Sara Smyth is working her way up to head housekeeper in a posh London hotel when she's offered the opportunity of a lifetime. Theodore Camden, one of the architects of The Dakota - a new apartment house in New York - offers her a job. This is a big deal for a woman in 1884. It also gives her the chance to see more of Theo as he lives in The Dakota with his wife and three children. It's 1985 and Bailey Camden is fresh out of rehab and struggling to stay sober. The former party girl and interior designer is homeless, jobless and has no money. Her cousin Melinda offers to let Bailey oversee the renovation of her Dakota apartment as well as stay there for a while. Bailey doesn't agree with Melinda's vision for the old apartment that was once owned by Melinda's own great-grandfather Theodore Camden, the same apartment where he was stabbed to death by a madwoman and former Dakota employee named Sara Smyth.  Even though one hundred years separate Sara and Bailey, they ...

Nora Brown lives a quiet life with her husband and six-year-old daughter in Seattle. She's an English teacher at a high school. It's the last day before Thanksgiving break and she'll be going away with her family, but before she leaves her classroom she sees a girls face floating on top of the drapes. She's terrified - does this mean she's going crazy or is she just tired? Over Thanksgiving vacation she sees the face again, and this time the girl whispers "remember the Valentine's dress." Nora eventually talks to a psychiatrist where a secret that was hidden deep within is revealed.   The best part of this book, to me, is that it's short. I feel bad for saying all this but the characters weren't really fleshed out, the writing was just okay and I couldn't really get into the story. I figured when I read in the blurb about Nora seeing a face there would be a little bit of a thrill, some tension, SOMETHING! But what happened in the book was...

Marion Zetland is a shy spinster who still lives in her childhood home. It's a crumbling, filthy old mansion set on the edge of a seaside resort. Her domineering older brother, John, still lives there as well. It's easier to live by her brother's rules and so she remains blissfully ignorant to the sounds she hears deep down in the cellar. But when John can no longer look after the women downstairs, Marion has no choice but to go down there and see the extent of John's secret life. I love the cover. I did enjoy this book and thought it was very well-written but it's not quite what I was expecting. I figured the book would be a little darker than it was, but instead it's more character driven. Sometimes we travel back in time to Marion's childhood, and we see that she was picked on, had no friends, and that her parents didn't pay a whole lot of attention to her and if they did they weren't supportive of her. We can kind of understand how Marion turned ...

Headstrong Virginia Fortescue leaves her home and what's left of her family behind in New York City and begins driving an ambulance in France during World War I. While there she falls in love with a charismatic British army surgeon and as they begin a passionate love affair, she learns that Captain Simon Fitzwilliam is hiding secrets of his own. Five years later and newly widowed Virginia Fitzwilliam has just arrived in Cocoa Beach, Florida to settle her husband's estate. There was a house fire, and while his brother confirmed it was indeed Simon inside the house, Virginia has her doubts that he's really dead. After all, Simon was cunning and kept his share of secrets from her - secrets that ruined their marriage and had Virginia fleeing back to New York very early on. But now she needs to uncover the truth, not for herself, but for the sake of their daughter. I didn't find this one as good as her others. It goes back and forth between when Virginia met and fell in love...

Liz McCall loves running her father's vintage toy shop. They're getting ready for the big Train and Toy Show but things don't go as Liz envisioned when she learns that her childhood bully and now local business rival, Craig McFadden, has set up a booth right next to hers. And things only get more complicated as Craig plummets from the ceiling in a publicity stunt gone wrong. What was thought of as an accident turns out to be murder. Liz's father is a retired police chief who still can't resist getting in on the action. Combine that with her feelings for Ken, the police chief, and Jack, her high school sweetheart whose brother has been in jail before and is one of the prime suspects, Liz can't help but getting drawn into the investigation herself. This is the second book in the Vintage Toyshop series. I haven't read the first one yet, but didn't really have any problems reading this one first. We're introduced to lots of characters and almost any on...

Jancy Wilson is broke, unemployed and now she's without a car. Her plans of going to stay with her cousin in Louisiana go up in smoke when her car catches fire in the tiny town of Pick, Texas. She notices a Help Wanted sign in the window of the quaint Strawberry Hearts Diner. She used to live in Pick when she was a teenager and her memories, along with the diner's famous strawberry tarts, draw her in to the diner and into a job. She only wants to save enough money to get a decent car and continue on her way. Her parents moved from place to place, so Jancy doesn't know what it's like to settle in one place. But as the close-knit community, and an old crush, welcome her with open arms, she's beginning to feel as though this little place in Texas could be home. The cover caught my eye, it's gorgeous. And though this isn't the typical type of book I go for, it sounded cute and mushy and I thought I'd give it a try. The writing is good. The setting, the cha...

Eleanor Oliphant is what society would deem "weird" - she is socially inept and tends to say exactly what she is thinking. She has a scarred cheek and wears the same practical clothes year after year. She is a creature of habit. She eats pizza and drinks vodka on the weekends. She has no friends. She's had the same (and only) job since she graduated college. She likes being average. But her world is turned upside down when the new IT guy, Raymond, walks out of work with her one day and they save an elderly mans life. Raymond and the old man, Sammy, teach Eleanor what it's like to have friends. They show her kindness and include her in their plans. They save her from a life of isolation. This was a good book from start to finish. Eleanor has been through a lot and we see how her childhood has made her into the woman she is today. It gives us a reminder to not be so quick to judge someone; everyone has their own story. I enjoyed reading about her life and seeing her t...