The Mountain Between Us by Charles Martin

Part Survivorman, part love story, part tragedy...typically everything I love in a book, but this was just ok.  I really like his character development - even if his male leads are a tad, how shall I put it, unrealistic *ahem*. 

Ben and Ashley meet at the airport during a storm and decided to take a small charter plane to try and get around the storm.  Ashley is rushing home to her wedding and Ben is rushing home to a job and a difficult situation with his wife...and the plane crashes...and you can probably see where this is heading...

Book Description via Amazon.com

On a stormy winter night, two strangers wait for a flight at the Salt Lake City airport. Ashley Knox is an attractive, successful writer, who is flying East for her much anticipated wedding. Dr. Ben Payne has just wrapped up a medical conference and is also eager to get back East for a slate of surgeries he has scheduled for the following day. When the last outgoing flight is cancelled due to a broken de-icer and a forthcoming storm, Ben finds a charter plane that can take him around the storm and drop him in Denver to catch a connection. And when the pilot says the single engine prop plane can fit one more, if barely, Ben offers the seat to Ashley knowing that she needs to get back just as urgently. And then the unthinkable happens. The pilot has a heart attack mid-flight and the plane crashes into the High Uintas Wilderness-- one of the largest stretches of harsh and remote land in the United States.

Ben, who has broken ribs and Ashley, who suffers a terrible leg fracture, along with the pilot's dog, are faced with an incredibly harrowing battle to survive. Fortunately, Ben is a medical professional and avid climber (and in a lucky break, has his gear from a climb earlier in the week). With little hope for rescue, he must nurse Ashley back to health and figure out how they are going to get off the mountain, where the temperature hovers in the teens. Meanwhile, Ashley soon realizes that the very private Ben has some serious emotional wounds to heal as well. He explains to Ashley that he is separated from his beloved wife, but in a long standing tradition, he faithfully records messages for her on his voice recorder reflecting on their love affair. As Ashley eavesdrops on Ben's tender words to his estranged wife she comes to fear that when it comes to her own love story, she's just settling. And what's more: she begins to realize that the man she is really attracted to, the man she may love, is Ben.

As the days on the mountains become weeks, their survival become increasingly perilous. How will they make it out of the wilderness and if they do, how will this experience change them forever?
Both a tender and page-turning read, The Mountain Between Us will reaffirm your belief in the power of love to sustain us.

The City of Bones (Mortal Instruments Book 1) by Cassandra Clare

Yup, another one, loved it!!! I know, I know I keep saying that but I promise...this will not disappoint.  For audio book fans I started this as an audio book - which, at first, the narrator grated on me a bit, but she grew on me (I will say, as a native New Yorker, we don't sound like that but I can forgive small transgressions.)  Anyhoo, I stopped listening because I could not wait for those small snippets of time when I am in my car to finish this...I needed to see what happened.  I love Clary, she is spunky and a red head (which automatically wins me over) but she is also insecure and unsure.  Jace is cocky and arrogant and mostly a jerk but I love him too (and I won't even get started about Simon.)  So, yeah, I liked the character development, alot...the setting is NYC and, well, that's perfect too, but I am biased.  I have the next book on hold already and I am keeping my fingers crossed that she doesn't let me down.

Book Description via Amazon.com

Publication Date: February 19, 2008

Series: Mortal Instruments (Book 1)

When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder—much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Then the body disappears into thin air. It’s hard to call the police when the murderers are invisible to everyone else and when there is nothing—not even a smear of blood—to show that a boy has died. Or was he a boy?

This is Clary’s first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. It’s also her first encounter with Jace, a Shadowhunter who looks a little like an angel and acts a lot like a jerk. Within twenty-four hours Clary is pulled into Jace’s world with a vengeance, when her mother disappears and Clary herself is attacked by a demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know. . . .

Exotic and gritty, exhilarating and utterly gripping, Cassandra Clare’s ferociously entertaining fantasy takes readers on a wild ride that they will never want to end.

Page by Paige by Laura Lee Gulledge

First of all - I.love.this.  It is such a great coming of age story of a girl struggling with being 16 and being

"the new girl".  She feels lonely and afraid and unsure... and begins a sketchbook at her grandmothers advice.  Each "chapter" is a new rule to follow, "Figure out what scares you and DO IT!"  By going through the process, Paige learns about herself and others.  The illustrations...oh my...they are just wonderful and beautiful and perfect.  I am going to buy this book (gasp) for my own library because my daughters need to read this...and I may *cough* need to re-read this once or twice.

