Chirp – S L Hollister, author

The Forbidden Duke, a review

Posted on January 23, 2020January 19, 2020 by Sherri

The Forbidden Duke by Darcy Burke Narrated by Marian Hussey

Second chances at a happy ever after don’t come around every day. For spinster Miss Eleanor Lockhart, suddenly homeless and in need of a situation, it is like a fairy tale come true when her new employer decides to re-launch her into society. Eleanor lost her chance for happiness as a young girl when a rogue ruined her and left her to take the brunt of society’s punishment. Ten years later, the leader of the gang of rakes and rogues, now reformed, has been commissioned by his stepmother to assist Eleanor in becoming the angel of the ton.

Titus St. John, Duke of Kendal, is the Forbidden Duke. After years of debauchery, he changed to become the man his father would be proud of, unfortunately, it was too late for Miss Eleanor’s reputation. What started out as a favor for his beloved stepmother quickly turns to something more. Who is saving whom in this lovely Cinderella story of second chances?

Darcy Burke does an excellent job of showing weakness without making her characters weak. We all have our flaws, but we do not have to be defined by them. This was definitely a story I would listen to over and over again, and a series I want to read in its entirety.

audio books, Book Review

Dead Wrong by Leigh Ann Dobbs

Posted on November 3, 2019October 23, 2019 by Sherri

Read by Hollis McCarthy (Chirp)

This cozy mystery is the first in the Blackmore Sisters Series. The setting is the small, oceanside town of Noquitt, Maine. A huge family home the sisters are trying to save and a legacy of tall tales, family lore and antiques still to uncover. Their home, family history and even their cat are somewhat mysterious. What is even more of a mystery is how the sisters are going to raise the money to pay the taxes on the huge family property.

When Morgan is accused of killing local shrew Prudence Littlefield, the local Police Chief isn’t interested in looking for the real killer. Only the new police officer, Jake Cooper is willing to believe in Morgan’s innocence. Her sister, Fiona doesn’t want to like or trust the new officer, but she soon realizes he might be their best hope of discovering the truth. Who killed Prudence? Why? And what else is going on in Noquitt?

Fiona’s attraction to the handsome police officer colors her view of the man and his ability to help them. She does not want to be attracted to him. As their relationship develops the reader can see the possibilities for a developing romance in future stories.

Narrator Hollis McCarthy adds another layer of enjoyment to this story by bringing these characters to life.

A fun read/listen.

audio books, Book Review

Blonde Hair, Blue Eyes

Posted on September 21, 2019September 11, 2019 by Sherri

Blonde Hair, Blue Eyes by Karin Slaughter, Read by Kathleen Early (Chirp)

I liked and hated this book. It felt unfinished at the end but then again, it made me think and isn’t that what a good book does?

This thriller brings us into the life of a sweet and beautiful young college girl, Julia Carroll, who struggles to find her voice amid the male-dominated world of journalism. She has an idea for a story based on a missing student and a missing homeless woman, both, like her, were young and beautiful.

Julia is afraid but the fear is unnamed and a bit unreasonable. She worries she might be the next victim but has no reason, really to believe it, other than she is young and beautiful, just like the others.

audio books, Book Review

The Lady Travelers Guide to Scoundrels

Posted on September 18, 2019September 14, 2019 by Sherri

by Victoria Alexander, Read by Marian Hussey (Chirp by Bookbub)

India Pendergast had no desire to travel. She never dreamed of anything more than what she had. Content or at least she accepts her life just as it is, that is until her cousin goes missing. India cannot imagine any place better than England, anyone smarter than herself and anyway but her own. Before believing you would not like a character so narrow minded, wait, India’s beliefs are limited by the narrowness of her experience and the fact that she has been thrust into managing her cousin’s household since she was a young girl and forced to go to work.

Derek Saunders is ordered by his uncle to shape up and start taking his responsibilities seriously. He is tasked by his mother to take care of his elderly aunt. The two responsibilities threaten to derail each other when he learns his aunt and her friends have been taking money for a Lady’s Travelers Society with no knowledge of how to plan a trip and having never traveled themselves. The threat of fraud is bad enough, but Derek believes he can keep the little old ladies out of prison, or he could have if one of their members hadn’t gone missing. The woman’s cousin blames the Lady Travelers Society and threatens to bring charges against them if they don’t do something to find the missing woman.

Derek and India team up, unwillingly, to search for her cousin. They head to Paris that last place she was known to have visited. Using the letters India received, they search all of the places mentioned. Her cousin’s dream of adventure soon envelopes her and opens India’s heart and mind to new possibilities, among them friendship and love.

This was a great adventure and had a lot of twists and turns. I love the strength and growth of the characters.

audio books, Book Review

Audiobook Review When a Scot Ties the Knot

Posted on July 31, 2019July 20, 2019 by Sherri

When a Scot Ties The Knot by Tessa Dare, Read by Carmen Rose

Another Chirp audiobook.

