Here to Stay

Here to Stay by Melissa Tagg, 2014 Bethany House Publishers

     After meeting how-to darling Miranda "Randi" Woodruff and posing as her husband Blake Hunziker, known as Blaze, as decided to return home. He left shortly after his brother's death and rather than looking back has traveled the globe. 

     Blaze's decision to help Randi has become something of a scandal in his hometown. Returning, though, is the only way he can think to find closure. Blaze's family runs the premier hotel in Whisper Shore, Michigan. After his brother's death Blaze is expected to take over his family business, but he's been running from the expectation. 

     The Hunziker family doesn't have much competition but a young lady living at the edge of town has inherited a struggling bed and breakfast. Autumn Kingsley is swamped by the major overhaul the family inn needs. She finally has an investor who will allow Autumn to leave town if she can get the repairs done in two weeks. 

     Blaze and Autumn must work together as Blaze tries to prove his responsibility by hosting and planning the local Christmas festival. Autumn uses her experience with the festival to help Blaze. He returns the favor with the newfound skills Randi Woodruff taught him -- even calling in a favor from Autumn's favorite television personality. 

     The Kingsleys and Hunzikers have rarely gotten along over the years. The more time they spend together the better Autumn and Blake bet along. When push comes to shove will the dream of travel pull Autumn from her hometown or will her newfound connection with the prodigal son make the small town her forever home? 

     Blaze rediscovers Blake and the expected cold shoulder is instead a warm welcome. He aims to prove himself to his family and town. Blake and Autumn manage to work together toward their separate goals and build something more than friendship. Readers who enjoyed Made to Last will enjoy this deeper look at Blake and his past as he puts the lessons learned from Randi into action. 

Password to Larkspur Lane

Password to Larkspur Lane by Carolyn Keene, 1966 Grosset & Dunlap

     Nancy Drew is outside tending the garden when a carrier pigeon arrives in the yard. Hannah Gruen, the Drews' housekeeper, falls and her doctor suggests to Nancy and her lawyer father of a woman who he treats under mysterious circumstances. The doctor believes the woman is being held prisoner and Nancy begins to investigate.
     A clue from the doctor leads to the prestigious Eldridge family. Nancy follows the clues and, with the added intrigue of the pigeon's registry, finds there truly is something criminal afoot.
     Mrs. Eldridge is missing, according to a young relative, and--when Nancy, Bess, George, and their friend Helen speak with her--Mrs. Eldridge has not chosen to be treated at the estate holding her prisoner. She is not the only elderly patient at the estate, and Mrs. Eldrige explains the people running the place have some shady practices.
     Some quick thinking and subterfuge from the girls bring justice to the plotters. Nancy and her friends face danger, but they come out better able to fight for what they believe right.
     Nancy Drew is an independent young woman who uses her quick mind to investigate and solve problems. She faces danger and uses her resources in a story meant for middle-grade readers, but enjoyable at any age. Password to Larkspur Lane was revised from its original 1933 novel to be more feminist, to consolidate the plot, and to bring the familiar characters back to the main screen.

Crazy House

Crazy House by James Patterson & Gabrielle Charbonnet, 2017 Hachette Book Group

     Twin sisters Cassie and Becca Greenfield could not be more different: Cassie is a perfect student and careful to keep everything working as expected. By contrast, Becca is constantly in trouble, barely gets by in school and regularly flouts the rules. When Becca suddenly disappears Careful Cassie goes searching all across their cell for her wayward sister.
     Becca wakes in a strange place dressed in a hideous yellow jumpsuit and locked in a cement cell with four other teens. She is dragged from the room to take a series of tests and to endure a knock-out fight with one of the other kids. After the fight, Becca is thrown into a cell with the boy who brutally beat her, where he tries to befriend her. This place is a death row and, Becca learns, full of such contradictions.
     In their cell, Cassie breaks the rules and meets new people who aren't like Careful Cassie. The prefect's son Nate seems to be leading the outsiders and Cassie enlists his help. When they head out past the edges of the cell, Cassie is taken by the same people who took Becca.
     Within a couple days Nate followed trying to find his friend and discovers the two girls, and several other missing teens, have been taken to some sort of compound. Outside the cell, Nate meets a young boy from the cell next door who helps him infiltrate the crazy house.
     Cassie and Becca meet in their prison, the two battle and appear to take leadership over different parts of the prison. The administrators worry the girls will either fail or break this experiment. When Nate and the politics of their cell arrive in the prison Cassie changes the timeline of the girls' plan: Nate was injured and she cannot bear to have him die in this mess.
     The Greenfield twins present an interesting challenge for the administrators of the crazy house and their experiment. When the mystery of why everyone has been gathered is revealed to Cassie and Becca they must confront the misrepresentation of their life.
     With violence and mature content, Crazy House is better suited to older teen readers. Those who enjoy their mystery with a bit of adventure and a dash of romance will find a fascinating new world in this tale.

Wish with the Candles

 Wish with the Candles by Betty Neels, 1972 Harlequin

     Emma Hastings is on vacation with her mother in Holland when she bumps (literally) into Professor Justin Teylingen's Rolls Royce. His disdain for the family's questionably reliable little car sets the association between Emma and the professor on its side, but he takes the opportunity to do the English ladies a good turn. Professor Teylingen suggests a garage in their next overnight to "change a plug" and a concert to Emma and her mother to while away the time - where he arranges to make tickets close to his party coincidentally affordable. The vacation is a success and Emma is attracted to the well-heeled man despite the fender-bender. 

     The Hastings women return to England--Mrs. Hastings to her little home in the country and Emma to her nursing position in a Southampton hospital. Acting as Theatre Sister she enjoys her work and has reasonable prospects, but she is surprised when the visiting surgeon is the handsome Dutch professor. Emma's budding hopes of some kind of relationship are trampled when he seems to show more interest in her prettier younger sister. 

     Between her friendly relationship with the men of the hospital and the interest in her vibrant younger sister Emma is blindsided by her feelings for the professor and frets that he is interested in something more significant with the younger girl. The professor is invited to join the Hastings women in the country: an invitation from Mrs. Hastings presented by her younger daughter. 

     In the country Emma is at the center of the local happenings when she finds one of her elderly neighbors has fallen into a disused well on her property. The rescue paints Emma favorably and helps the professor in his attempts at a romantic gesture. However, when given a chance at an actual date with the man of her dreams Emma cries off: she doesn't feel well. The professor mocks her but is startled when she nearly collapses during surgery the next day. 

     After an appendectomy the professor is apologetic and offers, practically insists that Emma recover at his home in Holland. Emma agrees and is escorted by her younger sister as nursemaid and companion. Justin's aunt Wilhelmina and gorgeous cousin Saskia live at the family home and he leaves the Hastings girls in their care as he continues his work. Wilhelmina does not appreciate that her nephew has invited eligible young women into their home and strongly suggests to Emma that he and his cousin have strong feelings for each other. 

     Emma flees. She has realized she loves Justin and cannot stand the thought of being a charity case or being let down easily. Justin realizes what has happened and, after clearly setting boundaries with his aunt, follows Emma home. In true Neels fashion the conflict is resolved and love conquers all.