Tacoma. Or Olympia.

Which was why, even two weeks into Gabe’s self-enforced sabbatical, he was already bored out of his freaking mind. How many miles could he run every morning? Not anywhere near what he’d been able to as a distance runner on UW’s track team. Proving, dam¬mit, the smart-ass ER doctor’s diagnosis. He’d let him¬self get out of shape.

Which, hell, was fixable. He’d already come up with a goal metric, which he’d programmed into the schedule on the new smart watch that had replaced the Rolex. He’d also programmed it to report his heart rate, which was cur¬rently pathetic. Maybe he’d never been the ultimate jock his quarterback brother, Burke, had been, but he sure as hell hadn’t had the heart rate of a couch potato.

The first three nights home, he’d enjoyed having din¬ner with his parents, grandparents, sister and brothers. His mother had always equated food with love, and who was he to discourage her? But it soon became obvious that they all had their own lives and couldn’t spend their days and evenings entertaining him. Which, he supposed, was some sort of karmic payback for all the years he’d stayed away and the events he’d missed, like his sister Brianna’s engagement party.

When he’d first heard his brother Quinn had walked away from his Seattle law firm to brew beer, Gabe’d thought he was crazy. But he was impressed with the way his brother had reclaimed the old pre-prohibition business.

“You do realize that you’re driving customers away,” Quinn said as Gabe entered into his second week.

“Me?” Gabe looked up from tracing lines in the con¬densation on the side of his chilled pilsner glass of Good Vibrations, his brother’s new summer release. A not too sweet, light pilsner brewed with local fresh raspberries that blended well with its wheat malt, it was a ruby-colored pour that was pretty enough to almost be considered a girlie drink. But Quinn had captured summer in a bottle as perfectly as he’d always done everything else.

He glanced around, noticing for the first time that Quinn’s restaurant wasn’t as crowded as it had been when he’d first arrived. “It probably emptied out because we’re between lunch and dinner.”

“It’s five thirty. And while I realize that after all those years living in Manhattan you’re undoubtedly accustomed to dining at a big-city fashionable hour, Honeymoon Har¬bor tends to roll up the sidewalks after ten o’clock. Which means we should be starting to fill up with people get¬ting off work.”

“So what does that have to do with me?”

“The edgy vibe radiating off you is scaring people away,” Jarle Biornstad, who’d appeared from the kitchen with Gabe’s order of BBQ ribs, said in a deep, rumbling foghorn voice. After years of cooking for fishermen out of Dutch Harbor, Alaska, the Norwegian who claimed to have gotten tired of freezing his ass off during winter crabbing season had ended up in Honeymoon Harbor cooking for Quinn.

Personally, Gabe thought the red-bearded giant with a full sleeve tattoo of a butcher’s chart of a cow was a lot scarier than he’d ever be, but he was also smart enough not to suggest that to a guy who made Sasquatch look like a preschooler. According to Quinn, Seth Harper had had to take out four rows of bricks in the doorway leading to the kitchen to prevent the six-foot-seven cook from bang¬ing his head.

“I’m not edgy.” Edgy was too close to anxiety. Which, as something he’d already been through, he wasn’t in any hurry to revisit. Thus this trip back to the penin¬sula. “Just bored.”

“Antsy,” Quinn diagnosed.

Honeymoon Harbor

Giveaway Alert

We’re giving one lucky winner their choice of one of our Sunday Spotlight books. Use the widget below to enter for one of this month’s features.

Sunday Spotlight: June 2019

Are you as excited for this release as we are? Let us know how excited you are and what other books you’re looking forward to this year!


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Review: Snowfall on Lighthouse Lane by JoAnn Ross

Posted October 29, 2018 by Holly in Reviews | 1 Comment

Review: Snowfall on Lighthouse Lane by JoAnn RossReviewer: Holly
Snowfall on Lighthouse Lane (Honeymoon Harbor, #2) by JoAnn Ross
Series: Honeymoon Harbor #2
Also in this series: Herons Landing (Honeymoon Harbor, #1)
Publisher: HQN
Publication Date: October 30, 2018
Format: eARC
Source: NetGalley
Point-of-View: Alternating Third
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 384
Add It: Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
three-half-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

Lose yourself in the magic, charm and romance of Christmas in the Pacific Northwest as imagined in JoAnn Ross’s heartwarming Honeymoon Harbor series.

