Ordeal of Love by Ruth McCarthy Sears

     Christy Poindexter is a young woman living in Poindexter, California with her widowed mother in the old family house which has become rundown over time. Christy's grandfather had founded the town of Poindexter and built it through his mills which have since closed down and caused the family to live in poverty. Christy has been able to protect her mother from the knowledge of just how poor they have become, she isn't even aware that the Inca, the family's old ranch, has been sold to it's foreman, Roger Gordon. Although Art has taken a job bronco busting at the Inca he has neglected to send any of the money home to his family and so Christy carries on alone fighting off creditors and cooking humble meals with the food scraps they can afford. Although Christy wants to find a job to keep her and her mothers heads above water she has been trained for nothing except attracting a husband and keeping house.

    These skills soon come in handy however when Christy is asked to attend a business dinner with Roger Gordon. There she meets Stuart Holmes, a young handsome doctor who is instantly smitten with Christy and she with him. She invites him over for lunch the next day where he is in awe of her big beautiful home and her homemaking skills. He must leave on business that night, he explains, but makes plans to return in two weeks. Despite her excitement for this upcoming date Christy soon forgets all about it when a call comes from the Inca saying Art has becoming seriously injured in an accident.

    The Poindexter women soon move into the Inca to be near, and care for, Art. The ranch has become somewhat rundown itself, not due to lack of money, but lack of responsibility on the staffs part. Christy decides to repay Rogers hospitality by taking things into her own hands. Through her hard work and firm hand with the staff she gets the house in grand order and earns a salary for herself from it. Roger, who has known and loved Christy all his life, wants to marry her however she makes it clear she feels nothing for him but friendship. Her heart still lingers on Stuart despite not having spoken to him since the lunch a year ago. 

    After lunching with her best friend Amy Gibbs, Christy is called in to see Mr. Gibbs who owns the local bank. He degradingly suggests that Christy's employment at the ranch implies she is a woman with loose morals and that she should come work in his house instead. Christy is outraged by this attack and storms out of his office in tears where she runs into Dr. Blanchard. He consoles her and informs her that  he, and an up-and-coming doctor, are interested in buying her family house and turning it into a hospital. 

    Christy and her mother are thrilled with this idea and papers are drawn up to buy the house and land from them for $20,000. Upon hearing this Roger is outraged. The place is worth x10 that much, these women are being taken advantage of.

    Roger takes the women to San Francisco to consult with his lawyer and have an appraiser sent to Poindexter to evaluate the land. There they run into Stuart who is still as wild about Christy as she is about him. However she is soon heartbroken when Roger informs her that not only is Stuart the up-and-coming doctor working with Dr. Blanchard to scam her and her mother but Stuart is also engaged to Amy. 

    Back at home the Poindexter house is sold for $200,000 ending the Poindexter's financial struggles. With his injury leaving him unfit for ranch life Art goes to college and begins plans to reopen the family mills. No longer needing employment Christy continues her duties at the ranch from a "woman of the house" position. When Rogers birthday approaches a fiesta is planned by Christy who impresses all Rogers friends, including Stuart.

    Stuart insists he had no part in trying to scam the women and that although he is engaged to Amy, it's only because he has not had a chance with Christy. When Christy turns him down he accuses her of being in love with Roger and she realizes that she is, in fact, in love with Roger. 

    Stuart visits the ranch soon after the party and asks Christy to marry him and move with him to Germany where he has taken a job. She turns him down and declares her love for Roger who, unknowingly, is listening in the next room. After Stuart departs Roger and Christy make their feelings clear for each other. 

    

    Honestly, I didn't have a lot of notes on this book. It was a cute story and although I think Christy suddenly realizing she's in love with Roger was a tad hard to believe, I do like that her choice between the two men aligns with her character and goals throughout the book.

    This is the second book I've read by Ruth McCarthy Sears, the first was The House on the Dunes which I was not a fan of and found the writing, and whole story, quite amateurish. I was very pleasantly surprised with this and would be interested in reading more by her.

Castle Light by Evelyn McKenna

    American Lesley Farlan is a practical nurse who has been hired by American Curt VanCampen to care for his British wife, Cleo, who apparently considers herself a "semi-invalid" but seems to be more bored than anything. With her new employers Lesley is to embark on an adventure in a party that includes another American couple (who are so unimportant to the plot I wont need to mention them) and an engineer named Ron Calvert, another American. The party is headed to the Cornish coast of England where they are to embark on a treasure hunt.

    The group takes a hired boat from France to England where they are dropped off right at their location, something which Lesley realized after is considered illegal entry. Their location is a lighthouse on a stoney cliff with a "house" built into a cave in the cliff, concealing it from the rough and turbulent waters which at the moment are becoming worse and worse. As the party reaches the shore in the night they are greeted by the sight of a dead man in the waters. The man is Baxter, another engineer that Curt had hired. He is dragged out of the water by McCabe, who runs the lighthouse. They also meet Mrs. Overtuft who is the housekeeper. There is another employee there but he is also unimportant to the plot and doesn't need to be mentioned which is good since I've forgotten his name.

    The lighthouse is so isolated that it is impossible to call the police as the only road in is currently blocked and they have no boat. There is also no telephone or communication radio so they decide to bury Baxter at sea. Despite the consensus being that he drowned Ron insists on exampling the body where he finds a icepick-sized stab wound through the mans chest. The whole group is now on alert.

    When they set Baxter into the water Cleo goes in with him and Ron has to dive in to save her. He later reveals to Lesley that someone had tied a thin wire from the body to the buttonhole of Cleo's cape, apparently while they all had their eyes closed for a moment of silence.

    Curt soon explains the situation regarding the treasure hunt to everyone. During the war when occupied France was being looted by the Nazis one of them went rogue and stole a large fortune in treasure. He worked with the lighthouse keeper at the time to build tunnels with hidden rooms under the lighthouse to hide the treasure. This was accomplished but both the Nazi and the Lighthouse keeper did not live to reclaim it. With rumors of hidden treasure about Cleo's grandfather had purchased the land the lighthouse stood on making Cleo the rightful owner of the treasure, at least in the VanCampen's eyes.

    The group heads down into the tunnels which go out under the sea. The tunnel walls are painted in wild and abstract patterns to camouflage any indication of hidden doors. As they explore them Lesley falls behind the others and leans against a wall which opens and she falls into it before it swiftly closes. Finding a light switch she sees there is nothing but a desk in the room and is able to reopen the door, as she does so an envelope falls from it which she stuffs into her dress so the others wont see it. An examination of the room by the others reveals nothing.

    That night, as the storm picks up, Lesley falls asleep with her light on. When Mrs. Overtuft, who it is already heavily implied is the villain, sees it she comes to check on Lesley and sees the envelope hanging out of her dress. Quietly she takes it and reads it which sends her into a rage and she begins to yell "I'll kill him" over and over. Lesley wakes up and takes the letter back. It contains 3 pages, one in code, and the other two are torn out of a diary. They are from a man who worked for the old lighthouse keeper and was planning to come back, under a new identity, to work for Cleo's grandfather as the lighthouse keeper and look for the treasure. Clearly it's McCabe.

    The next day Mrs. Overtuft plans to act on her threat to kill McCabe by feeding him, and the rest of the group, poisoned oatmeal. However her plan is ruined when McCabe feeds some to his pet marmot who almost instantly succumbs to it. Mrs. Overtuft denies the accusations it was poisoned and no one in the group knows what to believe although they are all on edge. 

    The story of Overtuft and McCabe is stupid and weird so I will tell it all here although it's not revealed until the end. The two were married and when McCabe went to work at the lighthouse originally he sent his wife away because, she believed, he was having an affair. After awhile she got word that he had passed and she remarried. After her second husband had passed she got word McCabe was still alive and working at the lighthouse so she got work there as the housekeeper. However with the passing of time and the two going under new identities they couldn't tell if the other was their former spouse and so they remained suspicious and hostile of each other. 

    The group goes back down into the tunnels to further examine the room they found. By turning a leg of the desk they open another room where the find the dead body of the other employee who apparently was looking for the treasure alone and succumbed to a poison gas booby trap. They find another hidden switch which opens yet another room where they find between 12-20 skeletons, presumably the Nazi's prisoners who had been used as forced labor to build the tunnels. Despite believing the treasure is probably one room away the group decides to quit searching for the time being. 

