Dangerous Tides by Christine Feehan

Dr. Libby Drake is the good girl of the family of 7 witchy sisters, and, in keeping with her non-magical profession, her magical talent is healing. She's had a long-standing crush on Tyson Derrick, a genius research scientist who balances his hours in the lab with extreme sports and volunteering on a search-and-rescue team.

As a scientist, Ty can't accept the existence of magic, but he likes and respects Libby, so he can't believe she's a fraud, either. So he decides her family must have brainwashed her into believing she can heal people by magic. The closer he gets to her, the more determined he becomes to save her from their machinations.

Another great installment in the Drake Sisters series.

Truckers by Terry Pratchett

To the thousands of tiny nomes who live under the floorboards of a large department store, there is no Outside. Things like Day and Night, Sun and Rain, are just daft old legends. Then a devastating piece of news shatters their existence: the Store - their whole world is to be demolished. And it's up to Masklin, one of the last nomes to come into the Store, to mastermind an unbelievable escape plan that will take all the nomes into the dangers of the great Outside...

I enjoy Terry Pratchett's books for their lighthearted view of his world.

A fun read.

The Ship of Brides by Jojo Moyes

A fictional account of an actual voyage from Australia to England in 1946 by HMS Victorious, a WW2 aircraft carrier. On this, its last voyage before decommissioning, the role of the Victorious could not have been more different to its one in the war. It was a transport ship for some of the last Australian war brides to leave Australia, young women who had married British servicemen serving in Australia during the war, taking them to their husbands and new homes in the UK. The story is woven around four young women from vastly different backgrounds who are brought together through having to share a cabin for the journey. It is an easy read. Jojo Moyes has written it well, achieving a nice balance between the stories of the four young women, other women on the voyage and the officers and sailors whose job was to "look after" them.

I loved everything about this enthralling story. It is a well researched, fascinating story based on fact.

Patience andSarah by Isabel Miller

This is a delightful, warm and touching story of two women who fall in love and have the courage to defy their families and society to be together.

I loved this book.

Partnership by Anne McCaffrey

Nancia, a new member of the elite Courier Service of the Central Worlds and the brain of one of the most advanced stellar ships, finds her innocent vision of human nature shattered on her very first mission as she transports a group of privileged young graduates off to their first postings and discovers their darker sides. Later, Nancia finds herself and her new partner Forister on a mission to track down her first passengers and prevent them from carrying out each of their evil schemes...

A light, entertaining read.

After The First Deathby Robert Cormier

A bus load of children held hostage by terrorists is at the heart of this novel. The background is the hearts and minds of those drawn into the web of deceit and intrigue surrounding this intrigue. Characters include the 16-year-old terrorist, Miro, a boy with no past and no future.

Events of the hijacking of a bus of children by terrorists seeking the return of their homeland are described from the perspectives of a hostage, a terrorist, an Army general involved in the rescue operation, and his son.

It's a fascinating book with many layers in the gripping story.

A Highland Christmas by M.C. Beaton

In the dark, wintry highlands of Lochdubh, Scotland, the spirit of Old St. Nick is about as welcome as a flat tire on a deserted road. The Calvinist element in Lochdubh has always resisted what they view as the secular trimmings of the holiday, so for most of the townspeople, there's no pudding, carols, banquets, gifts, or even whisky for Christmas.

Nor is crime taking a holiday, as Hamish soon finds himself looking for a missing cat belonging to a lonely spinster. Confrontational and curt, the unfriendly woman insists her pet was stolen. Looking into her eyes behind her heavily bolted door, Hamish can see her true problem-she lives in great fear...but what is she afraid of? Then some thieves make off with a Christmas tree and lights in nearby Cnothan and Hamish must investigate. As if that isn't enough on his holiday plate, Hamish's romance of the new schoolteacher is going fine, until she mentions a perfect little girl whose family abhors Christmas...and whose behavior has recently become very imperfect.

Now it's up to Hamish to make things right.

A delightful story.