Growing up on the wrong side of the tracks, Jolene Harper is forever indebted to the mother who encouraged her to fly—all the way to sunny LA and a world away from Honeymoon Harbor. Although Jolene vowed never to look back, returning home isn’t even a question when her mom faces a cancer scare. Which means running into Aiden Mannion all over town, the first boy she ever loved—and lost—and whom she can barely look in the eye.

Aiden’s black-sheep reputation may have diminished when he joined the marines, but everything he’s endured since has left him haunted. Back in Honeymoon Harbor to heal, he’s talked into the interim role of police chief, and the irony isn’t lost on the locals, least of all Aiden. But seeing Jolene after all these years is the unexpected breath of fresh air he’s been missing. He’s never forgotten her through all his tours, but he’s not sure anymore that he’s the man she deserves.

Despite the secret they left between them all those years ago, snow is starting to fall on their picturesque little town, making anything seem possible…maybe even a second chance at first love.

Snowfall on Lighthouse Lane is book two in the Honeymoon Harbor series. Jolene was the character from the previous book I was most looking forward to learning more about.

Jolene grew up dirt poor with a wonderful mother but an alcoholic father in a small town. As soon as she could she left town and made a life for herself as a makeup artist in California. After an Emmy nomination, things are going very well for her in her career, but after the mother of all bad days – she finds out her boyfriend is engaged to someone else and her apartment burns down – she learns her mother may be sick. She’s been wanting to develop a line of organic beauty products, so she heads back home to Honeymoon Harbor to work on that and be with her mom.

Aiden Mannion was a hellion as a teen, but after a stint in the Marines and several years working undercover with the LAPD, he’s settled down. After his partner was killed in an op gone bad, he’s back in Honeymoon Harbor to lick his wounds and heal. The town needs an interim Sheriff and he reluctantly accepts the job on a temporary basis. He and Jolene have history, and he’s quick to renew their friendship – and more – once she returns to town. But things are never simple in a small town, especially when he’s starting to think he never wants to leave and Jolene has a life several states away.

The small-town of Honeymoon Harbor came to life and I felt a real connection to those who live there. It was clear Jolene and Aiden had a true, deep foundation once they got past their initial awkwardness over their separation. They dated in high school, but broke up right before Aiden left for the Marines. He always regretted not telling Jolene how much he cared for her, and he’s glad to have the opportunity to renew their friendship…and possibly have more. It was lovely how quick he was to recognize Jolene as the only person he wanted in his life. Their romance set off sparks, but was also very heartwarming.

I did struggle a bit with the pacing. Parts seemed to drag on, especially in the middle. The book had a paranormal element I wasn’t expecting that seemed out of place given this is a contemporary romance.

View Spoiler »

Still, I can’t deny I enjoyed those parts, so I guess I can’t complain too much.

Overall I liked the story, though not quite as much as the first book, Herons Landing. JoAnn Ross always writes sweet, lovely stories. This small-town romance delivers in a big way.

3.25 out of 5

Honeymoon Harbor

three-half-stars


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Sunday Spotlight: Snowfall on Lighthouse Lane by JoAnn Ross

Posted October 28, 2018 by Holly in Features, Giveaways | 4 Comments

Sunday Spotlight is a feature we began in 2016. This year we’re spotlighting our favorite books, old and new. We’ll be raving about the books we love and being total fangirls. You’ve been warned. 🙂

Sunday Spotlight

I have a weakness for small-town contemporary romance, and JoAnn Ross does it particularly well. This new series, set in Honeymoon Harbor, is lovely. I’m excited to share an excerpt with you today.

Sunday Spotlight: Snowfall on Lighthouse Lane by JoAnn RossSnowfall on Lighthouse Lane (Honeymoon Harbor, #2) by JoAnn Ross
Series: Honeymoon Harbor #2
Also in this series: Herons Landing (Honeymoon Harbor, #1), Snowfall on Lighthouse Lane (Honeymoon Harbor, #2)
Publisher: HQN
Publication Date: October 30, 2018
Point-of-View: Alternating Third
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 432
Add It: Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
Series Rating: four-stars

Lose yourself in the magic, charm and romance of Christmas in the Pacific Northwest as imagined in JoAnn Ross’s heartwarming Honeymoon Harbor series.