    Upstairs the storm rages and the group gathers together in the living room where Lesley falls asleep in Ron's arms. She awakes to a scream which is due to the power going out. The group is left in complete darkness as the storm of the century rages. Soon they hear crashing and feel water coming up around their feet which flows down into the tunnels, destroying any chance of finding the treasure. At Ron's orders they remain in place until the next morning when in the daylight they can see that a piece of the breakwater had broken off and been flung into the home. The house and light house are destroyed and McCabe and Mrs. Overtuft are found, dead and holding hands, having died while tending to their duties of the light. 

    With the light out a patrol soon arrives and the group leaves.

- So little happened in this book. It was a lot of worrying.

- Not finding the treasure was annoying. It made the whole story feel like a waste of time.

- Several characters were unnecessary, events were unnecessary, maybe the whole book was unnecessary. 

- A married couple would for sure be able to recognize each other even if not by sight. They were living in the lighthouse together for years, there would be some small behavior or quirk that you would know belonged to your spouse. 

    Overall....bleh. I wouldn't recommend it except to someone who really liked books with storms or books on the Cornish coast or something. It's not something I think I would ever re-read. 

The Summer at Whispering Hope

by Jean Woodward

    Sarah Collins is a 24 year old Oklahoma librarian whose mother has just passed away. When we first meet Sarah she is being proposed to by her long-time lukewarm boyfriend Ralph. The proposal happens in a diner over coffee and without any real enthusiasm. Ralph feels it's his responsibility to marry Sarah since she now has no other family but his lack of any romantic passion, to the extent of never even having said "I love you" to her, pushes her to decline his offer. Despite being a dowdy, plain, small town girl Sarah has dreams of an all-consuming passionate love. 

    Sarah's recently received a letter from Aunt Theo, her mother's sister and her only living relative, inviting her to come spend the summer at her Oregon lodge. Despite the disapproval from Ralph and her boss at the library Sarah decides to make the trip and to try and have some adventure before returning to Oklahoma and inevitably settling down to a life of Mrs. Ralph Martin.

    The trip will involve staying a night in Portland and Sarah decides to use this as an opportunity to remodel herself. Away from the judgmental eyes of her neighbors she gets her long hair cut off, buys makeup, and a fashionable new wardrobe, leaving her frumpy clothes in the hotel closet with a note asking them to be donated. 

    The next day she boards a bus bound for the tiny town of Whispering Hope and trips over a passengers cane and falls into the arms of Nicky Forbes, a gorgeous young blonde man. Sarah is humiliated by the brief incident but Nicky is intrigued by the shy beauty. Sitting in the seat behind him on the bus Sarah hears a strange and somewhat hostile conversation between him and a teenage native boy named Cain, something about an "accident".

    Once in town Sarah is picked up by Alan Donahue, the "intense, brooding, head wrangler" at her aunts lodge. Sarah is instantly smitten with the handsome and quiet cowboy but unfortunately she has competition in the form of  Corinne Cranston, a New York model vacationing at the lodge. Despite having a boyfriend back home Corinne makes it clear to Sarah that Donahue is her territory.

    Sarah notices the low guest turn out at the lodge and her questions about the business cause concerned looks among Theo and Donahue and gossipy whispers tell her it has something to do with "the accident". Sarah offers to help out around the place and this unintentionally gives her more time with Donahue and after a few weeks she feels they've grown something of a bond. However this feeling wont last long.

    A trail ride and picnic, led by Donahue, has been arranged for the lodge guests. Sarah believes a city girl like Corinne would never be interested in such activities and so is deeply disappointed when Corinne not only joins in but proves to be an extremely skilled horseback rider, impressing Donahue. Once at the picnic spot the guest head off to look at a waterfall and Sarah and Donahue remain behind to set up the food. Alone together Donahue pulls Sarah close and just as their lips are about to touch Corinne returns and is not happy with what she sees. She claws her nails into Sarah's arm and throws herself at Donahue. 

    As the picnic ends Sarah lets her jealous get the best of her and she trips Corinne causing the girl to fall into bushes and get scraped up. Donahue, furious at Sarah, carries Corinne to her horse and pays extra attention to her on the ride home. 

    As the riders pass the lake on the way to the lodge a motor boat passes by and Sarah recognizes it's passenger as Nicky. He recognizes her too and pulls up to talk. As the two chat Donahue appears looking for Sarah and is angered at the sight of Nicky, the two clearly have some bad blood. 

    The next day Sarah goes down to the beach where Corinne is sunbathing and the model informs her that she spent the night at Donahue's cabin. 

    Sarah recognized the lodge needs some improvement and modernizing to attract new guest and so offers to help repaint the cabins, a project that Donahue joins in on. The two become close again as they work and Donahue even kisses Sarah. However that night, unable to sleep, Sarah goes out on the terrace and in the moonlight she sees Corinne and Donahue kissing. 

    The next day Sarah is cold towards him and Donahue downplays Sarah's feeling and insists he's simply trying to please a paying customer at the lodge. Corinne then shows up, having caught word that the two were working alone together, and once again angrily stakes her claim on the cowboy. After that Corinne will keep Donahue busy by booking him to take her on trail rides. 

    When Sarah take a boat out onto the lake she encounters Nicky who gives her a tour of the lake and they have a picnic lunch together. Sarah asks him about "the accident" but he doesn't tell her. Determined to know about the strange mystery hanging over the inhabitants of the lake Sarah is finally able to get her aunt to tell the story to her.

    Last summer Nicky, his sister Barbara, and their friends went to Echo Island in the middle of the lake for a party. Someone had smuggled a keg over and after a few drinks Debbie, Donahue's 18 year old sister, asked Nicky to take her for a boat ride. The ride ended in a horrific crash against the rocks which left Debbie blind. A few days later there had been an attempted kidnapping of Barbara on Echo Island. And soon after that a violent bear had appeared around the lodge smashing cabin windows and frightening guests. All of it had reduced business for Theo.

    Sarah decides to ride over to Donahue's family ranch the next day and visit Debbie. However Debbie, depressed and sulking in her own misery, doesn't want any visitors. Sarah and Mr. Donahue plan to have Sarah visit again and to try to get Debbie out of her shell. 

    Upon returning home Sarah finds Corrine and Donahue passionately kissing in the tack room. This will be the last time she sees them kiss as Corrine has just been called away to a modeling job in the Bahamas. However by this point Sarah is disillusioned with the man.

    The next day she visits Nicky who lives in a mansion on the other side of the lake. Nicky's father, Nathan Forbes is outside and greets Sarah but he's kind of a creep. He's obsessed with the idea of buying the lodge from Theo and turning it into some chain resort but Theo has refused to sell at any price. 

    Nathan leaves when Nicky arrives and Sarah is able to hear his side of "the accident". He insists that night he was not drunk despite drinking and that Cain had thrown a firework into his boat which landed by the fuel tank. As Nicky grabbed for the firework the boat crashed on the rocks. 

    Sarah is awoken early the next morning by her aunt, Debbie is missing and they're going out to search for her. When her father went to wake her up this morning she was gone and with her blindness they worry about her being lost in the woods. Sarah is to go to their ranch and stay there incase the girl returns while the family searches for her. As Sarah sits on the porch she notices an outdoor storage trunk with it's lid partially off. She goes to fix it and finds Debbie in there hiding. Sarah holds no punches when scolding Debbie for wallowing in self-pity and causing her family distress. 

    Upon returning home that evening Nicky arrives to ask Sarah to dinner. He takes her to a fancy medieval themed restaurant owned by his father. The evening is magical and upon taking her home Nicky kisses Sarah with all the passion she desires. He then ruins it all by asking her to come stay at his Portland "pad" for a few days where they can enjoy a "few days of love". Insulted that Nicky would make such a proposition she ends things with him. 

    The next morning she takes off for a horseback ride to clear her mind but when a bear spooks her horse she is bucked off and left to try and find her way home. Donahue finds her and she falls weeping into his arms. They make up and later he tells her he's falling in love with her. 

