QUEEN OF THE BIG TIME

Nella is an Italian farm girl who longs to go to school so that she can be a teacher. Her parents feel that her seventh grade education is plenty. Nella's dream finally comes true and she is allowed to go on to high school. However, a family tragedy changes her life forever. When Nella is only fourteen years old, she meets Renato. He is handsome, exciting and seven years older. Nella and Renato's lives continue to intertwine in unexpected ways throughout their lives.

I love Adriana Trigiani's books. They are the kind of books where nothing seems to happen and still lots is going on. The characters become like family and friends and are always warm and funny people that I wish that I could know in real life. Unfortunately, this audiobook was an abridged edition. I absolutely hate those! I would love to listen to this book again in its complete version.

Rating - 4.5 stars

HEART OF DIXIE

Jake Gannon is a reporter who is working on the story of the disappearance of megastar, Devon Stafford. Devon was at the peak of her career when she walked away from Hollywood over a year ago and she hasn't been seen since. Jake has been doing tons of research and he decides to return to the area where Devon's mother grew up. His plans are stalled though, when his Porsche quits working in a remote little town. The female mechanic who picks him up is also the proprietor for the local cabins where Jake ends up staying. As fascinated as Jake is by figuring out what happened to Devon Stafford, he also finds himself becoming more and more attracted to Dixie, the mechanic and proprietor.

I have read several Tami Hoag books and have enjoyed them. They were thrillers that kept you on the edge of your seat. This was a new audiobook from the library. It didn't take long to figure out that this was a typical romance that Hoag had written before she changed her writing style. This was a fairly predictable romance novel. I did plenty skipping of the love scene descriptions. I found the story to be okay, but certainly not Hoag's best.

Rating - 3 stars

HEART AND SOUL

Dr. Clara Casey has the job of setting up the new heart clinic in a hospital in Ireland. Clara isn't exactly thrilled with the job but she throws herself into decorating it and staffing it with the best people possible. As Clara works usually uphill against the hospital administration, she manages to put together an amazing staff and they are changing the lives of the heart patients they work with. As usual, the staff seems to be very diversified but over time their lives intermingle and they become a family to one another.

Maeve Binchy is a wonderful storyteller. She tends to work in almost short stories, focusing on one character and then another. She does a great job of turning these short stories into a novel filled with people that you like and care about. The only thing that bothered me in this book is that many of the characters seemed to be from previous books. I had read Whitethorn Woods and recognized several characters from there. Some of the characters had obviously come from another story and I felt I was missing quite a bit of background info. Still, I liked the book and Maeve Binchy is always a treat.

Rating - 4 stars