Growing up on the wrong side of the tracks, Jolene Harper is forever indebted to the mother who encouraged her to fly—all the way to sunny LA and a world away from Honeymoon Harbor. Although Jolene vowed never to look back, returning home isn’t even a question when her mom faces a cancer scare. Which means running into Aiden Mannion all over town, the first boy she ever loved—and lost—and whom she can barely look in the eye.

Aiden’s black-sheep reputation may have diminished when he joined the marines, but everything he’s endured since has left him haunted. Back in Honeymoon Harbor to heal, he’s talked into the interim role of police chief, and the irony isn’t lost on the locals, least of all Aiden. But seeing Jolene after all these years is the unexpected breath of fresh air he’s been missing. He’s never forgotten her through all his tours, but he’s not sure anymore that he’s the man she deserves.

Despite the secret they left between them all those years ago, snow is starting to fall on their picturesque little town, making anything seem possible…maybe even a second chance at first love.

Order the Book:

AMAZON || BARNES AND NOBLE || KOBO

Excerpt

November, Los Angeles

For a woman born literally on the wrong side of the tracks in Honeymoon Harbor, Washington, Jolene Wells was living her dream life. Not only did she live in the Beverly Hills Triangle—it might be a rental apartment in the flats, aka “South of the Tracks” from when the old Pacific Electric streetcar traversed Beverly Hills—but her famed 90210 zip code was the same as where Jason Priestly and Luke Perry had hung out.

Maybe their characters were fictional, but still. And, as the leasing agent had pointed out, she was steps from Rodeo Drive. Which, while way too pricey for her budget, offered some wonderful window shopping. It was also pet friendly, not that her lifestyle allowed for as much as a goldfish. But that didn’t stop her from watching ABC7’s Eyewitness News “Pet of the Week” adoption segment and thinking maybe, someday.

She’d also, with a lot of hard work and some Tinseltown luck that could’ve come right out of an old MGM musical script, almost won an Emmy as part of the makeup team for a six-part miniseries set in 1950s Ireland. Although, as the cliché went, it had been an honor to have been nominated, privately she still thought it sucked losing out to yet another Tudor series. How many versions of Henry VIII did the world need, after all?

Still, the amount of press the series had received wouldn’t hurt her fledgling business, which she was getting closer to getting off the ground. She’d been making her own organic skin care and makeup going back to her early days at the salon where she’d been discovered and nearly every actress—and quite a few actors—she’d worked with, had asked to buy it.

Unfortunately, her life had been so busy that she’d kept putting off the actual business part of the idea. But while the indoor scenes at been filmed at the same Wicklow County studio as Braveheart, the location shoots had been done in the west. During those long, winding bus drives being shuttled back and forth between the Kerry and Clare coasts, she’d had plenty of time to think. And plan. Now, she just had to figure out a doable way to implement that plan. And if heaven would send down an angel investor, that’d be the icing on the cupcake.

Although the press gained by her nomination had caused a burst of even more lucrative film and TV offers coming in, she’d been seriously considering a change. All those movie stars had shaken Hollywood up when they’d come out with stories of abuse, but the brightness of their movie star status had overwhelmed so many of those working unnoticed in the trenches—makeup artists, hair and food stylists, wardrobe mistresses, grips, animal and child wranglers, fixers, and all the other jobs that films couldn’t reach the screen without.

She hadn’t minded that making a movie involved hard work and long hours. She’d learned a strong work ethic from her mother. What she hadn’t expected was that the moment she walked onto a location, she’d be seen by many as new prey.

That was why, right before leaving Ireland, she’d signed her name to a lengthy online list of women and not a few men, who’d decided to go public about the harassment behind the scenes. Behind Hollywood’s bright lights. Even knowing that might hurt her future employment opportunities, she’d decided to leverage whatever little bit of influence she had received from her Emmy nomination to speak out. Besides, who really cared about people who the guys at the top of the food chain considered easily replaceable?

So, needing a break from those long hours an overseas location entailed, she’d decided to spend the rare downtime until the new year looking for an investor and mentor who could help her grow her start-up and get her products out into the cosmetics and day-spa marketplace. So far, the producers of Shark Tank had turned her down twice, but she’d sent in a new audition video, mentioning her Emmy nomination, so hey, maybe the third time would be the charm. It could happen, right?

