Sunday Post January 19, 2020/It's Monday! What are You Reading? Plus Mailbox Monday January 20, 2020

I am linking with Sunday Post at Caffeinated Book Reviewer.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading now at The Book Date (at Wordpress)?

What Are You Reading, is where we gather to share what we have read this past week and what we plan to read this week. It is a great way to network with other bloggers, see some wonderful blogs, and put new titles on your reading list.

Hubby is glad to be home but still in much pain.
I brought Hubby home on Tuesday. We saw our local care physician on Wednesday as he was still in much pain and worried there was another problem. She explained that he would have pain and a week of recovery for each day in hospital, so five weeks. That means an anticipated cruise will be postponed.

My hubby is our shopper (normally) and

he loves to go to Schuncks when we visit Illinois.

I get tickled by this is a picture of two of our grandchildren
following him down the aisle. (Hubby is wearing the plaid jacket.)

Our temperatures were fine last week but dropping 20 degrees to head into low 30s and mid-20s at night this week.

I've been enjoying my reading and listening. I finished three audiobooks and am working on ebooks. I posted three reviews and my usual memes.

I only visited 16 blogs last week - I still need to branch out and pick up the pace!
Shout Out this week to A Web of Stories. Melinda hosts Saturday Snapshot so if you enjoy sharing pictures check out that meme!
Thank you to all the nice people who visit me.

These were last week's posts:

• Sunday Post January 12, 2020/It's Monday! What are You Reading? Plus Mailbox Monday January 13, 2020.

• ATBR- Audible Book Review: The Oracle by Jonathan Cahn; Genre: Christian Prophecies, Religion & Spirituality; My Rating: 4.75 of 5.0 Overall; Story 4.75; Narration 4.75.

• NG2019- #NetGalley Book Review: Someone to Honor by Mary Balogh; Genre: Historical Romance, Regency; My Rating: 4.5 of 5.0.

• Martha's Bookshelf***Friday Pick Giveaway January 17, 2019. Open Worldwide. Ending 1/23/2020.

• eBookTBR- Book Review: An Endless Christmas: A Novella by Cynthia Ruchti; Genre: Christian Romance, Holiday; My Rating: 4.5 of 5.0.

• Sunday Words of Encouragement January 19, 2020.

Finished Reading:

1. Audio/Smartphone (ATBR)

Mission Pack 1: Black Ocean Mission Pack, Missions 1-4
By: J.S. Morin
Narrated by: Mikael Naramore
Series: Black Ocean, Book 1-4
Length: 20 hrs and 50 mins
This is mildly entertaining.
Source: April 2017 $1.99 Audible Purchase.
Click on book title for full description.

2. Audio/Smartphone (ATBR)

Southlands
Lee Harden, Book 2
By: D.J. Molles
Narrated by: Christian Rummel
Length: 9 hrs and 55 mins
Release date: 05-28-19
This series gripped me and had me listening hoping for better luck for the primary characters.
Source: December 2019 Audible Sale $5.98.
Click on book title for full description.

3. Audio/Smartphone (ATBR)

A Mind of Her Own
By: Paula McLain
Narrated by: Hillary Huber
Length: 1 hr and 15 mins
Release date: 02-28-19
This was a quick, nice listen.
Source: March 2019 Audible Original Free pick.
About This Audible Original
From Paula McLain, the best-selling author of The Paris Wife and Love and Ruin, comes a breathtakingly intimate story of the brilliant, willful Marie Curie—a young woman in Paris on the verge of her greatest discovery yet: herself.
Marie Sklodowska, 25, is studying science at the Sorbonne—one of the only universities in the world that has begun to admit women. A thousand miles from her native Poland, with no money and the odds stacked against any woman daring to pursue a career in such a rigorous field, Marie throws herself into her studies. She’s certain that to succeed in a man’s world, she will have to go it alone.
Her meticulous plans get thrown slightly off-course when Marie attracts the attention of an accomplished physicist, himself on the precipice of greatness. Pierre Curie, famous for his work on symmetry, believes he has found in Marie an equal who shares his devotion to scientific discovery. He offers to help with her work, and soon begins to court her. But to Marie, men have always been an obstacle, love a distraction from her goals. She hasn’t come this far to let either stand in the way of her dreams—dreams Pierre insists they can share.
In A Mind of Her Own, McLain taps into the luminous mind and complex heart of a singular woman caught between order and chaos, science and love in the period just before the world would learn her name.
©2019 Paula McLain (P)2019 Audible Originals, LLC.

