Mailbox Monday

For the last several weeks I've only received one book in the mail each week. It's a good thing because I was in a bit of a reading slump and wasn't getting through anything very quickly. I just couldn't stay concentrate or stay interested. That's all changed now! I've been reading good books and my mailbox has been full.

Mailbox Monday at The Printed Page is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week (checked out library books don’t count, eBooks & audio books do). Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.

When Will There Be Good News?
by Kate Atkinson

won from Peeking Between the Pages

On a hot summer day, Joanna Mason's family slowly wanders home along a country lane. A moment later, Joanna's life is changed forever... On a dark night thirty years later, ex-detective Jackson Brodie finds himself on a train that is both crowded and late. Lost in his thoughts, he suddenly hears a shocking sound... At the end of a long day, 16-year-old Reggie is looking forward to watching a little TV. Then a terrifying noise shatters her peaceful evening. Luckily, Reggie makes it a point to be prepared for an emergency... These three lives come together in unexpected and deeply thrilling ways in the latest novel from Kate Atkinson, the critically acclaimed author who Harlan Coben calls "an absolute must-read."

The Heretic's Daughter
by Kathleen Kent

won from Revenge of the Book Nerds!

Martha Carrier was one of the first women to be accused, tried and hanged as a witch in Salem, Massachusetts. Like her mother, young Sarah Carrier is bright and willful, openly challenging the small, brutal world in which they live. Often at odds with one another, mother and daughter are forced to stand together against the escalating hysteria of the trials and the superstitious tyranny that led to the torture and imprisonment of more than 200 people accused of witchcraft. This is the story of Martha's courageous defiance and ultimate death, as told by the daughter who survived. Kathleen Kent is a tenth generation descendent of Martha Carrier. She paints a haunting portrait, not just of Puritan New England, but also of one family's deep and abiding love in the face of fear and persecution.

Then Came The Evening
by Brian Hart

to review from Bloomsbury USA

Bandy Dorner, home from Vietnam, awakes with his car mired in a canal, his cabin reduced to ashes, and his pregnant wife preparing to leave town with her lover. Within moments, a cop lies bleeding in the road.

Eighteen years later, Bandy's son -- a stranger bearing his name -- returns to the town, where the memory of his father's crime still hangs thick. When an accident brings the family -- paroled father, widowed mother, injured son -- back together, the three must confront their past, and struggle against their fate.

Like a traditional Greek tragedy, suffused with the mud, ice, and rock of the raw Idaho landscape, Then Came the Evening is tautly plotted and emotionally complex -- a stunning debut.

Spanish Holiday
by Kate Cann

along with a homemade bookmark!
won from Books Are My Love

Dear Bella and Bobby,

Thank you SO MUCH for letting us stay at your villa. It's gorgeous, and we're having a fab time looking after it and enjoying the view of the mountains and the lovely olive grove. I figured out the bus to Ercos on the first day here -- it's as easy as you said! And Miguel's son Juan is helping us take care of everything, so you needn't worry at all!

Love, Laura

The Christmas Clock
by Kat Martin

won from Bookin' With Bingo's amazing Christmas contest

Sylvia Winters just found a job and an apartment in her hometown of Dreyerville, Michigan, but she is hesitant to return. Eight years ago, she jilted her fiancé, Joe Dixon, telling him that she was moving to Chicago because small-town living was not for her. But she was lying. Syl was headed to Chicago to be treated for cervical cancer. Sadly, Joe never knew the real reason she left him. Confused and distraught, he turned to drinking to heal the pain, until he accidentally killed a man and served years in jail. Now Syl and Joe are both back in town, but it will take a miracle to bring them back into each other’s arms.

Also in town is Lottie Sparks and her grandson, Teddy. Ever since Lottie’s daughter was killed in a drunk-driving accident, Lottie’s been in charge of Teddy. He appreciates her love more than she knows, so much so that the industrious eight-year-old hits up Joe’s auto body shop, so he can save enough money by Christmas to buy his grandmother a Victorian clock she adores—one that vividly reminds her of her childhood, even as the rest of her memories are slipping away with the onset of advanced Alzheimer’s.

As spring turns to summer and summer to fall, matters in the Sparks’ household take a turn for the worse. And with winter approaching, will a little hope and a big dose of Christmas magic be enough to make everything all right again?

It Happened One Night
by Lisa Dale

won from The Life and Lies of an Inanimate Flying Object

Sometimes love finds you when you least expect it. Lana Biel has always wanted to shake the dust of Vermont off her feet and see the world, one exotic country after another. But when a lighthearted spring fling changes her life forever, she turns to the one man whose strong shoulders can lighten any burden: her best friend, Eli Ward. Eli has always been there for Lana--after all, that's what best friends do. But Lana isn't the only one hiding something. Eli is keeping secrets of his own that threaten their relationship. Yet as summer turns to fall, new desires awaken between them, even as old fears tear them apart. Then, when another Vermont winter fills the valleys with snow, Eli and Lana are given the chance for an adventure greater than they ever dreamed possible...and a love that will last for all time.

Rose Hill
by Pamela Grandstaff

to review from the author - Rose Hill Mystery Series

When the bludgeoned body of rich and rotten Theo Eldridge turns up in the kennel of the local veterinary, police chief Scott Gordon is determined to solve the case before Sarah Albright, the county sheriff’s investigator, beats him to it. Scott is convinced that temperamental bookstore owner Maggie Fitzpatrick is the woman for him, but she’s still grieving over the mysterious disappearance of the love of her life six years previously. Although determined to resist the powerful chemistry between them, Maggie is resolved to help Scott find the killer. As Maggie and Scott attempt to untangle the sticky web of Theo’s shady business dealings, they discover a dog-breeding scam and enough arson, graft, and blackmail to supply motives to a dozen suspects. They also uncover some dark family secrets that may connect Theo’s murder to another committed twenty years previously.

Morning Glory Circle
by Pamela Grandstaff

to review from the author - Rose Hill Mystery Series

What if Rose Hill’s most vicious gossip had access to the deepest secrets of the town’s most prominent citizens? Police Chief Scott Gordon offered Margie Estep a deal: if she'd quit her job at the post office and help her invalid mother move into a nursing home, he might not arrest her for mail tampering and embezzling. This may have protected her sweet mother from scandal, but it left Margie one false move away from jail and desperate for money. After mailing several malicious letters Margie has disappeared, and now it’s up to Scott to find out if one of her poison pen pals made that disappearance permanent. As bookstore owner Maggie Fitzpatrick prepares for the annual Winter Festival, she considers letting go of the past and embracing a future with Scott. Their close relationship is jeopardized, however, when Scott discovers an undelivered letter from Maggie’s ex-lover, who disappeared several years before. Now Scott must decide whether to destroy the letter or reveal the truth about that night, even if it means losing the woman he loves. The list of suspects just grows longer as Margie’s victims are revealed. When Scott follows a hunch that leads him closer to the truth, he also risks becoming the killer’s next victim. It’s February in Rose Hill, and love is in the air (along with heartache, blackmail, and murder). Morning Glory Circle is the second book in the Rose Hill Mystery Series.