Honeymoon Harbor

Giveaway Alert

We’re giving one lucky winner their choice of one of our Sunday Spotlight books. Use the Rafflecopter widget below to enter for one of this month’s features.

Sunday Spotlight: October 2018

Are you as excited for this release as we are? Let us know how excited you are and what other books you’re looking forward to this year!

About the Author

JoAnn Ross

WEBSITE | TWITTER | FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM | PINTEREST | GOODREADS

When New York Times bestselling author JoAnn Ross was seven-years-old, she had no doubt whatsoever that she’d grow up to play center field for the New York Yankees. Writing would be her backup occupation, something she planned to do after retiring from baseball. Those were, in her mind, her only options. While waiting for the Yankees management to call, she wrote her first novella — a tragic romance about two star-crossed mallard ducks — for a second grade writing assignment.

The paper earned a gold star. And JoAnn kept writing.

She’s now written over one hundred novels and has been published in twenty-six countries. Two of her titles have been excerpted in Cosmopolitan magazine and her books have also been published by the Doubleday, Rhapsody, Literary Guild, and Mystery Guild book clubs. A member of the Romance Writers of America’s Honor Roll of best-selling authors, she’s won several awards, including RT Reviews’ Career Achievement Awards in both category romance and contemporary single title. In addition, she received RWA’s national service award and was named RWA Pro-Mentor of the Year.

Although the Yankees have yet to call her to New York to platoon center field, JoAnn figures making one out of two life goals isn’t bad.

Currently writing her Honeymoon Harbor series (set on Washington State’s Olympic peninsula) for HQN, JoAnn lives with her high school sweetheart, whom she married twice, in her beloved Pacific Northwest.


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Review: Herons Landing by JoAnn Ross

Posted October 2, 2018 by Holly in Reviews | 2 Comments

Review: Herons Landing by JoAnn RossReviewer: Holly
Herons Landing (Honeymoon Harbor, #1) by JoAnn Ross
Series: Honeymoon Harbor #1
Also in this series: Snowfall on Lighthouse Lane (Honeymoon Harbor, #2)
Publisher: HQN
Publication Date: May 22, 2018
Point-of-View: Third
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 496
Add It: Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
three-half-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

There’s no place to fall in love like the place you left your heart

Welcome to Honeymoon Harbor, the brand-new, long-awaited series by beloved New York Times bestselling author JoAnn Ross, where unforgettable characters come face-to-face with the kind of love that grabs your heart and never lets go.

Working as a Las Vegas concierge, Brianna Mannion is an expert at making other people’s wishes come true. It’s satisfying work, but a visit home to scenic Honeymoon Harbor turns into a permanent stay when she’s reminded of everything she’s missing: the idyllic small-town charm; the old Victorian house she’d always coveted; and Seth Harper, her best friend’s widower and the neighborhood boy she once crushed on—hard. After years spent serving others, maybe Brianna’s finally ready to chase dreams of her own.

Since losing his wife, Seth has kept busy running the Harper family’s renovation business and flying way under the social radar. But when Brianna hires him to convert her aging dream home into a romantic B and B, working together presents a heart-stopping temptation Seth never saw coming. With guilt and grief his only companions for so long, he’ll have to step out of the past long enough to recognize the beautiful life Brianna and he could build together.

Herons Landing by JoAnn Ross is the first book in her Honeymoon Harbor series. I took a break from small-town contemps for a while, but Ross is a favorite and this new series appealed to me. I ended up really enjoying it, though the beginning was somewhat problematic for me.

Brianna grew up in Honeymoon Harbor in the Pacific Northwest. For years she’s been working her way up the ladder at high-end hotels as a concierge. Her current assignment in Las Vegas is a challenge, but when Herons Landing, an old Victorian in her hometown she’s always coveted, comes on the market, she realizes she hasn’t been happy in her work in a long time. An incident at work the same day pushes her to make some changes in her life so she can finally realize her dream of owning her own B&B. The only contractor she wants to work with just happens to be her former crush – and her best friend’s widower.

Seth married Zoe right out of high school. They’d been together since they were 13 years old. She was his best friend and his soul mate. Losing her really devastated him. While he’s able to function, go to work, even spend time with friends.. he’s drowning inside. When Bri comes back to town, he’s not in a good place to spend time with her. But the more they’re forced to work together, the more he heals. It isn’t long before he realizes Bri is just what he needs…but he’s determined to protect his heart from ever suffering that way again.