    Sarah visits Debbie again and makes some progress on befriending the girl. She returns home to find Theo upset, the mysterious bear has returned again to break cabin windows. In order to keep the guest from focusing on the bear Theo decides to throw a luau party on the beach. 

    As Sarah and Theo are out on the beach planning the party Donahue pulls up in his truck with a passenger: Corinne. She's returned and still has eyes for the cowboy. Confused Sarah approaches him for an explanation but he tells her to meet him in the tack room when he's done with Corinne and winks. Disgusted by the insinuation Sarah slaps him and takes off on a horse to be alone. 

    As the night approaches Sarah returns and when placing her saddle in the tack room she stumbles on a hidden bear costume. Sarah now believes Donahue was behind the "bear" attacks and when he appears in the tack room she freaks out and runs off in fear. In her room she tries to calm down and decides to read Ralphs new letter to help. After being disillusioned by Nicky and now Donahue Sarah yearns for the respectfully boring Ralph, planning to return to Oklahoma immediately and marry him. However the letter turns out to be a "Dear John", Ralph has eloped with a new girl in town. 

    Sarah dresses and attends the luau, planning to tell Theo about the "bear" after the party. Corinne ends up stumbling down to the beach drunk on whiskey at which time her boyfriend from back home appears to drag her home. Nicky shows up and takes Sarah for a boat ride where he attempts to reconcile but he recognizes that she's finished with him.

    Back home Nicky finds his father drunk and when the two begin talking about Sarah and the lodge Mr. Forbes fiendishly admits he was the one behind the accidents. He hired Cain to throw the fireworks that night and he faked an attempted kidnapping on his own daughter, all in the hopes it would ruin business for the lodge and force Theo to sell. With all respect for his father gone Nicky goes up to bed and cries. 

    That night Sarah wakes up to her window breaking and a huge bear climbing in. She screams her head off and is picked up and carried out on to the terrace. Hearing her screams the guest come outside and the bear drops her and flees. Unaware it's a bear costume, a lodge worker shoots the bear who falls down. Thinking Donahue has just been shot Sarah rushes to him but when the mask is removed it's revealed to be Elmer, the mentally challenged son of the Forbes' housekeeper, hired by Mr. Forbes to frighten away lodge guests. He's alive and taken to the hospital where he will successfully recover. The mystery is solved and Sarah and Donahue become engaged, in the lodge kitchen, over coffee. 

- The "lodge worker' that shoots the "bear" is Mike, a love interest for Theo and part of the story but I couldn't add him into the summary without it getting (even more) over-detailed. Sorry, Mike.

- The fashion in this is soooo dated. It's from 1979 so obviously it's going to be dated but I don't think I've read another book with so much stereotypical fashion from an era. Sarah has a pantsuit in every blinding color imaginable, Corrine wears silver platform shoes with matching shorts and a tube top, and best of all, Nicky shows up to the luau in a white, skintight jumpsuit.

- Sarah takes a bath every night and Jean Woodward felt the need to include a scene of it every time.

- The writing is fairly juvenile. The way Corinne speaks to Sarah about Donahue being her claim is how a 12 year old girl would talk about her schoolyard crush. Sarah's makeover of cutting her hair and buying new clothes reminded me a story my sister wrote when she was 11 about a girl who tells everyone at school she's moving away then shows up the next day with a new hair cut, new clothes, and a new name and becomes the new popular girl with no one recognizing her. It feels very childish and at times I felt I was reading a book written by a preteen. Also Sarah is a shy small town girl who suddenly is making sassy remarks to Corinne, it was like she was having personality switches. 

- Donahue's a red flag. He's in his mid 30s, never been married, and has romances every summer with lodge guests. When Sarah catches him kissing Corinne in the tack room he says "it's not what it looks like" but no other explanation is given. I guess this was suppose to be excused as "keeping paying guest happy" like all his other romantic interactions with Corinne. Will he still be keeping guests happy after him and Sarah marry?

- I was kinda hoping for a Ralph redemption scene. Sarah doesn't want to be with Ralph because there's no passion but when he sees her off at the airport he wraps her in his arms and kisses her passionately leading Sarah to think there might be more to Ralph after all. I thought maybe he would show up at the lodge and win her over but he's just written out towards the end. 

    Overall this book is....meh. It's not the worst I've ever read by far and I did want to continue reading to see what happens but as I said, it often felt I was reading something written by a little girl and I can't see myself re-reading it.

The Adventure and Mystery Series for Girls by A.L. Burt

    Several years ago I came across a listing for the book The Black Box by Thelma Lientz and wanted to look it up before purchasing it. At the time there wasn't any information I could find on it and no other copies for sale. After doing some intense googling I found a link that led me to some information about the series this book was a part of. The link didn't take me to an actual site, but something like the data remains of an old site. The text was all jumbled together amid a giant wall of other text and html.

    I copied the text, pasted it into a notepad .txt file, and sorted it out right. This .txt file has been an invaluable guide for this series as well as the series' it was divided into. I'm sure without it I could have figured it out myself through purchasing books in the series' and monitoring eBay listings but that would have taken time and money (also who knows if I would have ever figured out that The Phantom Town and Phantom Town Mystery, both by Carol Norton, are two separate books). This file also made it possible for me to create a series listing on goodreads which has helped others. 

    As I said I found this years ago and I'm not surprised that the data remains of the site seem to be gone now, at least I couldn't find it. It seems to only exist in my file now so I thought I would post it since I found it so helpful.

    I want to be very clear, everything below this is not mine. I did not write it and I am not trying to take credit for it. If the original creator is brought to my attention I will, of course, credit them properly.

The Family Name

    Ryndy Drew (short for Kathryn) is the youngest of four sisters and feels perpetually in the shadow of her three successful sisters; a beauty queen, an atomic scientist, and a cheerleading captain. As her junior year in high school is coming to an end she feels making the senior cheerleading team is her only chance to match up to her sisters. She also sees it as an "in" to the popular crowd and to Brad, her long-time crush.

    Despite her parents certainty that the naturally athletic Ryn wouldn't make the cheer squad, she does in fact become their first choice, beating out 50 other girls including Allyson, a conceited and stuck-up bully who also likes Brad.

    Upon her acceptance as a cheerleader Ryn social rank sores and to her delight Brad starts hanging around her, although Allyson is always near by to drag him away. 

    At a party held by the graduating cheer captain Ryn notices a lone figure sitting off by himself, he's football player Dirk and he quickly and rudely dismisses Ryndy's attempts at friendly conversation leaving her embarrassed and with a deep grudge.

    Ryndy runs into Dirk a few days later when she's at the mall shopping for supplies to make campaign buttons for Brad's student President campaign. Another shopper shoves her in the crowded walkways and she lands face first in-front of Dirk. Despite her open hostility towards him he insists on driving her home as her ankle is hurt from the fall. He apologizes for his rude attitude at the party but becomes rude again when he learns Ryndy is helping Brad.

    As the summer vacation starts Ryndy goes out waterskiing with her best friend Gogo (short for Gloria) in Go's fathers rundown old boat. As Ryndy is out on the water the steering mechanism breaks causing Go to lose control of the boat. It makes a u-turn and crashes headfirst into Ryndy's legs, breaking them terribly. 

    Ryndy wakes up in the hospital with her legs in traction and an estimated recovery of 4 months meaning she wont be able to take on her cheerleading responsibilities when the school year starts. To make matters worse Allyson will be filling in for her. 

    Despite daily visits from her parents and Go, and a personal TV set, Ryndy becomes depressed and restless in the hospital. She receives infrequent visits from school friends including one from Brad who announces he will be hosting a radio show on WCCF, a radio station owned by Allyson's father.

    After two months Ryn is out of tractions and able to move around the hospital in a wheelchair but this makes her more impatient to be up on her feet. 

    Down the hall from her hospital room is a room of little boys, one of them is four-year-old Pieter whom Ryndy takes a liking, feeling a bond with him due to his inability to walk.

    Ryn spends her last month of recover at home where she remains restless and depressed. She's also gained weight from there being "nothing to do but eat and watch tv."

