Books 29-33

 Girl in Trouble by Stacy Claflin

He gave up his daughter years ago, but now he’ll risk his life to save hers.
Alex Mercer is no stranger to kidnappings. The emotional scars still run deep from his sister’s disappearance years earlier. His daughter Ariana remains safe long after her adoption, and he cherishes the few times a year he gets to see her. The joy is palpable when he takes her on their first one-on-one outing. At least until he pauses to answer a text and Ariana disappears…
Wracked with guilt and determined to find answers, Alex teams up with an unlikely ally at the police department. As the clues reveal a pattern of missing girls, the kidnapping case becomes a race against time to save Ariana. What cost is Alex willing to pay to keep his daughter alive?

I did enjoy this book but there were some pretty unbelievable points.  I don't think any 11 year old is as mature and level headed as Ariana is portrayed and the anger issues that Alex has are a little over the top.

Aunt Ivy's Cottage by Kristin Harper

Up in the attic, with views across the sparkling bay, she opens the lid of the carved trunk. Carefully moving aside the delicate linen wedding dress once worn by her great-aunt, she unpacks all the smaller boxes inside until she finds the leather-bound diary. She knows this will change everything…
All Zoey’s happiest childhood memories are of her great-aunt Ivy’s rickety cottage on Dune Island, being spoiled with cranberry ice cream and watching the tides change from the rooftop. Now, heartbroken from a recent breakup, Zoey can see her elderly aunt’s spark is fading, and decides to move to the island so they can care for each other.
When she arrives to find her cousin, Mark, sitting at the solid oak kitchen table, she knows why Aunt Ivy hasn’t been herself. Because Mark—next in line to inherit the house—is pushing Ivy to move into a nursing home.
With the cousins clashing over what’s best for Ivy, Zoey is surprised when the local carpenter who’s working on Ivy’s cottage takes her side. As he offers Zoey comfort, the two grow close. Together, they make a discovery in the attic that links the family to the mysterious and reclusive local lighthouse keeper, and throws doubt on Mark’s claim…
Now Zoey has a heartbreaking choice to make. The discovery could keep Ivy in the house she’s loved her whole life… but can Zoey trust that the carpenter really has Ivy’s best interests at heart? And will dredging up an old secret destroy the peace and happiness of Ivy’s final years—and tear this family apart for good? 

This was an easy read.  A bit slow in parts. Mark was quite an obnoxious pompous ass who quite readily accepted his fate at the end of the book, which really didn't seem to fit his character.  Nick was very slow off the mark with Zoey but it all came together in the end.

The Midwife Murders by James Patterson

A missing patient is a hospital ward's worst nightmare -- until even more disappear.
To Senior Midwife Lucy Ryuan, pregnancy is not an unusual condition, it's her life's work. But when two kidnappings and a vicious stabbing happen on her watch in a university hospital in Manhattan, her focus abruptly changes. Something has to be done, and Lucy is fearless enough to try.
Rumors begin to swirl, blaming everyone from the Russian Mafia to an underground adoption network. The feisty single mom teams up with a skeptical NYPD detective to solve the case, but the truth is far more twisted than Lucy could ever have imagined.

This book was definitely not one of James Patterson better books. The main character, Lucy, was not likeable at all. She came across as a know it all and thought that she was right about everything and didn't have to listen to the police or her bosses. She definitely has huge anger issues. The story is quite unbelievable at times. So many kidnappings at a hospital but Lucy thought she should be in charge of the investigation.  It wasn't too difficult to figure out who the bad guy was. Not a book I would recommend.

The Missing Ones by Patricia Gibney

The hole they dug was not deep. A white flour bag encased the little body. Three small faces watched from the window, eyes black with terror.
The child in the middle spoke without turning his head. I wonder which one of us will be next?
When a woman’s body is discovered in a cathedral and hours later a young man is found hanging from a tree outside his home, Detective Lottie Parker is called in to lead the investigation. Both bodies have the same distinctive tattoo clumsily inscribed on their legs. It’s clear the pair are connected, but how?
The trail leads Lottie to St. Angela’s, a former children’s home, with a dark connection to her own family history. Suddenly the case just got personal.
As Lottie begins to link the current victims to unsolved murders decades old, two teenage boys go missing. She must close in on the killer before they strike again, but in doing so is she putting her own children in terrifying danger?
Lottie is about to come face to face with a twisted soul who has a very warped idea of justice.

