ItaPixie's Book Corner

        Synopsis:   Love, life, and libraries Growing up in foster care, Elle Cooper always felt a piece of herself was missing. Now, as her thirtieth birthday approaches, she’s ready to find it. But when instigating the search for her birth mother leads to a whole host of unexpected events, this librarian’s quiet life suddenly gets very loud! With new friends, old flames and surprising influences keeping Elle busy, she soon starts to see that there’s more to life than where you came from – and that where you are right now, and who you have in your corner, is what might just matter most of all… Love Heart Lane – where friends are there for you no matter what.   Review: The Library on Love Heart Lane tells Elle's, the librarian, story. She is thirty, she has a good job, some great friends, a sweet foster mum. This year she is determined to find her real mother in order to finally know where she comes from and why she was abandoned. This is a ...

      Synopsis: In Mistletoe Gardens a legend anyone who kisses underneath the mistletoe will be guaranteed another year of love…  When local baker Essie Browne discovers that Mistletoe Gardens is to be demolished in January, she’s determined to save the place she loves so much. So Essie proposes building a life size gingerbread house to bring in the crowds…just how hard can it be? Well, quite hard actually. Essie can bake gingerbread blindfolded, but she hasn’t got a clue how to build an actual house with it! She needs help - and fast! Enter local builder, Joss Hallissey. Essie is convinced that with Joss’s help they can pull this off. There’s just one tiny Joss hates Christmas, gingerbread, and… well, just about everything else too. Joss the Grinch makes it clear that her idea is ludicrous and pointless, but he reluctantly agrees to help with her plan. Will the gingerbread house be enough to save Mistletoe Gardens? Or will Essie's chance for a magical ...

      Synopsis: Miss Venus Merriwell has been waiting for her prince to come since the tender age of fourteen. She wants a man who is selfless, academic like her, and free from all the wretched vices her gambler father enjoyed far too much before he left the Merriwell sisters practically destitute. Unfortunately, after a slew of romantic disappointments, there is still no sign of that prince at twenty-three and the only one true love of her life is the bursting-at-the-seams orphanage in Covent Garden that she works tirelessly for. An orphanage that desperately needs to expand into the empty building next door. For Galahad Sinclair, gambling isn’t just his life, it’s in his blood. He grew up and learned the trade at his grandfather’s knee in a tavern on the far away banks of the Hudson in New York. But when fate took all that away and dragged him across the sea to London, it made sense to set up shop here. He’s spent five years making a success out of his gami...

      Synopsis: Two weeks to survive on a deserted island with a woman he can’t stand… Cade Armstrong Waters turned his back on his family’s money and walked away from his legal career to build his foundation to help at-risk children. To secure the funding he needs, he agrees to spend two weeks with a woman he just met. All Cade must do is survive - with or without Cynthia Sterling’s help – but she has to stay for the entire time, or they both lose out on their prizes. Unfortunately, Cynthia is absolutely, completely, nothing like Cade. He doesn’t believe in love anymore and she wants to believe love exists. She even wants the world he left behind. He isn’t used to relying on anyone else, but somehow, they’ll have to find a way to work together if they want to win. Two weeks alone and these strangers, who couldn’t be more different, might realize they’re exactly where they need to be and with the right person. Just the way the billionaire who organized this cha...

Synopsis:   The fairy lights are sparkling on the Sunnybrook village green tree and festive excitement is in the air – and at least one Little Duck Pond Cafe regular is going to have the best Christmas ever!   Review: A Winter Wonderland is a good festive read. This story is about Jaz and Milo, they are single parents and neighbours. Their friendship is becoming something more special, until Jaz pulls the brake because she fears to be lied on and left heartbroken again. Will they spend Christmas together or will they keep to avoid each other? I love to return at the Little Duck Pond Cafe, and at Christmas time was even more enjoyable. You can count on this group of friends that pull together and help each other. Jaz is kind and lovely, her fear of starting a new relationship is understandable after her disastrous wedding, but Milo is really sweet and altruist, and you can feel how much he cares for her and her daughter. I cheered for them, because they deserve to...

        Synopsis:   He’s the cocky, pro hockey player that tried to get my number during a game. Now he’s sidelined with an injury and I’m his new nurse. The first time I met Ash Kelly, he stripped off his jersey and gave it to a little girl in the crowd, charming an arena full of fans in the process. Then he tossed me a puck and asked for my number. I was with my jerk ex-boyfriend, who was less than impressed with the whole thing. The second time he crashes into my life it’s as my patient. There’s no way he should remember me, but he does. Being Ash’s nurse is torture. He’s stubborn and frustrating, and he won’t stop flirting with me now that he knows I’m single. He’s even recruited the entire hospital to help him win me over. And it’s working. The more time I spend taking care of him, the more he breaks down my defenses. He’s kind and considerate, and he makes my heart race. But I’ve sworn off dating and getting involved with a charming, handsome ...

    Synopsis:   Can a secret son and a second chance at love show this wounded quarterback there’s life after football?  Ian Cassidy’s chance to play pro football was shattered along with his shoulder in a terrible accident. But his heart was broken before that, when his college sweetheart dropped him and disappeared without a word.Returning to his hometown with a life-changing injury instead of a seven-figure contract is humiliating for the former star quarterback. But it’s missing Faith that keeps him up at night.So, when she appears at Cassidy Farm just in time for the holidays with an adorable little son, and tells Ian that baby Connor is his, he feels like he’s going from the bench to the championships.After all, how many people get a second chance at true love?Faith is still madly in love with Ian Cassidy, but she ran from him for a reason, and she’s scared that his declarations now are just an attempt to do the right thing. Seeing him every day an...