    The day for her casts to be removed finally arrives and Ryn is eager to make her fantasies about gracefully walking into school, all eyes on her, a reality. However once the casts are removed it is quickly learned she has developed osteochondrosis which will require her to stay off her feet for 2 more months. Unable to put off returning to school any longer Ryn returns in a wheelchair. Despite the kindness of her school mates, except Allyson who points out her weight gain, Ryn feels depressed, bitter, and angry. 

    On her first day back Dirk approaches her in the cafeteria to give his condolences on her accident and tells her she's lucky she will be able to walk again someday. This triggers Ryn which causes Dirk to tell her to "stop feeling sorry for herself". Deeply insulted Ryn decides to prove Dirk wrong and begins using the schools swimming pool for physical therapy.

    Gogo, who is on the school swim team, encourages Ryn to do her swimming with the team during practice and luckily for swim team member Nancy, Ryn agrees. It's while Ryn is at their practice that she sees Nancy hit her head on the diving board and makes a quick race across the pool to rescue her, saving her life. Seeing her speed, the swim coach encourages Ryn to join the team. However Ryndy wants to quit swimming all together and only continues on because team member Tom gives her rides to the hospital to visit Pieter after practice.

    Pieter has become very depressed from being in the hospital so long. His parents work full time to pay for his care causing him to be alone on his own for most of the day. Ryndy's has become a source of happiness for Pieter and his awe over her being able to swim despite being in a wheelchair encourages her to keep swimming and join the swim team.

    One day while visiting Pieter Dirk shows up and Ryndy learns they are brothers. It was Pieter's condition that led to Dirk being so rude at the party and his remarks in the cafeteria. 

    Soon Ryndy is back on her feet and makes her walking debut at the Christmas school dance. There she sees Brad dancing with an unfamiliar girl and a forlorn Allyson tells her the girl is the daughter of a television studio owner. It's become clear to both girls that Brad is an opportunist.

    Dirk soon approaches Ryn and tells her how much she has done for Pieter. The two are soon on good terms and begin dating. Ryn participates in her first swim competition where she sets a new record, and Pieter is to come home from the hospital.

- The names in this book are awful. Ryndy, Gogo, Pieter...what was Jan Washburn smoking. 

- There's big skips in time which are understandable but also a little jarring. It goes from the Christmas party to the swim competition weeks later and suddenly Dirk and Ryn are dating.

- Ryndy was very annoying at first. She wallows in self pity even before the accident and whines about her sisters being successful while she doesn't try to be successful at anything herself. However she does mellow out later. 

- Ryndy went from wanting to be a cheerleader more than anything, crying herself to sleep every night because her injuries keep her from cheerleading, and then suddenly realizes she actually doesn't want to be a cheerleader like the flip of a switch.

- Interesting enough Ryndy wouldn't have been in traction for 2 months in current times. Modern surgery and methods for broken bones has made traction outdated. It could also lead to increased recovery times. She would have been home much earlier for sure.

    Overall it's alright. The first part was quite boring and I thought about abandoning the book but it picked up after the accident and I read the rest in one sitting after that.

A Summer For Witches

 

    The book opens with 24 year old Janet's telephone ringing. When she answers it she immediately recognizes the voice as that of Floncy, a girl from her past who had disappeared without a trace 15 years ago.

    When Janet was 9 years old her single mother had taken on a job as a housekeeper at Shorecrest, the impressive summer home of actress Evelyn Gilmor. There Janet has an amazing summer living in the little cottage on the grounds, enjoying days playing with Evelyn's kind hearted 17 year-old daughter Floncy and 13 year-old son Scott whom Janet has a crush on. The house is constantly being visited by famous friends, parties are always happenings, and romance is in the air as lovesick psychiatrist Dr. Bronson is at Evelyn's beck and call.

    When summer ends Janet's mother stay on working for Evelyn in her city residence. Scott and Floncy are away at school and Janet eagerly awaits the next summer when they will all be at Shorecrest again.

    However when the summer arrives it lacks the charm and magic of the last year. Floncy has taken a part in a local play and fallen in love with an actor named Todd Van Dyke. Evelyn does not approve of either of these things and makes Floncy give up the stage and Todd.

    This causes constant fighting between Floncey and her mother and often Janet comes across Floncy sobbing alone on the beach.

    One August morning Floncy is no where to be found and when a search of the house and grounds proves fruitless the authorities are called in but the case goes unsolved. After years of no sign of Floncy she is declared legally dead.

    Yet here she is on the phone insisting that Janet come to Shorecrest right away, and to come alone.

    Janet borrows a car from her perpetually friendzoned date, Dave, and starts the 3 hour long drive on a stormy winter evening. She finds the timing of this happening strangely coincidental as she had reason to think of her summers at Shorecrest twice recently. The first time when she had seen a woman that resembled Evelyn stepping out of a dr. Bronsons private hospital in the city. And the second when her mother, who recently got married, sent her a box of her childhood things, including a book she had borrowed from Shorecrest and never returned. However she put it in the mail to return it right away.

    Once at the house she is greeted (and I use the term loosely) by Ida, one of the maids that Janet's mom worked with, and Scott. Neither whom are happy to see her. Evelyn, Scott says, is very ill and can not be excited with claims that Floncy is alive and making phone calls.

    Janet is granted an audience with Evelyn who appears weak and looks ill but retains her former charm. When Janet says she will be leaving soon Evelyn insists she stay for the night in the little cottage on the grounds.

    Reluctantly Janet accepts. She would rather have stayed at a motel as Shorecrest no longer has the charm it once had. It's gloomy and subdued, even the art had been stripped from the walls. 

    Despite her discomfort Janet sleeps well as she is tired from the drive and emotional strain of the day. In the morning she dresses and is ready to leave right away but as she steps out of the cottage she finds a man's dead body on the porch, with a knife in his back. 

    She runs screaming into the main house where she finds Scott. He calls the police and after a long wait alone in the library the sheriff comes in to question her. 

    He informs her the man is Judson Brock, a former groundskeeper Janet remembers from her childhood summers. Ida and her sister Carrie have wasted no time in telling the sheriff that Jud and Janet's mother had had a romantic relationship one summer and with that information the sheriff starts piecing together a fictional story of Janet killing Jud. Suggesting the man was threatening to tell Janet's new step father about the romance unless he's paid off leading to Janet killing him. He supports his theory with the fact the knife was taken from the cottage kitchen. 

    Although not under arrest, Janet is told to stay in the vicinity until the state police arrive to investigate. Distraught Janet goes for a walk on the beach and up a cliff that use to be one of Floncy's special places. Sitting on the edge of the rocky cliff Janet feels a hand against her back pushing her over the edge. She manages to hang on and pull herself back up but she is badly shaken and runs back to the house, and into the arms of Scott who her childhood crush on has been revived. Alone together that night he kisses her and Janet wonders if she's secretly loved him all these years. However the moment is ruined when he admits he doesn't believe Janet's story of being pushed off the cliff. 

    When Janet heads for church service the next morning Scott joins her and afterwards they go for a long drive, stopping at a little restaurant for lunch. After this Janet is sure she is in love with Scott. On the drive back to the house Janet notices a man working at a shooting booth on the board walk but it's not until she's back in her room that she realizes the man is Todd Van Dyke. 

    Sure that he must know where Floncy is she sneaks out of the house to go talk to him but outside she runs into Dave who has read about the incident in the paper and has come to help Janet as a lawyer and a friend (and a simp).

    Together they go to town and ask where Todd lives then head to his house which is really a one room shack. Todd, who had plans of going to Hollywood to become a famous actor, has remained in the small seaside town for 15 years, still in love with Floncy, and determined to learn what happened to her. 

    He tells Janet that he has surveilled Shorecrest for the last 15 years, keeping track of the family's coming and goings, and breaking into the house when it's closed for the winter to look through it for any information that could explain Floncy's disappearance.

    It's through these break-ins that he found Floncy's deceased fathers will in which he left all his money in a trust fund for Floncy and left Scott nothing. Todd and Floncy were planning to elope days after her disappearance with Scott being the only one she told.

    Because of this Todd believes Scott killed her. This theory is backed up by Scott having her declared legally dead which caused him to recieve her inheritance.

    Janet refuses to believe Scott could be involved and despite Dave's instance she wont tell the sheriff this information. 