Book Description via Amazon.com

Publication Date: May 1, 2011

Paige Turner has just moved to New York with her family, and she?s having some trouble adjusting to the big city. In the pages of her sketchbook, she tries to make sense of her new life, including trying out her secret identity: artist. As she makes friends and starts to explore the city, she slowly brings her secret identity out into the open, a process that is equal parts terrifying and rewarding.

Laura Lee Gulledge crafts stories and panels with images that are thought-provoking, funny, and emotionally resonant. Teens struggling to find their place can see themselves in Paige's honest, heartfelt story.

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Delicious!!!  You want to read this with an "au chocolat chaud" (hot chocolate) or if you are above 21 a glass of champagne.  I am not a particularly speedy reader but I read most of this in one lovely afternoon (and stayed up till *way* past my bedtime to finish it.)  Stephanie Perkins captured first love and first heartbreak perfectly and wrapped it in a lovely French bow. 

Book Description via Amazon.com

Publication Date: August 4, 2011

Anna was looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. So she's less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris-until she meets Etienne St. Clair. Smart, charming, beautiful, Etienne has it all . . . including a serious girlfriend.

But in the City of Light, wishes have a way of coming true. Will a year of romantic near-misses end with their long-awaited French kiss?

Stephanie Perkins keeps the romantic tension crackling and the attraction high in a debut guaranteed to make toes tingle and hearts melt.

Thunder and Rain by Charles Martin

I have a song running through my head as I write this:


I need a hero
I'm holding out for a hero 'til the end of the night
He's gotta be strong
And he's gotta be fast
And he's gotta be fresh from the fight

Ya know the Bonnie Tyler song from Footloose *sigh*...anyhoo...this book makes me want to believe in heroes and cowboys and the innate goodness of people.  Tyler is such a swoon worthy main character and while he may be a *tad* unrealistic it is still fun to believe that there are heroes left in the world.

Book Description via Amazon.com

Publication Date: April 3, 2012

Third generation Texas Ranger Tyler Steele is the last of a dying breed-- a modern day cowboy hero living in a world that doesn't quite understand his powerful sense of right and wrong and instinct to defend those who can't defend themselves. Despite his strong moral compass, Ty has trouble seeing his greatest weakness. His hard outer shell, the one essential to his work, made him incapable of forging the emotional connection his wife Andie so desperately needed.
Now retired, raising their son Brodie on his own, and at risk of losing his ranch, Ty does not know how to rebuild from the rubble of his life. The answer comes in the form of Samantha and her daughter Hope, on the run from a seemingly inescapable situation. They are in danger, desperate, and alone. Though they are strangers, Ty knows he can help-- protecting the innocent is what he does best. As his relationship with Sam and Hope unfolds, Ty realizes he must confront his true weaknesses if he wants to become the man he needs to be.

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith

A-dorable.  Read this in one sitting and it was delicious. 

Book Description via Amazon.com

Publication Date: January 2, 2012

Who would have guessed that four minutes could change everything?

Today should be one of the worst days of seventeen-year-old Hadley Sullivan's life. She's stuck at JFK, late to her father's second wedding, which is taking place in London and involves a soon to be step-mother that Hadley's never even met. Then she meets the perfect boy in the airport's cramped waiting area. His name is Oliver, he's British, and he's in seat 18C. Hadley's in 18A.

Twists of fate and quirks of timing play out in this thoughtful novel about family connections, second chances and first loves. Set over a 24-hour-period, Hadley and Oliver's story will make you believe that true love finds you when you're least expecting it.

Rainshadow Road by Lisa Kleypas

Yay, an adult book, finally!!!  This is just what I needed, a breezy, light read with a perfect mix of romance with a hint of magic.  This reminded me so much of the Debbie Macomber series Cedar Cove...you fall in love with the setting almost as much as with the characters.  The second book in the series comes out in August and it will be the *perfect* vacation/beach read!!!

Book Description via Amazon.com

Publication Date: February 28, 2012
Series: Friday Harbor

Lucy Marinn is a glass artist living in mystical, beautiful, Friday Harbor, Washington. She is stunned and blindsided by the most bitter kind of betrayal: her fiancé Kevin has left her. His new lover is Lucy’s own sister. Lucy's bitterness over being dumped is multiplied by the fact that she has constantly made the wrong choices in her romantic life. Facing the severe disapproval of Lucy's parents, Kevin asks his friend Sam Nolan, a local vineyard owner on San Juan Island, to "romance" Lucy and hopefully loosen her up and get her over her anger. Complications ensue when Sam and Lucy begin to fall in love, Kevin has second thoughts, and Lucy discovers that the new relationship in her life began under false pretenses. Questions about love, loyalty, old patterns, mistakes, and new beginnings are explored as Lucy learns that some things in life—even after being broken—can be made into something new and beautiful.