The book had many twists and turns that kept me wanting more. The pace is good while Lottie and her team race to catch the killer. There are definitely some dark themes and some upsetting scenes which are very disturbing 

Lottie is a mess. She's a mother of three, a widow still grieving for her husband, not spending enough time with her kids, fighting a lot with her mother, drinking too much and falling foul of her boss a lot, she's a very likeable if flawed character. 

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

The prequel to The Hunger Games

by Suzanne Collins

It is the morning of the reaping that will kick off the tenth annual Hunger Games. In the Capital, eighteen-year-old Coriolanus Snow is preparing for his one shot at glory as a mentor in the Games. The once-mighty house of Snow has fallen on hard times, its fate hanging on the slender chance that Coriolanus will be able to outcharm, outwit, and outmaneuver his fellow students to mentor the winning tribute.
The odds are against him. He's been given the humiliating assignment of mentoring the female tribute from District 12, the lowest of the low. Their fates are now completely intertwined -- every choice Coriolanus makes could lead to favor or failure, triumph or ruin. Inside the arena, it will be a fight to the death. Outside the arena, Coriolanus starts to feel for his doomed tribute... and must weigh his need to follow the rules against his desire to survive no matter what it takes.

I really enjoyed The Hunger Games trilogy and I was so disappointed in this book. I found it slow, and boring. It was hard to have any empathy for Snow, knowing what he becomes in the trilogy. He came across as being full of self-pity, was self serving and full of poor me sob stories. Also didn't find Lucy Grey likeable, unlike Katniss.

Here we go again!!

 We will be under the strictest,level 4, water restrictions again.  After finally having stage1 restrictions for the last week or so, which meant we could water our lawns 2 hours a week on 2 specific days, we have now been told that we will be going back to level 4.  On further inspection of the feeder main that broke 2 months ago they have found 16 new critical sites that need urgent repairs before winter. Starting August 26 the stage 4 restrictions will be in effect again for at least a month!!   

 Last week, on August 5, a huge storm came through the city.  It mainly hit the north side of the city. We just got rain in the south, the north got hail the size of golf balls to tennis balls. The exact same thing happened in the north on August 5,2022! People had only just got their homes fixed after that storm and now they got hit again. There were over 35,000 homes and buildings damaged and countless vehicles. People had videos of their windows in the house being smashed and the hail coming into the house. The airport was hit hard and there was water pouring through the roof. 16 planes from our second largest airline were badly damaged. Peoples gardens and commercial gardens and greenhouses were completely trashed.                                                                                

The good news for DH is his 3 month hip checkup went well, everything is fine. Not so great at his eye specialist.  He has dry macular degeneration in his left eye and they had been keeping an eye, no pun intended, on a black spot it.  This time when they checked there was a long black streak. This has now become wet macular degeneration which is far more serious. We immediately had to go into another office and see the retina specialist who said it was a bleed in the eye and he had to have medicine injected right into his eye! Yes, they did freeze it first, so he didn't feel a thing. We have to go back every 4 weeks and have it rechecked and if the bleed is still there he has to have another injection in it and keep repeating the 4 week cycle until it is gone!  Next he went to the doctor about his hands. Turns out he has trigger finger in his left thumb and right middle finger.  He had to have ultrasound and xrays on both hands and cortisone in his left thumb. We go back next week and he has cortisone in his right hand.  If all that isn't enough he had to go to the podiatrist because he had ingrown toe nails on both sides of both of his big toes. The doctor cut them out but he was overly aggressive on one side of one of the toes. I thought he was going to pass out, it was so painful. Needless to say it is still painful over a week later. 

On a lighter note here is a 7 second video of Walker. We're not biased or anything but we think we may have the next Tiger Woods!!!

https://wm-so.glb.shawcable.net/service/home/~/?auth=co&loc=en&id=116024&part=2

2 years old!!!

My goodness, where did the time go! A birthday trip to the zoo with mom, dad, grandma and some of their friends with little ones! Nana and grandad didn't go. We didn't think the new knee and hip were up to all the walking.  

We went to their house for the birthday dinner-Walkers favourite food-baked ham and scalloped potatoes, and cake. Of course, we can't forget all the presents as well! Fun time was had by all!