Currently Reading:
1. eBook/Kindle (NG2019)

Deep State
by Chris Hauty
This is very good thriller and getting very tense for the heroine at 60% in.
Source: 2019 NetGalley.
Click on book title for full description.

2. Audio/Smartphone (A2019)

Wish
By Barbara O'Connor
Narrated By: Suzy Jackson
Publisher: Recorded Books
Date: August 2016
Duration: 4 hours 41 minutes
I picked a shorter book before I do another very long one. I am liking how this starts.
Source: July 2019 Audiobooks.com two for one credit pick.
Summary:
From award-winning author Barbara O'Connor comes a middle-grade novel about a girl who, with the help of the dog of her dreams, discovers the true meaning of family. Eleven-year-old Charlie Reese has been making the same silent wish since fourth grade, hoping that some day it will come true. When her irresponsible parents send her to the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina to live with family members she doesn't know, she needs that wish to come true more than ever. A stray dog, a great friend, and the love of a big-hearted aunt and uncle just might make it happen.

3. eBook/Kindle (NG2019)

Enforcing the Paw
by Diane Kelly
I have been eyeing this series thanks to the K-9 dogs.
Source: NetGalley 2019 (This is the last of my NetGalley picks before December that has already released.)
When a case of he-said/she-said turns criminal, it’s up to Megan Luz and her devoted K-9 to dig for the truth. . .
A TAIL OF TWO LOVERS
When relationships go south, some people just can’t—or won’t—let go. When Fort Worth Police Officer Megan Luz and her pawed partner Brigit investigate a series of stalking incidents involving a couple who recently broke up, their detective powers are put to the test. Is this a case of a controlling creep who refuses to accept rejection—or one about a woman scorned whose fury has been unleashed?
WHO END UP IN THE DOGHOUSE. . .
As hostilities escalate between the former lovers, the situation goes from romantically dysfunctional to downright dangerous. He insists his former flame has become a crazy ex-girlfriend intent on vengeance. She alleges that he is a master of manipulation and lays blame entirely at his feet. Who’s the culprit and who’s the victim? Can Megan and Brigit sniff out the truth. . .before somebody ends up dead?
Enforcing the Paw is part of Diane Kelly's fun and smart Paw Enforcement series.

4. Audio/Smartphone (A2019)

Commune
Commune, Book 1
By: Joshua Gayou
Narrated by: R.C. Bray
Series: Commune, Book 1
Length: 9 hrs and 46 mins
I was eyeing a very long audio then decided I needed to get ahead a few before I listen to another one over 20 hours.
I chose this as a new to me author/series.
Source: 9/1/18 Audible Sale $5.95
Publisher's Summary
For dinosaurs, it was a big rock. For humans: Coronal Mass Ejection (CME).
When the Earth is hit by the greatest CME in recorded history (several times larger than the Carrington Event of 1859), the combined societies of the planet's most developed nations struggle to adapt to a life thrust back into the Dark Ages.
In the United States, the military scrambles to speed the nation's recovery on multiple fronts including putting down riots, establishing relief camps, delivering medical aid, and bringing communication and travel back on line.
Just as a real foothold is established in retaking the skies (utilizing existing commercial aircraft supplemented by military resources and ground control systems), a mysterious virus takes hold of the population, spreading globally over the very flight routes that the survivors fought so hard to rebuild. The communicability and mortality rates are devastating, leaving only small pockets of survivors scattered throughout the countryside.
Commune: Book One is the story of one small group of survivors who must adapt to a primitive, hostile world or die. As they learn the rules of this new era, they must decide how far they're willing to go to continue living, continually asking themselves the same question daily: is survival worth the loss of humanity?
©2017 Joshua Gayou (P)2017 Joshua Gayou

I'm going to keep track of my Alphabet here. The cross-outs aren't easy to see, so I made the completed letters unbold and blue.
NETGALLEY: A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W X  Y  Z
AUDIO: A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W X  Y  Z

January 19, 2020 - I have started another year of devotions and readings with the One Year Bible plan through You Version App. I considered changing but this is the reading group that is closest to my husband's reading so we can sometimes discuss the same passages.
I really enjoyed the 15-day plan New Year, New Mercies to start the New Year! I will pick another study this week.