    On the drive back to Shorecrest Janet says she want to see her mother as she would have a better understanding of the happenings of Shorecrest 15 years ago than 9 year old Janet did. Dave gets permission from the sheriff for him and Janet to make the 3 hour trip to see her mother the next day. Her mother tells them she had heard from Jud over the years as he kept pursuing her and that she suspected he was blackmailing people as he had suddenly acquired a lot of money. But besides that she has no new information for them besides reminiscing over the grand summers at Shorecrest.

    When Dave drops Janet back off at the house that night he tells her that not informing the police about Scott is obstruction of justice and he wont be able to represent her legally. Janet still insists on not telling the sheriff. Dave says in that case he will have to return to the city that night but if she changes her mind he will still be at his motel until 9.

    Back inside her room Janet is thinking over what her mother said when suddenly it all becomes clear. She knows what happened to Floncy, who did it and why, and that her life is in danger.

    She sneaks to the kitchen and calls Dave, arranging to have him meet her at an intersection, then goes outside where she sees a man and women in a car pulling out of the garage but cant see their faces.  

    Once with Dave she explains everything to him (but not to us). A car appears to be following them but Janet doesnt care, she just wants to get to a destination in the city; the private hospital owned by Dr. Bronson. Once there the car following them is revealed to be Todd. Together the three of them force their way inside and demand to see Floncy. Evelyn appears trying to play innocent but Dr. Bronson knows the jig is up. Floncy is brought in, vacant looking from years of sedation. Todd tenderly wraps her in his arms, his unending devotion rewarded.

    It's revealed that 15 years ago Scott, upon learning of Floncy's upcoming elopement, had told his mother, and she, together with Dr. Bronson, Jud, Ida, and Carrie, had put Floncy in Bronson's hospital, gaslighting her that she was severely mentally ill. Meanwhile they pretended she had disappeared so as to have her declared dead and Scott receive her inheritance so he could give it to his mother who is a compulsive spender. This had worked successfully for them until Janet saw Evelyn leaving the hospital one day. The woman Janet thought "looked like" Evelyn was in fact her and she was convinced Janet recognized her a such. When Janet then mailed the book to her soon after she believed this to be some kind of threat that implied Janet knew what was going on. 

    Impersonating Floncy she lured Janet to the Shorecrest so she could kill Jud, who was blackmailing her, and have it pinned on Janet, thus killing two birds with one stone. She then tried to push Janet off the cliff with the plan of it appearing as a suicide. 

    With the truth revealed Floncy is taken to a hospital to recuperate, the guilty parties are arrested, Janet realizes her feelings for Scott were simply childhood memories, and to Dave's great happiness she realizes it's he she loves.

- I read it in one reading because it was too hard to put down. It was very suspenseful and I just had to find out what happened to Floncy.

- The backstory is woven into the whole book really wonderfully and skillfully.

Love is Blind

    Gorgeous twenty-one year old Cass Everett has just moved from Philadelphia to San Francisco to take on a job as a secretary in an x-ray lab. Having not been there long she already has a serious crush on one of the radiology doctors, Bill Atkinson, and fortunately for Cass, the feeling is mutual.

    The two begin going out on dates, especially to the race track as Bill is a big fan of racing and soon they are confessing their deep love and mentions of marriage. On the way home from one of their dates it begins to rain and the car skids and flips over. The two are fine with the exception of a deep cut in Cass' cheek. With a scar most likely to result Cass' Aunt Willa hires Dr. Tod Jeffers to do a skin graft on it. Tod is one of the top plastic surgeons on the west coast and to Cass's surprise he is close to her age. 

    With the plastic surgery scheduled for a few weeks away Cass goes back to work. A new hire named Linda soon joins the lab's team and it's clear to all the women that she has only taken on the job to try and land a rich, doctor husband. She acts cold towards the women and turns the charm on when any men are around. 

    Against her will Cass begins to worry about Bill and if he will fall prey to Linda. Despite never having been self conscious in the past Cass realizes her facial injury and the chance of a disfiguring scar are making her loose her confidence. However Cass feels a bit better when Dr. Jeffers visits the lab and Linda appears to lock onto him as her target. This belief is reinforced when Linda asks to visit Cass in the hospital after she's had the surgery.

    The surgery itself is successful but the following days of recovery are a struggle for Cass. All she wants is to see Bill but when he arrives he has Linda with him and Cass doesn't get to see him alone. That night she comes down with a terrible cold which will keep her in the hospital longer. Her next two visits from Bill are also intruded on by Linda and when a co-worker visits Cass she says Bill and Linda have been inseparable at work. 

    That evening Dr. Jeffers comes into Cass's room while she is bawling her eyes out. He washes her face and lets her tell him of her troubles. Cass is surprised by how easy she finds it to confide in him.

    The next day when Bill and Linda visit Tod comes into the room and begins to flirt with Linda before inviting her out for a drink, a ploy to give Cass and Bill some time alone. After she leaves with the surgeon Bill becomes upset and agitated about it. Cass confronts him bluntly; "Bill, you're in love with Linda, aren't you?".  Bill mistakes her tone and sees the accusation as a sympathetic remark. Suddenly he is telling Cass how happy he is that she understands, that clearly Cass and him are just two friends who mistook their friendship for something more. Cass, holding onto her pride, plays along and tells Bill she also had been wanting to end their relationship for awhile.

    Cass is surprised to find she doesn't feel emotionally shattered over the break up but she does feel depressed. Once home from the hospital Cass is annoyed to receive a call from Bill asking if she has heard from either Tod Jeffers or Linda. Linda has apparently thrown Bill to the side in favor of the doctor. Cass is greatly annoyed by Bill's immaturity in calling and after recalling numerous things he had said and done in the past Cass realizes Bill is very much a "man-child".

    "The person she thought Bill to be, a man she could love, had never really existed except in her own starry-eyed concept of him. So her mistake had been an error of judgment about the man, not about her feelings for him, and when she saw the man was nonexistent, her feelings became nonexistent, too."

    Back at work, and in the presence of Bill, Cass finds she truly does have no feelings for him but for some reason she still gets an upsetting feeling when Linda is around. She finds herself thinking about how much Linda is seeing Tod and wonders if he really has fallen for Linda's calculated charm. This she finds is more painful than the thought of Bill and Linda together was.

    At her follow-up appointment with Tod she finds herself in an argumentative mood over these feelings which brings out one in him as well. He's been going out with Linda to try and keep her away from Bill so Cass could have Bill and be happy...despite Tod being in love with Cass himself. This truth comes out in a yelling argument and soon Cass also confesses her love for Tod. 

- Much like one of the other books I've read by Marcia Miller this book has a woman named Cass with a scarred cheek from a car accident. It is also set in San Francisco with a home on telegraph hill, and it's filled with the detailed descriptions of the main characters clothing and home decorating. I can't find any information on Marcia Miller but I wish I could. Clearly she loved fashion and interior decorating and the repeated use of the cheek scar makes me wonder if it's something she pulled from personal experience. 

- Cass lives in a two-story apartment building yet it says she takes an elevator down from her apartment. I think Marcia Miller forgot what she had written.

- Although it mentions Cass' cheek healing there is no mention of the area behind her ear, where the skin was taken from for the skin graft, healing. 

- The end was kind of abrupt.

Safe Harbor

    Sheila Dexter is in her third year of nurse training. She's just been moved from the Children's Ward to the Geriatric Ward where she works under Dr. Anton Mathews, the handsome new doctor that has just moved to town with his 6 year old son. Many believe the widower will be looking to remarry to give his child a mother and every woman at the hospital hopes she will become the next Mrs. Mathews. One woman in particular is Nurse Majors, who is head nurse of the Geriatric Ward and has become obsessed with Dr. Mathews despite him showing no interest in her. 

    When Sheila begins working there Nurse Majors instantly sees the young redhead as a threat and becomes quite harsh towards her. Taking any chance to correct her and gossip to Dr. Mathews about Sheila supposed boyfriends.

    Sheila is scheduled to work on Christmas day and as she approaches the hospital she sees a sad little boy out front. In an attempt to cheer him up Sheila takes him to see the hospital Christmas tree and gives him a bar of chocolate as a gift before finding out he is Peter Mathews, Dr. Mathew's son. Anton is pleased to find out about Sheila's kind treatment to the boy and surprised by Peter's instant fondness of Sheila.