Books 24-28

 One Left Alive by Helen Phifer

When the body of a woman is found hanging from a tree in her front garden, rookie Detective Morgan Brookes is first on the scene. But Olivia Potter is past saving. And when her husband and daughters cannot be traced, Morgan knows there is more to this tragedy. And then she finds them. Lying huddled together in the dark basement, each of their faces covered with a small cotton cloth, their bodies cold to the touch.
But as Morgan kneels beside the family, she realises that one of the girls is still breathing. As she holds Bronte’s fragile hand in hers, begging her to hold on, she vows to find out who has done this.
Every day Morgan wakes at 4:25 AM, her old insomnia now mixed with a new fixation on the case. But every clue about the murdered family leads to a dead end. Until, trawling through old files, she discovers a link to a cold case from years ago. Another family was murdered in this house, and the killer was never caught.
When Morgan returns to the scene of the crime to discover more about this forgotten case, she finds another body.
With Bronte still unconscious in hospital, Morgan must act fast to solve this case and lay two families to rest, before the killer returns for the girl left alive…

I enjoyed this book, it kept me wanting to read to find out 'who did it'.  I had an inkling but it was still rather shocking at the end.

Long Dark Night by Susan Lund

Two teenage boys went missing from a park in King County a decade ago. While one of the boys was found days later, his body discarded in a ravine in the forest on Tiger Mountain, the other boy was never found.
Until now.
After a property developer’s front end loader unearths the skeletal remains of several teenage boys from around Washington State, the missing boy’s remains are identified. As a result, King County Cold Case Investigator Michael Carter looks into the cases. He suspects they are linked to several current disappearances of teenage boys who were either living on friend’s sofas or on the streets. Believing he has another serial killer on his hands, Carter works with the FBI’s CARD Team to try to locate the missing boy.
When Carter gets too close for comfort, he becomes the target of the serial killer’s rage, leading to a showdown between the two adversaries on one long dark night…

This was an interesting book about a sick, sick serial killer.  It became quite exciting and stressful towards the end.

When Birds Fall Silent by Shana Frost

Blaine Macgregor vanished on a summer’s night fifteen years ago. Now, DI Callan Cameron is investigating his case one last time. But for Callan it means unearthing a bygone summer he’d rather forget.

Amateur sleuth Aileen Mackinnon overhears a guest’s puzzling conversation and can’t stop asking questions. Is she being duped again? With Callan refusing to open up about his case, Aileen needs a distraction. What better than a case of her own?
As Aileen and Callan balance on a thin rope of backstabbing and trust, one question haunts them: Is Blaine still alive?           This had me guessing who the bad guy was.  I found some of it quite silly and unrealistic but the mystery kept me reading.

All the Devils Are Here by Louise Penny

On their first night in Paris, the Gamaches gather as a family for a bistro dinner with Armand's godfather, the billionaire Stephen Horowitz. Walking home together after the meal, they watch in horror as Stephen is knocked down and critically injured in what Gamache knows is no accident, but a deliberate attempt on the elderly man's life.
When a strange key is found in Stephen's possession it sends Armand, his wife Reine-Marie, and his former second-in-command at the Sûreté, Jean-Guy Beauvoir, from the top of the Tour d'Eiffel, to the bowels of the Paris Archives, from luxury hotels to odd, coded, works of art.
It sends them deep into the secrets Armand's godfather has kept for decades.
A gruesome discovery in Stephen's Paris apartment makes it clear the secrets are more rancid, the danger far greater and more imminent, than they realized.
Soon the whole family is caught up in a web of lies and deceit. In order to find the truth, Gamache will have to decide whether he can trust his friends, his colleagues, his instincts, his own past. His own family.
For even the City of Light casts long shadows. And in that darkness devils hide.

Lots of corruption, corporate espionage, fraud, murder, betrayal, doctored evidence, dirty politics, and the inappropriate, and deadly use of a chemical. I found the story confusing at times because there were so many characters it was hard to keep them all straight.