      Synopsis:   For Edwin Hope, it begins with a childhood dare and a forbidden tree. It begins with him falling… in more ways than one. Called home from his studies by the grandfather who has always hated him, eighteen-year-old Edwin is once again trapped in a house that is colder than the winds whipping across the fields. Seeking sanctuary, he escapes into the untamed beauty of the Peaks and meets a woman who sparks an old memory. A memory of the sycamore that broke him, and the little girl who saved him.  Drusilla has had many acolytes over the centuries but none like Edwin. With the Great War looming and Edwin’s future uncertain, she knows the right thing to do is to set him free from her spell, but can she do so if it means breaking her own heart?   Review:    The Promise Tree tells an epic love story that, between highs and lows, lasts almost a century. Since a young age Edwin found some joy and comfort meeting a girl near the ...

      Synopsis:   Could the wrong bride… Be right for him after all? For the sake of his family name, Lord Robert must marry to seal an alliance with an Irish clan. Only, the woman at the altar isn’t who he was promised! Instead, it’s her sister, Lady Mairenn! The sharp-tongued Irish beauty is as reluctant to wed as Robert, but as friction turns to fire between them, she’s further derailing Robert’s plans for this purely pragmatic arrangement…   Review: The Knight’s Substitute Bride was an excellent medieval novel, that’s not one of my usual go to historical age but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to read a new work of Melissa Oliver. I think she is one of the best author who narrates this period, and I once again loved one of her books. Lord Robert de Brunville is promised to the beautiful Clan Darach's heiress in order to give them protection and tie his name to Ireland, but Mairenn Ni Tiernan takes her sister's place at the last minute and sh...

      Synopsis:   So here’s the deal—I’m a magical disaster.  A witch from a family of witches, and the only one whose magic blows up in her face. Which is why I came up with my rules…  1. Never get involved with magic. 2. If you must, do not enter a competition to win the biggest magical fortune in England. 3. And definitely don't fall for Callan Hawthorne, the sexy billionaire mage who you've hated for years. So how the heck do I end up in a situation that promises to break all those rules?  It's the only way to save Seaside Spells, my family’s magical potion shop. But it’s cool.  When I go back home to Charming Cove—a village of ancient pubs and foul-mouthed familiars—I will totally ignore Witch Weekly’s Sexiest Man of the Year.  I’ll win the competition, and if I’m lucky, I won’t turn myself into a toad in the process.  This'll be fine.  It’ll all be fine. Riiiight.   Review:    The Modern Girl's Guid...

      Synopsis: Autumn is here and the Little Duck Pond Café crew are looking forward to spending a relaxing week in the country. That’s the theory, anyway. Because when they arrive, they quickly become immersed in village life after a power cut, only to find themselves spooked at every turn by mysterious goings-on, all of which seem to be connected to the creepy old house next-door. Is someone playing scary Hallowe’en tricks on them? Or is there something rather more sinister afoot…?   Review:      A Cosy Cottage Escape was a lovely read. It was a pleasure to encounter some of the Little Duck Pond Cafe ladies again, and also to meet some new friends. I've come to like Rosie Green's writing and her storytelling so I'm always ready to read whatever she writes. I loved the Halloween and the spooky theme in this book. I've really liked to see this group of friends taking a break from their stressful and hectic lives in a quiet village, but they st...

      Synopsis:   He's country music's bad boy… could she be the girl to finally tame him? Born into a life of wealth and privilege, Veronica Vanderbilt has never wanted for anything. Aside from a man, that is… Thanks to her overprotective father, Ronnie’s lovelife is non-existent. Attending a prestigious music school in Nashville seems like the perfect solution. There, she can pursue her dreams and finally find someone to punch her V-card… Enter Aiden Addams—a country rock god, whose reputation precedes him both on stage and in the bedroom. It’s hate at first sight, even if she does keep picturing him naked. On the surface, the pair couldn’t be more different. But as it turns out, they each have something the other needs. She’s got the pristine image required to clean up his playboy rap. And he has the sexpertise to transform her into a temptress no man could resist. But when the line between lust and love starts to blur, they’ll have to decide if riskin...

      Synopsis:   Balancing my career with being a single dad has become a bit of a challenge. According to my daughter, Cobie, I’m a world-traveling workaholic who doesn’t spend enough quality time with her. So, this year, I’m whisking her off to Paris for a two week Christmas vacation of a lifetime and leaving work behind, except for a brief stop in Lake Mistletoe, Idaho to snap photos for a travel magazine feature. Cobie and I are forced to seek refuge in the town's cozy Gingerbread Inn when one of our bags, the one holding our passports, goes missing. As days turn into nights, I start to discover the charm of Lake Mistletoe and its tight-knit community. Along the way, I find myself slowly letting go of my rigid work-focused mindset, and opening up to new experiences and relationships, while Cobie embraces the small town ambiance. An unlikely bond develops with Sela Prince, a local with a warm heart and a penchant for seeing the beauty in everyday th...