I completed three books and posted three reviews so I am up to date.
My NetGalley shelf is still at 20, plus the four titles from 2012-13 which are now planned for 2020.
(I now have 22 toward Alphabet letters.)
I have two author titles carried into January 2020.
Still many titles through InstaFreebie and many new author requests I haven't replied to.

Welcome to Mailbox Monday.

Mailbox Monday is a gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week and explore great book blogs. This Meme started with Marcia at A Girl and Her Books (fka The Printed Page) and after a tour of hosts has returned to its permanent home at Mailbox Monday. Thanks to the ladies sharing hosting duties: Leslie of Under My Apple Tree, Serena of Savvy Verse & Wit and (yours truly). Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.
I received one NetGalley review title.
I chose two Audible December credit titles and found a massively long "classics" title for $.82. Then I picked up a deal at Chirp at the last minute.
I added only 2 free kindle titles again this week. (Note these are in my Amazon library, NOT on my Kindle until I download and transfer them.) Are your mailbox and TBR piles blooming?

Review Titles

NetGalley selection another title requested 2019 but received 2020.
The Gift of Gerbert's Feathers
by Meaghann Weaver, Lori Wiener 
Releasing 04 Feb 2020
This sounds like a sweet story.

Won

NONE

Purchased

1/15/2020 Two December Audible Credits
Navigating the Stars
Sentinels of the Galaxy, Book 1
By: Maria V. Snyder
Narrated by: Gabra Zackman
Length: 10 hrs and 52 mins
Release date: 01-17-19
This is a new series by an author I really like.


Call to Arms
Black Fleet Trilogy, Book 2
By: Joshua Dalzelle
Narrated by: Mark Boyett
Length: 8 hrs and 55 mins
Release date: 01-19-16
I enjoyed book 1 so I am going to continue this series.

1/15/2020 Audible Purchase $.82
10 Masterpieces You Have to Read Before You Die 1
By: Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Louisa May Alcott, Mark Twain, Homer, Marcus Aurelius
Narrated by: Charles Hubbell, James Ellis, Stephen Scalon, Beth Kesler, Lee Howard, Charles Purkey
Length: 102 hrs and 19 mins
Release date: 11-06-19

1/19/202 Chirp Purchase $1.99
Plum Rains
by Andromeda Romano-Lax
Narrated by: Elizabeth Wiley
Run time: 13 hours and 23 minutes
This looks like a good sci fi at a good price.

Free

I added only 2 free Kindle titles to my Kindle library. Titles found linked through Bookbub, Bookfun, Ereader News Today, Free Par-tay, Ignite Your Book, Inspired Reads, Pixel of Ink or Kindle ebooks.

Sunday Words of Encouragement January 19, 2020

Our Sunday School teacher continued his lesson on “Why did God create man?” which he has given the subtitle: From Genesis to Revelation. He reminded us from last week’s lesson that God originally gave man the authority to rule over the earth but that position was taken by Satan. Satan knows the Word of God but twists it to his own purposes. That is how he entrapped Eve and Adam and how he tempted Jesus. Matthew 4:1-10 shows that Satan tempting Jesus to satisfy the three areas of sin we all face: physical cravings (food); pride of life (survival); and the lust of the eye (power over kingdoms).

Jesus faced temptation but did not sin. Hebrews 4:14-15. He was God in man, we are God with the power of the Holy Spirit in us. Still, we sin and are grateful that God gives us Grace. We have choices. Each of us is sinful. Hereditary influences impact who we are. Scientists claim that ancestral memory can carry through the DNA. Our cultural upbringing (Godly home v sinful home) impacts the choices that we make. We have no right to judge anyone else thinking they are more sinful than us. Sin is sin and we are all sinners. The Bible tells us that sins pass from generation to generation. Numbers 14:18 and Exodus 20:5. Later the Lord declares that each man shall bear his own sin. Ezekiel 18:20. We can break the chains through pray and Godly driven choices. Each man must work out his own salvation. Philippians 2:12.

Since Satan gained the position of ruler of this world we must recognize that we live in a corrupted world system. We must not love the things of this world. 1 John 2:15-17. Jesus prayed to God for his disciples “ not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.” John 17:13-21.