Coming Out by Danielle Steel                                  

               

 

Olympia Crawford Rubinstein has a busy legal career, a solid marriage, and a way of managing her thriving family with grace, humor, and boundless energy. With twin daughters finishing high school, a son at Dartmouth, and a kindergartner from her second marriage, there seems to be no challenge to which Olympia cannot rise. Until one sunny day in May, when she opens an invitation for her daughters to attend the most exclusive coming-out ball in New York–-and chaos erupts all around her. One twin’s excitement is balanced by the other’s outrage; her previous husband’s profound snobbism is in sharp contrast to her current husband’s flat refusal to attend.
For Olympia’s husband, Harry, whose parents survived the Holocaust, the idea of a blue-blood debutante ball is abhorrent. Her daughter Veronica, a natural-born rebel, agrees–-while Veronica’s identical twin, Virginia, is already shopping for the perfect dress. Then there’s Olympia’s ex, an insufferable snob, who sees the ball as the perfect opportunity for a family feud. And amid all the hubbub, Olympia’s college-age son, Charlie, is facing a turning point in his life–-and may need his mother more than ever. But despite it all, Olympia is determined to steer her family through the event until, just days before the cotillion, things begin to unravel with alarming speed.
From a son’s crisis to a daughter’s heartbreak, from a case of the chicken pox to a political debate raging in her household, Olympia is on the verge of surrender. And that is when, in a series of startling choices and changes of heart, family, friends, and even a blue-haired teenager all find a way to turn a night of calamity into an evening of magic. As old wounds are healed, barriers are shattered and new traditions are born, and a debutante ball becomes a catalyst for change, revelation, acceptance, and love.      I guess the above says it all.  I did find this book about on a par with a  Harlequin romance!  

That would be the end of all the books read in June. 

WATER!!!

Finally, after 26 days the indoor  water restrictions have been lifted!! That means indoor swimming pools will be refilled, hockey arenas flooded and carwashes can resume. We have been told that we can go back to normal at home but have been asked to practice restraint.  If you have 4 loads of laundry to do please try to spread it over 4 days rather than all at once as the water is still only running at 50% capacity. So I ran the dishwasher Monday night, did a load of laundry yesterday and one today. We still haven't been told when outdoor restrictions will be lifted so still no watering of gardens by hosepipe, just by rain barrels and the miraid of containers that people have been using to collect rain water, which we have had a lot of recently.  Temperatures are supposed to be in the 30s this coming week so hopefully the restrictions will be lifted soon. Also the Calgary Stampede starts tomorrow.  It is a 10 day event and over 1.4million people usually attend, many from around the world.  If you've never been it is quite a spectacular event. It also brings a LOT of money into the city over the 10 days.  The push was really on to have the water issue solved by the time Stampede starts! I'm just glad to be able to have a longer shower, flush the toilet everytime and do laundry!  Simple pleasures!!!

DH had his checkup with the surgeon.  Everything is fine, see you at 6 months! The location of the clinic is right downtown. A place we never ever go, except to the Hip and Knee clinic which is where we both had to go.  I'm sure there is more construction going on downtown than in 6 cities put together.  Because we never go down there nothing is familiar anymore and it is like gridlock due to the amount of traffic and construction.  We have been very lucky as for myself and DH our youngest son always taken us down there for our appointments and brought us home.  As well as his regular job he sometimes worked as an Uber driver so he knows all the short cuts and would get us there in no time.  This appointment he had to go out of town for work and couldn't take us.  DH was so stressed about this but we did manage to get GD Kelsey to drive us down and her husband picked us up to bring us home, phew! I think the older we get the more stressful stuff like this becomes. It's also a little annoying when you go through all this to spend 2 minutes with the surgeon, who probably asked 2 questions and the same with the physio.  We were in and out in about 10 minutes. At least everything is fine.

New Hip

 DH had his hip replacement 6 weeks ago on Thursday.  I am amazed at his recovery.  I can only compare it to my knee replacement and it is like night and day. He went down the basement stairs on the third day post op, it took me months before I could do that. He used a 2 wheel walker for 3 days and then transitioned to his cane. He use that for about 2 weeks and now he just carries it. If we go to a grocery store he will use a scooter if they have one, if not he will hang onto the grocery cart.  He also likes to walk a lap of the mall everyday as well.  I have finally convinced him that walking the grocery store and the mall in the same day is too much as he does pay for it over night. It's one or the other, at the moment. He only took Tylenol3 for 3 days and then stopped because of the consequences of the codiene.  Now he just takes Tylenol Arthritis. He's virtually pain free, which he hasn't been for 2 years. He is faithfully doing the excercises, using the ice machine and elevating the leg every day and it seems to be making a difference. He's anxious to see what they say at his 6 week checkup on Wednesday.