I really loved the town and citizens of Honeymoon Harbor. Bri’s family, their friends and the entire town really came to life. There were several times I cracked up at their antics, or got a little nostalgic for my own hometown. I also really loved Bri herself. She was feisty, level-headed and not afraid to go after what she wanted. She really made the whole book for me. From the beginning I just wanted to see where Bri was headed.

My heart hurt for Seth. Despite his wife being gone for over two years, he still hasn’t been able to process his grief and begin healing. His anger and guilt over surviving came across very well, and really touched me. Conversely, it also frustrated me in the beginning. The first 6 or so chapters were dedicated a lot to Zoe, which made me question how well the romance would work. Thankfully, 1) Bri and Seth talked about things like adults, and 2) once they started getting physical things turned in his mind and he wasn’t always thinking about Zoe or feeling guilty over it.

Overall this was a quick, fun read. I really enjoyed the town of Honeymoon Harbor and the romance.

3.5 out of 5

Honeymoon Harbor

three-half-stars


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Five Books Everyone Should Read: Author JoAnn Ross

Posted November 15, 2015 by Holly in Features | 1 Comment

Five Books Everyone Should Read is a feature we’re running in 2015. We’ve asked some of our favorite authors, readers and bloggers to share five books that touched them or have stayed with them throughout the years.

5 Books Project

Today we have contemporary and romantic suspense author JoAnn Ross here to share her list of Five Books. Her Shelter Bay series is one of my favorites and I’m so pleased to see some of my favorite books on this list.
JoAnn Ross


I’m not the first in this wonderful series to find choosing only five (!!!) books nearly impossible. There are so many wonderful ones I’ve enjoyed, many that other authors have already named. So, I decided to select five that have had a lasting emotional impact on me.

The Passion of Patrick MacNeil, Virginia Kantra
1. The Passion of Patrick MacNeil by Virginia Kantra

Dedicated burn surgeon Kate Sinclair shields her tender heart behind a white coat and a coolly professional manner. But something about the little patient the nurses dub “Iron Man” and his vital flyboy father challenges her as a doctor and a woman.

Since the car crash that killed his wife and almost took his son, pilot Patrick MacNeill’s life has revolved around his little boy. No one—no woman and certainly no interfering doctor—can intrude on their bond, forged in love and pain.

When little Jack’s care brings these two together, it ignites a passion they can’t ignore. But their growing involvement threatens Patrick’s emotional barriers and Kate’s professional future. With so much at stake, will she trust her judgment…or her heart?

The Passion of Patrick MacNeill is the first book in Virginia Kantra’s fabulous MacNeill brothers’ series. Whenever I pick up one of Virginia’s books, I remember why I write and read romance. Despite having suffered a horribly tragic loss, former Marine fighter pilot Patrick MacNeill remains doggedly protective of his beloved, terribly injured son. Unfortunately, any brief description can’t begin to do justice to the man or the story, which is why you must read it for yourself. Patrick loves unconditionally. Passionately, which makes this such an emotional book that’ll warm your heart even as it brings you to tears. It’s also why Patrick and Dr. Kate’s so well-deserved happy ending is all the more satisfying.

When I culled my thousands of books to move from Arizona to Tennessee, this one came with me. When, thirteen years later, I gave away hundreds more books to finally move back home to the Pacific Northwest, Patrick came along again, this time on my Kindle. He’s a true hero and a keeper. (And did I mention the book’s free this month?)

Leaving Time
2. Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult

Throughout her blockbuster career, Jodi Picoult has seamlessly blended nuanced characters, riveting plots, and rich prose, brilliantly creating stories that “not only provoke the mind but touch the flawed souls in all of us” (The Boston Globe). Now, in her highly anticipated new novel, she has delivered her most affecting work yet—a book unlike anything she’s written before.

For more than a decade, Jenna Metcalf has never stopped thinking about her mother, Alice, who mysteriously disappeared in the wake of a tragic accident. Refusing to believe she was abandoned, Jenna searches for her mother regularly online and pores over the pages of Alice’s old journals. A scientist who studied grief among elephants, Alice wrote mostly of her research among the animals she loved, yet Jenna hopes the entries will provide a clue to her mother’s whereabouts.

