Better Than Chocolate by Sheila Roberts

er since Great-Grandma Rose literally dreamed up her first fabulous recipe. But now it looks as if they're about to lose Sweet Dreams to the bank—and that would be a disaster, not only for the family but for the town of Icicle Falls, Washington. Can Samantha, the oldest daughter and new head of the company, come up with a way to save it?

After Samantha does some brainstorming with her mother and sisters, inspiration strikes. They'll have a chocolate festival! Time's running out, but the Sterling women are determined and the town's behind them, so everything's bound to go smoothly….

Or not. Events seem to be conspiring against Samantha, and her mother's attempts to help aren't helping. To make matters worse, the fate of her company is in the hands of her archenemy, Blake Preston, the bank manager with the football-hero good looks. It's enough to drive her to chocolate. But Blake's also enough to convince her that (believe it or not) there's something even better than chocolate.

An easy to read book with a nice mix of humour, romance ....and chocolate 

The Returned by Jason Mott

An elderly couple in the small town of Arcadia North Carolina answer their door one afternoon to find a government agent on their doorstep with their son Jacob. A child who died when he was eight years old, nearly thirty years ago. Their story becomes one of many as the deceased start turning up looking for their loved ones, and the living attempt to grapple with what it all means.  

Definitely an unusual read. The writing is riveting, at times lyrical, and other times sparse.

We are told the stories of numerous Returned . . . some are only briefly introduced, their stories short, others are quite involved. I liked the brief snippets the author used between longer chapters to highlight the lives of different Returned.

The ending made the book. It left me thinking.

Overall a very satisfying read. 

Pandor Jones: Deception by Barry Jonsberg

Pandora and her team are already two members down. The survival of humanity in the post-plague world depends on them. But who can she trust?

It was difficult to know when nightmares ended and the waking world began.

Pan is still struggling to distinguish between her dreams and reality. When she wakes in the Infirmary her mind replays the sight of Nate running along the shoreline and the way his body froze and then flopped after he was shot. But her memories hold more questions than answers and she doesn't know who to trust.

When she forms an unlikely alliance with Jen to try to make sense of everyone's haunting similar memories and the conflicting information about The School, she finds herself with unexpected enemies.

Pan and Jen are determined to seek the truth - no matter what rules they must break or how terrible the danger they face. But can they even trust each other? 

Picked up right where the last book left off.  Not quite as good as the first book, but I want to find out how this story ends. Now to find the 3rd book in the trilogy. 

Pandora Jones: Admission by Barry Jonsberg

Pandora Jones wakes in an infirmary - her body weak, her memory providing only flashes of horrific scenes of death. She soon discovers that her family has succumbed to a plague pandemic which almost wiped out humanity. Pan is one of the survivors who have been admitted to The School - a quarantined, heavily guarded survival-skills facility - to recover their strength, hone their skills and prepare for whatever comes next. Pandora's skill is intuition, but how useful will it be outside the secure walls of The School? 

I really enjoyed Admission, it blended an apocalyptic storyline, with survival and the possibility of romance in a psychological teen thriller.

I'm glad I've got book 2 to go on with.

The Scorpion's Sweet Venom by Bruna Surfistinha

The Scorpion's Sweet Venom is The Diary of a Brazilian Call Girl, Rachel Pacheco who left home at the age of seventeen and for four years worked in a variety of whorehouses and out of her apartment under the professional name of 'Bruna Surfistinha'. She also achieved considerable fame for blogging about her whoring experiences. 

I enjoyed this book immensely. She made her experiences just another job, some days you enjoy more than others.

The only one of her commandments I would disagree with is No. 15, If you have a fantasy that will definitely frighten your partner or make them think you're depraved, the best thing you can do is find a professional who can satisfy you.

I would think the best thing you can do is to, carefully, broach the subject of your fantasy. your partner may surprise you! 

The Hero by Robyn Carr

The people who live at Thunder Point are just ordinary everyday people with problems just like you and me. They all smile and say g’day, and they all know each other’s business, but when there’s trouble they all roll up their sleeves and join in to help. Spencer has just moved her after the death of his wife from cancer; he is the new football coach. He and his son are looking for a fresh start after all the trauma of the past few years. Devon and her young daughter have fled from a commune called ‘The Fellowship’ run by the increasingly obsessive and manipulative Jacob who has bedded all the women and is the father to all of the children and is on the run from the government. She is essentially a ‘sister-wife’ complete with one long braid and dowdy clothing. Devon escapes with the assistance of one of the other women. With the help of the gruff and silent Rawley, an old Vietnam veteran, she finds a new home, a new job and a fresh start; she also meets Spencer. Trouble is the fellowship is not done with her and when lives are on the line a Hero steps forward to help – well a few of them really but the one she loves is the least likely hero. I loved how during the story Devon grew as a character from a woman who jumps at shadows and is scared of being found, to a confident kick-arse amazon who fights alongside the men at the showdown. 

