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The Baby Left Behind

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Cate desperately wants to have a baby, but is unable.  She has been accepted as  the adoptive mother to a newborn, only to have the mother have second thoughts after giving birth. Jada is a recovering drug addict who experiences tremendous pains after lunch at a Mexican restaurant and assumes it's food poisoning, only to discover after hours of painful cramps that she is giving birth -- having no clue that she was pregnant.  How is she going to care for a newborn she didn't know she was expecting. Cate receives a phone call on her way to the hospital to pick up the second baby she is about to adopt, letting her know that this mother too has changed her mind.  She is devastated. After a about a week, Jada can't seem to deal with her new baby and she contacts her dealer and takes heroin again.  She realizes she will be a terrible mother and she remembers seeing Cate at the doctor's office, so she drives to her house and leaves her newborn at the front door, with a...
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Just One Look

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I tried to read James Patterson's latest, which he (and his co-author) says was the best book he ever wrote. I was terribly disappointed and then found a Harlan Coben book I had not yet read and knew from page 3 that this was the page turner I had hoped Patterson's book would be. Grace Lawson picks up a newly developed set of family photographs, and finds a picture that doesn't belong-a photo from at least twenty years ago with a man in it who looks strikingly like her husband, Jack. Jack denies it's him but he disappears that night, taking the photo with him. Grace tries to find Jack and in the process encounters killers, torturers, and memories of her past that she had lost due to a terrible accident. The tension starts in the first chapter and doesn't stop until the end. Like many of Coben's books we are introduced to many characters who seem to have nothing to do with each other, but as the story progresses, they get closer and closer. Coben is also famous f...
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12 Months to Live

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Well, that will teach me not to listen to advertising. I have kind of stopped reading Patterson since he started writing with co-authors.  Some books are better than others, depending on who the co-author is.  Patterson says he likes developing plots but likes others to write them. Patterson and co-author Lupica (and later their wives) have made ads where they talk about how this is the best book they have ever written.  Their enthusiasm is so intense that I broke down and got the book. They are wrong. This is an OK book, but definitely nothing like the earlier books that Patterson wrote by himself.  I only give it 2-1/2 stars. Jane is a defense attorney who has been hired to defend a guy she is pretty sure killed a family of 3, but who says he's innocent.  As she is about to defend him in court, she learns that she has Stage 4 cancer and is given 12 months to live.  (Patterson says the other two books in the series will be called "6 months to live" and "3 ...
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Raspberry Truffle Murder

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A pen pal sent this book to me as a gift.  I hope it wasn't something she actually bought  for me.  The Diana book was so serious and emotional that I decided to read this next, figuring it would definitely be light.  Mid-way through I checked reviews on Amazon and found most people gave it 5 stars.  I don't know what those people are accustomed to reading.  I was happy to see that one person, who gave it 2 stars, felt about it the way I did. This is the most unbelievable book I've ever read.  The main character, Nikki, moves to a small t own in Vermont after her husband divorced her.  She gives up a career as a reporter and for some reason we don't know, decides to open up a chocolate shop.  On opening day, a man is killed by hit and run and Nikki for some reason is convinced someone is going to frame her for a murder, though she was working in her shop with a shop full of customers. She takes on investigation of the murder, leaving her shop...
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The Day Diana Died

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  I don't really read a lot about the royal family, but I was curious about this book.  Anderson has written a complete story of the accident, the people involved, and Diana's life leading up to the end of it.  It is a fascinating account, if occasionally a bit too involved. (also, he definitely needed a proof reader!  Entirely too many typos...maybe it was because it was the Kindle edition). Whenever I read anything about the royal family, I realize how dysfunctional the family is.  When Charles was growing up and his mother was away for several months, when she came home, she didn't hug him, she shook his hand. The coldness of Elizabeth after Diana's death is very difficult to read.  Her only concern was finding out whether Diana had any royal jewels, which should be returned to the palace immediately. She seemed surprised that so many people around the world were shocked by Diana's death and she had to be convinced to allow a public funeral...after all s...
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As You Wish

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  I've read a lot of books about movies and how they are made, about the actors in them, etc, but perhaps none has interested me as much as "As You Wish," by Cary Elwes, who plays Wesley in The Princess Bride. The movie has become very special in Hollywood history, but other than knowing what it was about and remembering that I had enjoyed it, I really didn't have any special feeling about it. When I saw the Elwes had written a book about the making of the movie, I thought it might be interesting and put it on my Amazon wish list. Ned and Marta got it for me...for Christmas or for my birthday and other than barely starting it, I hadn't really picked it up until this week. It quickly became obvious that before I could read the book, I'd have to see the movie again. Fortunately it was on Disney, and so I got it and watched it. When I picked the book up again, it was a whole different experience reading it with the movie fresh in my mind. What a fascinating story...
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Waypoints

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I found this a fascinating book.  It's unusual for a 40 year old to write an autobiography...and, in fact, this isn't exactly an autobiography.  Sam tells of his trek across the 96 mile West Highland Way and while he walks, he reflects on his life.  The book goes back and forth between the beautiful scenery he is seeing (or the rugged parts he is trying to climb) and his history as an actor. One thing I learned from reading this book is why Sam's Jamie Fraser is so believable, while interviews with him about  Jamie Fraser are nothing like the character himself.  Sam has spent so much time learning how to become a character that when he steps into those scenes, it's like Sam Heughan disappears and Jamie Fraser appears instead.  Jamie is older while Sam is younger.  I find that I now want to see the other movies he's made to see if he creates those characters are well as he has created Jamie Fraser. It's funny that he seems to enjoy porridge with peanut ...
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