Desperate to find the truth, Jenna enlists two unlikely allies in her quest: Serenity Jones, a psychic who rose to fame finding missing persons, only to later doubt her gifts, and Virgil Stanhope, the jaded private detective who’d originally investigated Alice’s case along with the strange, possibly linked death of one of her colleagues. As the three work together to uncover what happened to Alice, they realize that in asking hard questions, they’ll have to face even harder answers.

As Jenna’s memories dovetail with the events in her mother’s journals, the story races to a mesmerizing finish. A deeply moving, gripping, and intelligent page-turner, Leaving Time is Jodi Picoult at the height of her powers.

I buy Jodi Picoult’s novels because she sets up complex moral and often legal conflicts that have me turning pages late into the night, trying, as both a reader and a writer, to see how she’s going to write herself out of the characters’ dilemmas she doesn’t stop throwing at them. But Leaving Time was different. I had no idea what kind of story I was reading, but was quickly hooked and just kept following what often seemed like an impossibly twisted path.

The fact that elephants play important secondary characters in the story was emotionally moving for me. Even more so when I learned in the acknowledgments that the often tragic events were taken from lives of elephants living at a Tennessee refuge. That alone might have landed this book on my list. But then the story took an abrupt twist I never saw coming. Looking back on it, I realized the author had sprinkled breadcrumbs all along the way; I was just so caught up in the story, I didn’t pick up on them.

Secret Girlfriend
3. Secret Girlfriend by Bria Quinlan

Since her mom died, Amy Whalen’s been invisible—but not in the cool, superpower kind of way. Overlooked at school and ignored at home, Amy holds tight to her few constants: running, painting, and her long-held crush on soccer god, Chris Kent. But as senior year nears, Chris doesn’t just notice her, he needs her.

Amy will agree to almost anything to be with him.

Everything is great—sort of—until Luke Parker shows up for soccer tryouts and sees through every one of Amy’s defenses. When Luke decides he wants Chris’s spot on the team and wouldn’t sneeze at the captain’s jersey either their rivalry spins out of control.

It doesn’t help that Luke also wants the girl Chris kept hidden all summer: AMY.

I also enjoy reading contemporary Young Adult because the characters are at an age when EVERYTHING seems life or death important and emotions always run high-octane. Anyone who reads or thinks about writing contemporary YA has probably read John Green, and I’m no exception. But in my opinion, Bria Quinlan (who also writes contemporary romance as Caitie Quinn), is right up there with him. This is another case where I could have named any of her books, but Secret Girlfriend resonated with me because, along with being like a trip back to high school (but without the cool DeLorean), it was the perfect mix of humor, teenage angst, the deeply emotional issues of loss, and how you can feel totally alone even when you’re with someone.

I personally write to themes, and there are so many in this book: self awareness, self value, family, the yearning to fit in, wisdom born from experience, emotional healing, and what we’re willing to do for love. And there’s even a love triangle! This is not just a perfect YA book. It’s a beautifully written perfect book for all ages. And fudging the five book rule, I have to add that the sequel, Secret Life, is equally wonderful.

Jane Eyre
4. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

A novel of intense power and intrigue, Jane Eyre has dazzled generations of readers with its depiction of a woman’s quest for freedom. Having grown up an orphan in the home of her cruel aunt and at a harsh charity school, Jane Eyre becomes an independent and spirited survivor-qualities that serve her well as governess at Thornfield Hall. But when she finds love with her sardonic employer, Rochester, the discovery of his terrible secret forces her to make a choice. Should she stay with him whatever the consequences or follow her convictions, even if it means leaving her beloved? This updated Penguin Classics edition features a new introduction by Brontë scholar and award-winning novelist Stevie Davies, as well as comprehensive notes, a chronology, further reading, and an appendix.

My English honors’ thesis topic was the Brontës as feminists and Jane Eyre is a book people continue to argue about. Based on many of Charlotte Brontë’s own experiences, one of the reasons this book was first published in 1847 under the gender neutral pseudonym of Curren Bell is that Victorian society was male-dominated with women expected to be subject to the voice of men.