A lovely, feel-good romance.
I could tell there had been previous books in this s series, but I didn't feel I missed anything in this story by not having read them. 

The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin

It's 1969, and holed up in a grimy tenement building in New York's Lower East Side is a travelling psychic who claims to be able to tell anyone the date they will die. The four Gold children, too young for what they're about to hear, sneak out to learn their fortunes.

Such prophecies could be dismissed as trickery and nonsense, yet the Golds bury theirs deep. Over the years that follow they attempt to ignore, embrace, cheat and defy the 'knowledge' given to them that day - but it will shape the course of their lives forever. 

A very interesting story from multiple points of view about how one event affected the lives of the 4 characters.

I couldn't put it down. I loved the cover.

Tiddas by Anita Heiss

Izzy, Veronica, Xanthe, Nadine and Ellen are Tiddas with each other as they all have grown up together in Mudgee. They are now all middle aged, live in Brisbane and are still very, very close. Each of them takes turns in telling the story, and each has their own issues that they may or may not recognise. Izzy, on the verge of becoming Australia’s version of Oprah, is faced with an unplanned pregnancy which could snatch away her crown before she even gets it; Xanthe is totally obsessed with trying to get pregnant which is straining her marriage and her friendship with Izzy. Ellen is a funeral director and lives life to the fullest as she knows that you have a finite time on earth, she flits from one man to the next and never settles; while all Veronica is wants is her life to have a purpose after her divorce as all her self-esteem disappeared when she signed the papers. Finally there is Nadine, Izzy’s sister in law and a well-known author – she is also an alcoholic.

I liked knowing the places talked about in this book, both Mudgee and Brisbane.

It did get a bit preachy about Aboriginal issues, but also highlighted a couple of things I hadn't considered about Aboriginal history such as places not being considered "discovered" until a white man had raised a flag or whatever when our first Australians had lived there for thousands of years.

The ending was good, realistic rather than all tied up in a neat bow. 

First Frost by Sarah Addison Allen

Autumn has finally arrived in the small town of Bascom, North Carolina, heralded by a strange old man appearing with a beaten-up suitcase. He has stories to tell, stories that could change the lives of the Waverley women forever. But the Waverleys have enough trouble on their hands. Quiet Claire Waverley has started a successful new venture, Waverley's Candies, but it's nothing like she thought it would be, and it's slowly taking over her life. Claire's wild sister Sydney, still trying to leave her past behind, is about to combust with her desire for another new beginning. And Sydney's fifteen-year-old daughter Bay has given her heart away to the wrong boy and can't get it back. 

A lovely story mixing magic, mystery and love.

Magical realism at it's best. 

Sarah's Window by Janice Graham

Sarah Bryden is a young woman living in the area of the Flint Hills of Kansas. With dreams of studying art at the University, she's foced to return home when her grandfather suffers a devestating accident. Raised by her grandparents after her mother dies, Sarah works as a waitress at a local cafe, paitinting in her spare time and attracting the heart of a widowed high school teacher who once taught her. Unfortunately, an ill fated love affair a number of years ago has left Sarah resigned to the single life she now leads.
Into her midst comes John Wilde, a professor of physics from California, who will be working in the area for a couple of months. He also brings with him his wife, a former resident of the town, and their difficult adopted baby. When Sarah becomes acquainted with the family there is almost an instant bond between baby, Will and Sarah. It seems as though only she can quiet him down, feed him and put him to bed. When Will's mother is hurt in an auto accident she is only too happy to care for the baby. As the weeks go by, Sarah and John Wilde find their relationship slowly changing from friends to something more  

Beautifully written romance. The writing was so well done it elevated this romance into something special.

After I'm Gone by Laura Lippman

When Felix Brewer meets Bernadette “Bambi” Gottschalk at a Valentine’s Dance in 1959, he charms her with wild promises, some of which he actually keeps. Thanks to his lucrative—if not all legal—businesses, she and their three little girls live in luxury. But on the Fourth of July, 1976, Bambi’s comfortable world implodes when Felix, newly convicted and facing prison, mysteriously vanishes.

Though Bambi has no idea where her husband—or his money—might be, she suspects one woman does: his mistress, Julie. When Julie disappears ten years to the day that Felix went on the lam, everyone assumes she’s left to join her old lover—until her remains are eventually found.

Now, twenty-six years after Julie went missing, Roberto “Sandy” Sanchez, a retired Baltimore detective working cold cases for some extra cash, is investigating her murder. What he discovers is a tangled web stretching over three decades that connects five intriguing women. And at the center is the missing man Felix Brewer.

Somewhere between the secrets and lies connecting past and present, Sandy will find the truth. And when he does, no one will ever be the same. 

A story told from several points of view and from different points in time. An interesting story with well drawn characters that kept me interested and guessing.