    When Sheila has a day off she goes into town to shop and runs into Anton and Peter. At the child's insistence Sheila joins them on an outing to the park, lunch at a teashop, then back to their house so Peter can show Sheila his Christmas presents. 

    Despite Peter insisting he wants Sheila to visit them again Anton does not invite her as he worries about a relationship between the two. Both because of Nurse Majors insistence that Sheila is in a relationship with both a student doctor at the hospital and an airman (who is actually her brother) and because of the 10 year age gap between them.

    Soon rumor begins circulating around the hospital of Sheila's day off being spent with Dr. Mathews. Infuriated Nurse Majors claims Sheila is not suitable for the Geriatric Ward and has her moved to Men's Surgery Ward, away from Anton.

    After taking her final exams Sheila's brother Sam pays a visit and takes her out for a celebratory dinner. Sheila suggests they go to the tearoom she went with Peter and Anton. While there Peter and his nanny come in and they share a table. Peter and Sam hit it off with Peter deciding he wants to be an airman too when he grows up. 

    Peter drives them home and when Anton sees Sam he becomes cold, thinking this is the man Nurse Majors had told him about. But when Sheila introduces him as her brother Anton becomes friendly and realizes he must really have fallen for Sheila if he's acting so foolish. Again Peter insists Sheila will have to come visit him again but this still does not happen as Anton becomes distant from her at the hospital.

    Just as Sheila starts thinking about making the next move and calling Anton, he calls her. Peter is missing and he wants to know if Sheila has heard from or seen the boy. Worried Sheila has Anton come pick her up to search for Peter and she suggests going to the park where they find him. Peter is mad because Sheila has not come to visit him and Anton confesses it's his fault. They take the boy home and put him to bed then confess their love for each other before embracing. 

    This book is "A Romantic Novelette" which was a series put out by Globe Publishing Corps as part of their Mini Mag line. Mini Mags were little booklets you would pick up in the checkout line of grocery stores and, to my understanding, were attempting to compete with Dell Publishing's line of "Purse Books". Purse Books were typically made up of articles from magazines published by Dell. I'm not sure if the same is true for Globe Mini Mags but titles such as "Lose Weight While You Sleep" and "Bible Heeling Foods" keep me uninterested in finding out.

    However I was intrigued when I saw these Novelettes. They're just under 100 pages making them very quick reads. I think I've mentioned before how I prefer books I can read quickly. I'm a "I got to know what happens" type of person when it comes to books so I hate having to set them down and prefer ones I can read in one sitting. Clearly these are perfect for that.

    Safe Harbor is listed as book #213 and inside the back cover lists Novelette books #180 - #191 however I'm not sure if that means there are that many novelettes or if that is just the publishing number of everything in the Mini Mag line and books #001 - #179 are their usual "How to Read Your Cats Mind" type stuff. I'll have to do more research on it.

    Anyways, on to the actual book review. I didn't know what to expect from this. The back cover says "As Sheila and Anton discovered, you have to be willing to gamble when you play the game of love!".

    "Gamble"..."play the game"... this made me think the book took place in a casino, maybe Monte Carlo, Vegas, Atlantic City even. So it certainly was a surprise to find it's set in a British hospital. Despite being disappointed I tried to give it a fair go.

    It wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be. I wasn't much of a fan of the drama with the hospital patients and more liked the stuff with Sheila and Anton, Peter, Sam, her friend Molly, etc. Like most romance books I found myself annoyed with the lack of communication between the characters. A lot of romance plots are fueled by keeping the characters from talking or discussing things with each other for absolutely no reason other than the storyline needs to keep going for another 50 - 100 pages. I think it's a huge mark of poor writing but to be fair I wasn't expecting a 49 cent grocery store romance book to be on par with Jane Austin. With that in mind, it's not bad.

Spotlight on Romance

    Nan has just taken a new job at AAC, a prestigious publicity firm in Hollywood. Her first day on the job she is warned by Rhoda, her co-worker, to watch out for their boss, Helene. According to Rhoda, Helene is an extremely jealous person who will stop at nothing to destroy the career of any woman she feels intimidated by. This worries Nan until she meets Helene and finds her to be very kind and charming. Nan assumes Rhoda must be paranoid or have a persecution complex.

    Nan is told she will start her new job by observing her coworkers and then slowly become more hands on. However when she finds herself in an elevator with Olin Gray, a prestigious British actor, she is able to talk him into making an appearance on a talk show. This is considered a huge get and Nan is praised by Arthur, the head of the company. 

    While in Helene's office Nan is introduced to Judd Carter, a popular novelist that Helene appears to have a crush on. Although Nan dislikes the man after their first meeting she warms to him and he begins taking her out on dates.

    Nans first few assignments end up being disasters; a Broadway actor storms out of a talk show appearance when he learns the other guest is an animal tamer, and a teetotaler politician storms out of a restaurant when a cocktail is brought to his table. Nan knows she cant mess up another assignment so when she is told to handle publicity for an upcoming book signing she thinks up an idea to have a photographer present and offer free fan photos with the author. This is a huge success but when she begins to receive praise for her idea from Arthur, Helene intervenes claiming it was her idea and acts shocked by Nans so-called deceit. 

    Nan assumes it was simply a misunderstanding and continues to try and make good at the company. However she once again ends up with a disastrous assignment when an egotistical young actor tries to force himself on her because, he says, Helene told him Nan was "crazy about him".

    Despite becoming suspicious of Helene, Nan still wants to believe in her innocence. When Helene calls Nan into her office and tells Nan about her top-secret new assignment, Olin Gray appearing at the opening of a department store, Nan is concerned but goes ahead with it.

    When Olin Gray happens to stop by her office and Nan shows him the advertisements he is angry, thinking Nan is taking advantage of his previous generosity. Arthur is called into Nan's office who yells at her for "her stupidity" and when Nan insists it was assigned to her by Helene, Helene is also called in. Helene feigns innocents and Nan is fired in a verbal onslaught. At first Nan is willing to give up her job without a fight but, realizing it will leave a mark on her career that she might not be able to overcome, she fiercely defends herself, telling Arthur to look up the turn over rate under Helene. Back in his office he does this and comes to the realization that Nan is telling the truth. Arthur, Judd, and Nan confront Helene who more or less admits to it when it comes out that she got her job position by blackmailing the former head of the company whom she was having an affair with. 

    She quits before she can be fired and her position is given to the much deserving Rhoda while Nan and Judd acknowledge their love for one another.

Bright Tomorrow

    Sisters Cass and Lisa are orphaned at a young age when their parents pass from a car wreck. Cass, who was in the car with her parents, miraculously survives the accident but it leaves her with a disfiguring scar across her cheek. When taken in by their Aunt Edith the beautiful Lisa is spoiled while traumatized and disfigured Cass is left to emotionally and socially fend for herself resulting in a lonely and isolated life. 

    Fortunately for Cass her parents old friend Monica is visiting from England and stops by to see the girls. She is upset to see that eighteen year old Cass still has the scar and that Edith has not allowed for the simple plastic surgery to remove it. After seeing how horrifically shy and withdrawn Cass is and the significant difference in the treatment the sisters receive, Monica asks Cass to return to London with her where she will get Cass the surgery she needs as well as the parental kindness and love. 

    The surgery is a success and for the next two years Cass engages in a happy and fulfilling life under the guidance of Monica. She makes friendships, dates, and when the extra time stacks up she begins a career in copywriting despite inheriting enough money from her parents to live comfortably.

    When she learns a new department store, Gratons, is opening in her former hometown San Francisco she secures a job there as a copy writer and heads back to the states, with Monica's warning not to let her reunion with Lisa and Edith destroy her new found self confidence. 

    Once back home she visits with Lisa and Edith, with neither of them in a rush to see her, and finds their demeanors strange. Cass's confidence in her self, both inside and out, have turned her into a gorgeous woman and her aunt and sister now seem to see her as competition to Lisa socially, and romantically.

    Lisa and Edith inform Cass that Lisa is in a serious relationship with Brad Kincad, the owners son of Gratons but make excuses to keep Cass from meeting him. She does end up meeting him and he invites her out to dinner where he insists Lisa and him are just casual acquaintances. 