Did Jane make mistakes? Like Amy, from Quinlan’s Secret Girlfriend, absolutely. But in a sexist, class-driven society, she never surrenders to those who ruthlessly despise the poor and don’t believe them worthy of dignity. Under continued difficult pressures, she doggedly pursues economic and social equality, independence, and true love. (That insistence on a perfect love is a reason many contemporary feminists don’t believe that she belongs in the club.) Still, holding to her belief that true love should be based on equality, mutual understanding, and respect, she walks away from Rochester, whom she loves, but can’t have on her terms.

Later, not willing to lose herself in an affectionless marriage, she turns down the proposal of a good and decent man who, while admiring her tenacity, still expects her to be a docile partner in his missionary work.

Intelligent and unwilling to be treated unequal in any situation, Jane continues to rebel, daring to voice her own beliefs, never giving in. Admittedly, there are those who believe that she only acquires equality once Rochester has been brought down, but I’m in the camp who believes that in the end, Jane receives the happy ending she’s fought for all her life. On her own terms.

The Great Gatsby
5. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s third book, stands as the supreme achievement of his career. This exemplary novel of the Jazz Age has been acclaimed by generations of readers.

The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s third book, stands as the supreme achievement of his career. This exemplary novel of the Jazz Age has been acclaimed by generations of readers. The story of the fabulously wealthy Jay Gatsby and his love for the beautiful Daisy Buchanan, of lavish parties on Long Island at a time when The New York Times noted “gin was the national drink and sex the national obsession,” it is an exquisitely crafted tale of America in the 1920s.

The Great Gatsby is one of the great classics of twentieth-century literature.

When F. Scott Fitzgerald conceived this story, he announced that he was going to write “something extraordinary and beautiful and simple and intricately patterned.” Which is a very ambitious goal. The fact that he actually pulled it off intimidated me for a very long time until I read back-and-forth editorial letters and telegrams and realized how many revisions went into creating Fitzgerald’s finest work.

The Great Gatsby (ironically no one at Scribner, but Maxwell Perkins, his editor, liked the title) is often viewed as a Jazz Age novel, but I find it timeless in its depiction of a society’s obsession with money, greed, and ambition; the vast gap between wealthy and poor; and self-invention. Like the best Greek drama, it also depicts an eventual fall from grace after a rise to glory. Another still-current theme.

For a novel that’s less than two hundred pages (when Fitzgerald sent the manuscript to Perkins, he said that although it was only fifty-thousand words, he wanted it published and priced as a “full-sized” book), the writing style is intricately patterned, with page after page of imagery, metaphors, similes, and alliteration. But his word choice, while poetic, is so crystalline, it somehow manages to make for easy reading. Which is how I’ll find myself pulling it off the shelf, planning to read a few pages, only to realize I’ve read it to the end. Again. It’s a truly beautiful book and what I consider not just the best I’ve ever read, but the best of the twentieth century.

About JoAnn:

JoAnn Ross wrote her first novella— a tragic romance about two star-crossed mallard ducks— for a second grade writing assignment.

The paper earned a gold star.

And JoAnn kept writing.

She’s now written around one hundred novels (she quit keeping track long ago), has been published in twenty-six countries, and is a member of the Romance Writers of America’s Honor Roll of best-selling authors. Two of her titles have been excerpted in Cosmopolitan magazine and her books have also been published by the Doubleday, Rhapsody, Literary Guild, and Mystery Guild book clubs. Among her awards are RT Career Achievement awards in both category romance and contemporary romance.

JoAnn lives with her husband and two fuzzy rescued dogs, who pretty much rule the house, in the Pacific Northwest.

Check out her latest release: Sunset Point

Sunset Point

New York Times bestselling author JoAnn Ross returns to Shelter Bay with a story of destiny, desire, danger, and a sea captain’s ancient curse that’s become local legend. Someone to Watch Over Me Independent, strong-willed Tess Lombardi has dedicated her life to fighting for justice. As a deputy district attorney, threats are merely part of the job. This time, with several high profile cases on the line, she reluctantly agrees to protection. Only to discover that Nate Breslin comes with his own risks. How can she trust a bodyguard who’s stalked her? And lies for a living?

Former Marine sniper Nate Breslin has managed, at least most days, to leave danger and death in his past. Nate has his own reasons for tracking Tess down, but when her life is threatened, this mission becomes personal and he’s willing to risk anything to keep her safe. As the danger escalates and her would-be killer closes in, Tess must learn to trust Nate. With her life. And her heart.


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