I forgot how good a story-teller Tessa Dare is, but When a Scot Ties The Knot reminded me of why I love her books. Madeline Gracechurch and Logan McKenzie step out of the pages and into our hearts as their story is brought to life through Carmen Rose’s gentle voice. The story is powerful enough on its own but add in Carmen Rose’s dramatic reading and it becomes cinematic.

Painfully shy and facing her first London season, Madeline Gracechurch invents a love interest, highland Captain Logan McKenzie to spare her from being a dismal failure on the London marriage mart.

To keep her family at bay, she writes letters telling Captain McKenzie of her folly, her family and her deepest thoughts and desires. In these letters she pours out her heart but after ten years of the charade, she decides it is time to kill off her imaginary lover.

What started out as a little white lie grew into something real and ten years later, Captain Logan McKenzie shows up on her doorstep ready to claim his bride.

Logan McKenzie was just looking for a way to take care of his men. He promised them if they would fight Napoleon, he’d see they came home to their families and Scotland. Upon returning home, the men discovered they had no home and no family waiting. Doing his best to keep his promise, Logan turns to the only other option he can think of, blackmailing the girl who’d wrote him all those letters. All he wants is a place to call home, for his men, because he has never had a home of his own.

Can true love grow out of a lie?

Be prepared to lose sleep because this is one of those books you won’t want to stop reading or listening to. I think I’ll listen to it again.

audio books, Book Review

Audiobook Review of The Wrong Bride

Posted on July 20, 2019July 16, 2019 by Sherri

The Wrong Bride by Gayle Callen, Read by Ruth Urquhart (Chirp)

Hugh McCallum abducts the woman he believes to be his betrothed, Catriona Duff. A marriage contract between the two clans is the only way to ensure peace and prosperity. Hugh will do whatever it takes to ensure his clan is taken care of, but will he give up the woman he loves when he discovers she has been telling him the truth all along and she is not the only Catriona Duff?

Hugh longs to prove he isn’t his father’s son. He is a man of honor and compassion. He must live down his childish follies and secure his clans future. Kidnapping his promised bride when her father refuses to honor the contract is the only thing he can think to do to prove his is the rightful laird and savior of his people.

Riona doesn’t want to care about her captor nor his people. Realizing her uncle has sacrificed her to keep his own daughter safe and force McCallum to break the contract forfeiting the land they’ve shared for years, her sympathies and desires become tangled with her own honor.

Willing to sacrifice their own happiness for the sake of others, can Hugh and Riona find a way to have it all, or will they be doomed by their own honor?

Gayle Callen is a new author for me but I will be seeking out more of her books. Ms. Callen has given her readers a rich taste of the highlands, its lore and its delectable lairds. If you love brawny highland warriors and strong, independent lasses, you will enjoy this tale of mistaken identity. Read The Wrong Bride or enjoy the reading of Ruth Urquhart in the audio version of this book, either way, be prepared to stay up late because you won’t want to put it down.

audio books, Book Review

Review of Brenda Novak’s Face Off

Posted on July 17, 2019July 14, 2019 by Sherri

Face Off by Brenda Novak, Read by Therese Plummer (Chirp)

Alaska is a long way from Boston but not far enough to keep Dr. Evelyn Talbot and those she loves safe from the mad man who tortured her at sixteen and left her for dead.

Evelyn has come a long way since her attack. She has opened herself up to love, something she never believed possible and channeled her nightmare into her life’s work—studying the sociopaths and psychopaths at her Hanover House facility.

When two murdered girls turn up, Hanover House once more comes under scrutiny. Evelyn knows it is her former boyfriend and attacker who has come to town and he won’t stop until one of them is dead.

Happy endings aren’t easy to come by when a serial killer has you in his sights. If you love suspense thrillers with delicious romance, you’ll not want to miss Brenda Novak’s Face Off.

Book Review

Review: Goddess of Spring

Posted on June 29, 2019 by Sherri

Goddess of Spring by P C Cast, Read by Caitlin Davies (chirp)

This romantic fantasy, paranormal romance is a beautiful depiction of what love should be, without prejudices.

When Lina asks the Goddess Demeter for help saving her bakery, she has no clue that Demeter has her own agenda. Transported to Olympus, Lina is tasked with the job of visiting Hades in the Underworld and bringing peace to the newly departed.

Lina, in the body of the Goddess of Spring, Persephone, journeys to the Underworld and with her own powers, establishes herself as their champion. Lina’s affinity for animals, allows her to sooth the savage beasts that guard the land of the dead, and her wisdom and kindness sooth a trouble god.

Hades has kept himself away from the other gods and goddesses, preferring dead mortals to their self-absorbed antics. He cannot believe how different Persephone is.

Lina, falling in love with Hades wishes to tell him the truth but her pledge to Demeter doesn’t allow her to do so.

She, a mortal cannot live in the Underworld without dying and her responsibilities in the real world keep her tied to her past. How can a couple from two different worlds find a way to be together? Soul mates find each other no matter how far away they might travel.

One goddess nearly destroys them both, while another seeks to bring them together. Can true love win over even the greatest obstacles?

This delightful story will make you believe in the possibility of magic and happy ever after.

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