    Edith sees them out together and storms over to Cass' apartment the next day where she tells her to stay away from Brad. However Lisa calls up that evening saying that Brad was telling the truth, they're just friends and any romantic feelings between them was simply wishful thinking on her part. She encourages Cass to date Brad if it makes her happy. Cass is touched by this and happy to think her and Lisa are becoming close for the first time in their lives.

    Brad continues to take Cass on dates and is clearly smitten with her. One day his mother makes an appearance in her office and says she wanted to meet Cass after hearing Brad speak so much of her. However there seems to be underlying tones of worry in her demeanor. 

    Later that day Brad calls her office and claims to be "returning her call" but Cass insists she never called him. It's chalked up to a simple mistake on his secretary's end. 

    Days later while out to dinner with Brad the couple runs into Lisa and her date and Lisa asks Cass "did you ask Brad?" to which Cass is confused. Lisa claims she asked Cass to attend a party she is throwing and invite Brad to come with her but Cass has no memory of Lisa asking this.

    The two attend Lisa's party and Lisa greets them by apologizing for missing Cass' call earlier that day, a call that Cass insists she didn't make. 

    The next day Cass and Brad go to the beach where Cass tells him about her scar and the effect it had on her life and Brad tells her she's amazing with or without a scar. They go back to her apartment so she can change before dinner. When she comes out of her room Brad is on the phone with his mother and relays a message to "thank Cass for the flowers". A bouquet of flowers had been delivered to her with a card baring Cass's name yet she didn't send them. 

    She tells Brad about all the strange incidents and how they are beginning to frighten her. Irritatingly Brad brushes it off as practical jokes but begins doing some sleuthing. He learns that Edith had visited his mother, falsely telling her that Cass had been in England for psychiatric care and that Lisa had been making fake calls and placing orders under Cass's name to convince Brad that she was seriously mentally ill. 

    Together the two tell off Lisa and Aunt Edith, with Cass walking out of their lives to start her new life with Brad.

Symphony in the Sky

    Cheryl Stevens, Cher as her friends call her, is a nurse. She's known she's wanted to be a nurse ever since she was a child due to her mother having been a nurse and her father being a surgeon. However she's simultaneously had another career goal since she was a child, that of flight stewardess. Having achieved one she now wants to achieve the other. She's been accepted to stewardess school and now has to tell her loved ones. 

    Her parents are upset by her career change, feeling as tho she is degrading herself. Her boyfriend Tom, who is a surgeon at the same hospital as her, is furious at first because he worries it will waylay their plans to marry after his residency, but once he's digested the news he accepts Cher's decision and suggests they place their relationship on pause so she can be free to date other men while she's away.

Cher worries that this will open Tom up to dating Lee, his ex girlfriend that Cher is sure still carries a torch for him, and has recently been placed as nurse in Tom's surgery ward. 

    Away at stewardess school Cher becomes close to her roommate, Vicki, who has a handsome, young, sky-writer brother named Biff. After meeting at their graduation ceremony Cher and Biff hit it off right away and begin going on dates regularly whenever Cher's work schedule takes her to San Francisco, where Biff lives. 

    

    When Cher is with Biff she feels as tho there is no other man she could love, however when she's back home with Tom she feels the same way about him. She's been open and honest with both men about the other and is struggling to figure out what her heart wants. 

    When she goes home for thanksgiving she's asked to work a nursing shift at the hospital as they are short staffed due to the Hong Kong Flu. There she's told Tom and Lee have been inseparable, working closely side by side.

    Biff is flying to a sky writing job that day and will be flying over the hospital at 3 o'clock, he's arranged for Cheryl to look in the sky for him at that time so he can "dip his wings" at her but when she goes outside at the arranged time, instead of the friendly gesture, he writes "CHERYL I LOVE YOU" in the sky in full view of Tom and Lee.

    Back at work after the holiday Cher torments herself with thoughts of Tom and Lee together. Her airline has a new flight to Mazatlan, Mexico which she is assigned to. On her first trip there Biff meets her and they spend two romantic days at a beach hotel during which he subtly suggests they get engaged.

    Cher leaves Mexico more confused than ever but when a fiery explosion erupts on her flight home her first thoughts are of Tom and the fear she'll never get to tell him she loves him again. She realizes then what her heart wants.

    Cher extinguishes the fire and is hailed for her quick and calm action in the face of danger. Once safely landed she arranges to visit home and calls Tom telling him she has big new. Tom says he has big news as well and Cher convinces herself it's an engagement to Lee.

    Back home she tells him he is the only man she loves and he tells her he's been offered a job in Washington D.C. and he wants them to marry and move there together.

- This is the second book I've read by Laura C. Raef. Her writing style is somewhat different then I've encountered before, I'm not quite sure how to describe it. It feels quite boring but also paced well enough to keep me reading and wanting to know what happens next. Quite an interesting combination.

- I'm no medical student but the ways the medical parts were written, such as the baby being born during a flight, felt like they were written from an educated point of view. I couldn't find any information on Laura Raef so I don't know if she had experience as a nurse but I certainly wouldn't be surprised. 

- The pregnant lady on the plane was dumb. She's a Canadian who was visiting her husband who is working in Chicago and when she goes into labor, instead of going to the hospital and having her husband nearby she sneaks on a plane so her baby can be born in Canada. This almost cost the baby it's life. Very stupid lady.

- The explosion in the plane bathroom was never explained. I was curious what caused it. Was it a malfunction or had a passenger done something?

- I actually really liked Cheryl, I thought she's really cool. Her double career ambition is admirable and I like how she was honest with Tom and Biff about the other, not wanting to play games or be deceitful at all.

    Overall it was a pretty nice read. I thought at this point I'd be sick of flight stewardess stories but this showed me otherwise.

Barbie's Hawaiian Holiday

    Barbie's family heads to Hawaii for the Christmas break. Her father had been stationed there during the war and became friends with a British solider who moved there permanently after his service. He has invited the Roberts to stay with his family which consist of Clara, his uptight British wife and Gerald, his teenage son. Barbie is excited to spend the vacation with the boy until she meets him and sees he is only 13. 

 

    While Barbie and Gerald are at the beach Barbie meets Apaki, a handsome Hawaiian college student and avid surfer. Taken with Barbie he offers to teach her how to surf which Barbie is ecstatic over.

However when she reveals this plan to her hostess, Clara is appalled. She finds surfing improper and disapproves of Barbie partaking in the sport. 

    After the first day of her lessons Barbie sees Gerald out on the waves and is very upset. She disapproves of him surfing behind his mothers back and insists he tell her about it which he refuses to do. 

    Apaki will be partaking in an upcoming surfing competition and after Barbie introduces him to both families, and they like him, they all decide to go to the competition. When Clara enjoys watching the surfers Barbie pulls Gerald aside and insists he tell his mother he surfs but he again refuses. Instead he takes off into the waves with a surf board, getting in Apaki's way, and unintentionally making him lose the competition. Apaki is not mad but he informs Gerald's parent of his secret hobby and they approve.

- This book would have been really nice except for Barbie being a busy body. I really couldn't stand that. It pushed the narrative that you should always tell your parents everything because they will always understand. Was the writer unaware that not all parents are saints? If I was Gerald I would have gotten my ass beat. 

- I love that Barbie's romance is with a Hawaiian boy. I think it makes her experience is Hawaii more authentic and romantic than if she met another tourist. 

- I found it a little amusing how Ken was worried Barbie was going to meet a "beach boy" and then she does just that. Poor Ken.

    Overall this was a pretty good book, you've just got to overlook Barbie acting like the arbiter of morality. Also worth noting how lovely the cover art is. Its simple but really gives the Barbie aesthetic. 

Magic is Fragile

     After the birth of their son Jeremy, Eleanor and Sam Ireland are told they wont be able to have anymore children. Not willing to give up their dreams of a big family, they consider adoption. When Eleanor sees the picture of a newly orphaned little girl in the newspaper she is struck by her beauty and they bring her home with the intention of adopting her.

    But Eve, as she's named, has behavioral issues which include compulsive lying, stealing toys from other children, and abusing the dog. When she's found to have stolen an expensive ring from a jewelry store Eve jumps into the river in an attempt to make Eleanor worry about her as punishment for uncovering her theft.