On June 5th there was a massive water main break in our city. It directly impacted 1 neighbourhood and indirectly impacted the entire city-1,665,000 people. The one neighbourhood had to boil water and get their water from water wagons. The rest of the city was told to limit water use drastically as we could run out of water.  This is a major water line that is 11Km long.  The pipe is 2 meters high and across. By day 5 the leak has been located and that section of pipe is removed.  By day 10 robots have been sent down the pipe and they have found 5 more leaks. So now there is a massive search across N. America to try to locate the parts to do the repairs. We have some here but not everything for something of this magnitude. So on day 11 the city is put on a State of Emergency and we are told that this will take 3-5 weeks to repair!!!!  Of course, everyone is hoping it will take a lot less time. May 25th long weekend, Victoria Day, is the traditional planting date here when the chance of frost has hopefully past.  Most people have bought all their bedding out plants and planted all their flowers and vegetables. Now we are not allowed to water anything outside.  Fortunately we got a lot of rain on the 11th day and everyone put out every container they owned to collect the rainwater.  So today we are 13 days into this, the original break has been repaired and they are starting on the other breaks. I don't think people realize how much water you actually use until you're told to conserve, conserve, conserve. Hopefully this will be resolved sooner than we've been told.  We can only hope!!

Books 16-23

 Throwaway Jane by Scott William Carter

Former FBI agent Karen Pantelli lives by a simple philosophy: never, ever care. Three years after a tragic mistake ends her once-stellar career, she drifts from one dead-end job to another, quickly moving on when she finds herself getting too attached. A new city. A new life. A new way of forgetting and being forgotten.
Until one chilly night behind a seedy bar, when a frightened girl leaps out of the back of a speeding van.
As they end up on the run in a thrilling chase that spans half the country, Karen soon realizes it's much easier to say you don't care than to actually mean it. And that unlocking the secrets in this girl's extraordinary mind might not only save both of them, but bring down one of the most sinister organizations the world has ever known.

I did enjoy this book.  It was very fast paced and therefore a quick read.  I think the main character was made to be a bit over the top with her super duper marshal arts skills.

Partners by Nora Roberts

Long before he met her, Matthew Bates loved Laurel Armand. Working with her brought both pleasure and pain, because the sexy Southern belle kept him at a professional distance. Then the rival reporters were thrown together on a case of murder and madness—where much more than love was at stake.

This book had the typical ending but it wasn't too bad getting there.

The Art of Deception by Nora Roberts

Adam Haines was an artist visiting the Fairchild mansion to do some undercover digging, and that was a problem for a man who preferred to be straightforward. An even bigger problem was Kirby Fairchild, daughter of the world-famous painter he'd been sent to investigate. She was part child, part elf, and the most fascinating woman he'd ever encountered. However, Kirby had a disconcertingly fluid sense of right and wrong -- one completely at odds with Adam's own code of ethics. Adam wished he wasn't wrapped quite so tightly around her little finger . . .

This book was so ridiculous I don't even know why I finished it.  Not a book I would recommend

I have a bunch of Nora Roberts books that I gave to the annual charity book sale that I donate to every year without reading them  The ones I kept to read I am trying to get through and then I doubt I will buy another one of her books.  It's funny because I really like the books she writes as J.D.Robb.

Something Blue by Emma Jameson

Lord & Lady Hetheridge, Book Three

Anthony Hetheridge, ninth baron of Wellegrave and chief superintendent for New Scotland Yard, will marry Kate Wakefield in three weeks. It’s inevitable–-the invitations are out, the flowers are ordered, the cake is chosen. But murder waits for no man, and no wedding.
In London’s prestigious West End, a disgraced CEO has been murdered at Hotel Nonpareil, an exclusive destination. No one, it seems, liked Michael Martin Hughes. Not his estranged wife, Thora, or his defiant son, Griffin. Not Hotel Nonpareil’s manager, its head of security, or perhaps even the other two women in Hughes’s life: his future bride, Arianna, or his other girlfriend, Riley. Still more ominously, before Hughes died, he incurred the wrath of a potentially more unforgiving foe: Sir Duncan Godington, longtime nemesis of both CS Hetheridge and DS Deepal “Paul” Bhar.
For the first time, CS Hetheridge, Kate and Bhar find themselves under tremendous pressure to uncover the killer in the shortest time frame ever. Has Scotland Yard, not to mention Downing Street, lost confidence in Hetheridge? Will the murder conviction rest on hard forensic evidence, a mountain of circumstantial details, or an impulsive theft?