    Trying desperately to help Eve with her issues, Eleanor has been driven to the brink of a nervous breakdown in just a month and Sam insists the child must go back to the orphanage as they are not equipped to handle her. Eve is not happy by this decision and swears revenge on the family.

    Not long after the couple goes to another orphanage and adopts ten year old Nance. Nance is an awkward looking child which causes her to be continuously overlooked by prospective parents. But Eleanor falls in love with her at first sight and she soon becomes Nance Ireland, the beloved daughter of Sam and Eleanor Ireland. 

    Nance and the fourteen year old Jeremy quickly fall into the rolls of brother and sister but as they become adults and after spending time apart at college they find themselves in love and engaged, to everyone's delight.

    One night, a few weeks away from the wedding, the young doctor Jeremy receives a call from a young woman at a hotel complaining of a sore throat. Once there the beautiful Eve greets him and admits there is no sore throat. She is simply new in town, lonely, and wants him to introduce her around.

    Annoyed at first Jeremy quickly becomes amused by Eve's trick, partly because he is awestruck by her beauty. He invites her to join outings with him and Nance, including double dates, but each time him and Eve end up in their own little world, alienating Nance.

    Nance is becoming worried about Jeremy's straying heart so close to their wedding day and so is Eleanor who, upon hearing the name Eve, knows in her heart it is the same Eve from her past. Eleanor did not give up Eve easily, she has spent all the years since then blaming her self for not being able to help Eve, thinking it was her inadequacy as a mother that was the problem. Often she has thought of Eve and wondering what has become of her.

    When Jeremy brings Eve over to meet his parents Eleanor's intuition is proven correct and, when the two women are left alone, Eve makes no secret of her bitter hate for Eleanor. Eleanor tells Jeremy who Eve is and that she has clearly come back to get her promised revenge but Jeremy, in his male ignorance, refuses to believe someone as beautiful as Eve could ever do anything wrong.

    Nance decides to go to New York for a week and stay with her Aunt Kit. Despite her colorblindness Nance has become a successful artist and creates children's book illustrations for a company in New York. Her boss, Rolph, has been pushing her to meet deadlines for a big contract and working in New York would make this easier as well and give her and Jeremy some time apart.

    Once there she finds the company has taken on more contracts and Rolph tells her she will either need to work on her honeymoon or postpone the wedding. Nance sees this as a way to test Jeremy's feelings; see how he responds to the idea of postponing the wedding. To Nance's disappointment Jeremy instantly accepts the postponement and Nance remains in New York another week.

    As Jeremy begins to miss his nightly calls Kit encourages Nance to accept some dates from Rolph and not wait by the telephone. She does this and at a party she finds out Rolph's friend, Steven Raymond, is Eve's ex-husband. In the past year she married and divorced Steve solely to get a hundred thousand dollar settlement from him.

    Feeling the need to go back home and fight for her man Nance plans to take the train home the next morning. As she's about to head out the door her father calls asking her to come home immediately. Jeremy and Eve have eloped and the news has caused Eleanor to have a breakdown.

    Taking care of her mother occupies Nance's thoughts and helps her get passed the initial shock of being jilted. When Eleanor has recovered enough Nance goes back to New York where she has decided to live.

    Nance pines away for Jeremy hoping that his marriage to Eve wont last but Aunt Kit gently reminds her that even if Jeremy was to become single, it doesn't mean he would come back to her. Aunt Kit has previously been married but after her husband was killed in world war one she shut out the idea of any other relationship and has lived alone for decades, something which she regrets. She tells Nance she's happy with her life but wouldn't wish it for her.

    Nance decides to start accepting dates with Rolph who has been a patient and understanding friend to Nance despite being in love with her himself. When Nance decides to visit her parents he comes along. On her first night there Eve calls inviting her over to bridge. Knowing Eve is looking to hear Nance painfully decline, she joyfully accepts. 

    Eve is stunned upon seeing Rolph but doesn't mention to Jeremy about having known him in the past. During the bridge game Eve cheats making everyone uncomfortable. When an emergency call comes in summoning Jeremy to the hospital Eve tries to claim Jeremy isn't home which causes a fight between the newlyweds.

    Jeremy soon learns Eve often claims he's not home to keep him from his professional duties. This has caused him to lose the respect and friendship of many of his peers as well as a chance at being made chief of staff.

    When Jeremy goes to New York for work he stops by Kit's and ends up going out to dinner with Nance. His unhappiness is visible and he's beginning to look worn down.

    Despite promising not to withhold his calls anymore, Eve does and it results in the death of a child patient. Having had enough, Jeremy tells Eve he wants a divorce but she denies him one, threatening to have Nance sued for alienation of affection if he tries to proceed with it.

    Jeremy becomes visibly depressed and isolated from his family which wears on his parents. His father, worried and depressed over his son, loses the mayoral election.

    After visiting for Christmas and seeing the state her parents are in Nance decides to move back home. Once back in her social circles she learns just how much the town has come to despise Eve and Jeremy.

    Come February Eve becomes ill with pneumonia. It's not serious but she does remain in the hospital receiving penicillin injections, and after going in and out of delirious sleep she awakes finding herself in love with Jeremy. She decides to confess her love and explain her past.

    After returning to the orphanage from the Ireland home she continued with her problematic behavior which got her sent off to reform school. This she also blamed on the Irelands. Once out of school she began working as a maid but quickly grew unhappy with work she stole two diamond clips from her employer and ran away. The law caught her quickly and she was sent to prison for a year. Once out she went to secretarial school to acquire a position where she would meet successful men. This being how she met Steve Raymond. She married him to get enough money to head back towards the Irelands and set her plans for revenge in motion.

    She confesses that her obsession with the family centered on Nance and how she deeply hated the girl and wanted to hurt her. But after getting Jeremy and causing the family so much unhappiness her obsession with Nance was not assuaged and she tried her best to ruin Jeremy's life, her goal being to have his medical license revoked. Eve says she'll do anything to prove her love for Jeremy including giving him a divorce.

    After moving back home, Rolph comes to visit Nance several times with him suggesting they get married on his last visit. Nance takes some time to think it over but declines, accepting that she is still in love with Jeremy and would rather be alone if she can't be with him.

    When a rainstorm comes on Nance decides to go for a walk in it, playfully jumping in puddles along the way. As she nears the bridge over a river, the same river Eve had jumped in as a child, she finds Eve, dressed in a thin coat and slippers, contemplating jumping into it once again.

    Worried about her health as she had recently been released from the hospital, Nance rushes her home and into a warm bed. However Eve's health does not recover and she succumbs to a relapse of pneumonia. After her funeral Jeremy closes house and takes off for several months, ending up in Canada. Immediately upon his return he takes Nance for a drive where he apologizes and suggest they move to Canada to have a fresh start. But she insist they stay in town and, together, they will work to rebuild Jeremy's reputation.

- Okay, let's address the elephant in the room. The brother/sister thing is weird even if they're adoptive siblings. I don't understand why that was the setup, couldn't they have been neighbors that grew up together and fell in love as adults, or even a blended family wouldn't be so bad. It was a very strange choice.

- My notes simply say "Jeremy bad". He is simply a bad person whose self-centeredness caused harm to all of his family and eventually himself which is totally his karma. He didn't have to marry Nance if he had fallen for Eve but dear god, at least tell her it's over instead of eloping behind her back. It annoyed me that Nance took him back in the end.

- The outdated view of a man cheating was irritating. Jeremy's cheating is blamed on Eve for seducing him and Nance for not holding her man.

- Talking would have prevented most of the problems. Eleanor talking to the kids about Eve, Eve talking to Eleanor about her pain of being sent back to the orphanage, Jeremy talking to Nance about his attraction to Eve, Nance talking to Jeremy about her worry for their relationship. 

    Despite the strangeness of it this book was actually very good. It's very dramatic which at times felt exhausting but it was an attention grabber.

This book is available to read online for free but I bet you'll never guess where . . . the Google newspaper archives. This book was printed, a chapter a day, in the Beaver Valley Times newspaper starting on October 6, 1952. Here's a link.