I've really enjoyed these books.  There is a continuing story from book to book but there is also a different crime to solve in each book.  I really liked the ending of this book.

The Cottage by the Loch by Kennedy Kerr

The cottage stood alone on a rocky outcropping at the edge of the loch.  Standing in the garden amongst the wildflowers, shw felt the weight of the tattered envelope in her hands.  Maybe there was somehing keeping her here in Scotland, a secret waiting to be uncovered...

New Yorker Zelda Hicks has jusr lost her mother, and the only thing she knows about her father is that he was from Scotland. So a work trip tp the Scottish village of Loch Cameron couldn't

be better timed. Maybe a break in the beautiful rolling hills of heather will help her reconnect with her roots and recover from her grief.

Then, on a walk around the loch one bright morning, she comes across a tiny, tumbledown cottage, nestled on the edge of the forest.  The elderly owner, Gretchen Ross, invites her in  for buttery shortbread, and after learning that Gretchen might lose the cottage that has been in her family forever, Zelda vows to help her.  She didn't bargain on butting heads with the handsome, blue-eyed laird Hal Cameron in the process.  Zelda can't seem to forget Hal's shy smile and she soon learns they might have more in common than she first thought.

But when Zelda discovers a bundle of old letters hidden in the back of an antique wardrobe at the cottage, they lead her back to the mysterious Hal.  Pushing Zelda to examine her own family history, the letters reveal a secret that the community has kept hidden for over a generation.  Hal says he wants to help Zelda, but just as she begins to open up, she learns he isn't being entirely honest either...Can Zelda trust him, and finally come to terms with her own past, or will uncovering this secret force her to leave Loch Cameron for good?

This was a cute story.  Typical light reading and ready for a book 2.

An English Garden Murder by Katie Gayle

Julia Bird's picturesque Cotswolds cottage has everything she could want. Rustic charm, cosy fireplaces and, it turns out, a dead body in the garden...

Recently divorced and reluctantly retired, Julia Bird has fled London to enjoy idyllic rural life in the Cotswolds. Determined to have the perfect English garden, her first job is to tear down the old shed, where she unearths much more than she'd bargained for...A body, apparently buried for decades. But who could it be, and who killed them? The police draw a blank, and even the gossip-fest that is the local bookclub can't remember anyone going missing in the village.

Unable to get on with her garden until the mystery is resolved Julia decides to conduct her own clandestine investigations. So, together with her wayward chocolate Labrador puppy Jake, Julia begins a whirlwind tour of the local residents.  And everyone, it seems, has something to hide in this village. As she gets closer to the truth, Julia uncovers something even more shocking...Another body, this time of someone she actually knows.

Determined to unmask the killer and find out what connects the two dead bodies, Julia-newly nicknamed the Grim Reaper-ups the stakes and hones in on the most likely suspect. But if she hasn't deduced correctly, then there is someone else in the village who has killed twice already. Will they be prepared to make it third time lucky to keep their secret safe? 

This was interesting and did keep me guessing almost to the end.

Heart and Soul by Maeve Binchy

Clara Casey has more than enough on her plate. Her daughters Adi and Linda were no problem during the usually turbulent teens. Now Adi is always fighting for or against something: the environment or the whale or battery farming; while Linda lurches from one unsatisfactory relationship to the next. As if this wasn't enough, Clara, a senior cardiac specialist, has a new job to cope with - and now her ex-husband wants something from her...

For Ania, meeting Clara is a miracle. She never intended to leave to leave Poland - but perhaps a new job in a new country will mend her broken heart?  Declan is looking forward to joining the clinic - but what should have been a straightforward six-month posting brings him far more than he expected.

Then there's Father Brian Flynn, whose life is turned upside down when his reputation is threatened; and the beautiful, cheerful nurse, Fiona, who can't leave her troubled past behind...

I think this was one of Maeve Binchy's better books. It was like a bunch of short stories that end up all connected. I had a little confusion about some of the characters because, for the most part, I have read a lot of her books out of order.