We need to remember that we need the full armor of God to stand against the devil’s schemes. Ephesians 6:11-12. Prayer is crucial to our battle against the strategies of the devil and most of us are weak in prayer. What schemes does Satan use? Discontent, distractions, health, and much more. The Devil knows your mind and uses it against you. Therefore, it is imperative that we control our thoughts! 2 Corinthians 10:3-5. This is not passive but requires action. We must not allow ourselves to be conformed to this world. Romans 12:2. We must learn to say “No” with the help of the Holy Spirit. Titus 2:11-13.

We sang this new (to us) song at worship time and I think it works with
 the Sunday School message today.

Verses for Today:
Titus 2:11-13 (NIV)
11 For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. 12 It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, 13 while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ,

God: I pray that You reign sovereign in my life.

Book Review: An Endless Christmas: A Novella by Cynthia Ruchti

This is lovely!

An Endless Christmas: A Novella
by Cynthia Ruchti

File Size: 1122 KB
Print Length: 183 pages
Publisher: Worthy Inspired (October 13, 2015)
ASIN: B07NVHR7HS
Genre: Christian Romance, Holiday
My Rating: 4.5 of 5.0.

Award-winning novelist's heartwarming story about family and love lost, found, and finally truly revealed at Christmas.

Martha's Bookshelf***Friday Pick Giveaway January 17, 2020

Happy Friday! 
Hubby came home on Tuesday and is finally beginning to feel less pain. Thanks for your well wishes and prayers!

TO ENTER FRIDAY PICK.

US Entrants: Leave a comment and tell me WHICH BOOK you would like to get from the Friday Pick lists.

INTERNATIONAL: Leave a comment indicating "Gift Card" (see further comments near the end of the post.)

CUT OFF TIME IS THURSDAY NIGHTS AT 9:00 PM CENTRAL so I do not have to stay up too late to do the winner post! I will randomly pick two winners to announce Friday mornings with the next Pick post.

Thank you to all who entered the January 10, 2020 Pick. There were no automatic wins this week. Automatic wins are those who requested the book four times without other people asking for that book during those weeks. There were no titles blocked.

CONGRATULATIONS
to Random.org picked Winners from January 10, 2020 Pick:
FREDAMANS gets a GC
and
BN100 gets A Place Called Freedom.

All winners please fill in the Winner's Acceptance Form or email me to confirm your win, send your snail mail address information and let me know if you would like bookmarks - sensual, sexy or sweet bookmarks. {The form is new because Google changed their forms and the old one wasn't letting me print out the responses.}

If I were hibernating I would want some books wouldn't you?
Image found at Pinterest shared by Windsor Public Library.

New Book Group #88 November 8, 2019

PAIRS:
Connie Brockway: My Pleasure and My Seduction
Stella Cameron: Body of Evidence and Fascination
Singles:
A Notorious Proposition by Adele Ashworth
My Lord and Spymaster by Joanna Bourne
A Lady Never Tells by Candace Camp
Dawn of Redemption by Starla Childs
Long, Lean and Lethal by Heather Graham
False Colours by Georgette Heyer
Chill of Fear by Kay Hooper
Treasures by Lisa Jackson (hardback)
No Limits by Alison Kent
The Education of Mrs. Brimley by Donna MacMeans
The Wedding Affair by Leigh Michaels
A Highlander's Temptation by Sue-Ellen Welfonder


New Book Group #87 August 23, 2019

SINGLES:
Captain's Paradise by Kay Hooper
Open Season by Linda Howard AUDIO CASSETTES
The Perfect Gift by Christina Skye


New Book Group #86 June 7, 2019
Another group of variety from my shelves.

SINGLES:
A Place Called Freedom by Ken Follett
Forget Me Not by Vicki Hinze

Show No Fear by Marliss Melton
A Question of God's Balance (Vol 1) by Joseph Thek
King by Right of Blood and Might by Anna L. Walls


New Book Group #85 March 22, 2019
A variety from my shelves.

SINGLES:
Summer Skies by Judith Christenberry
Windfall (two stories) by JoAnn Ross
Daddy's Little Cowgirl (two stories) by Judith Bowen and Kimberly Raye
The Forever Year, Cold Pursuit, Lover's Lane and Temporary Sanity (Reader's Condensed)
ToxiCity by Libby Fischer Hillmann

New Book Group #84 December 15, 2018
Here are some Christmas titles to pick from.

SINGLES:
A Family for Thanksgiving
On this Holy Night
Christmas Haven
King Harold's Snow Job


New Book Group #83 November 30, 2018

(Starting bottom left and continuing up then down)
SINGLE
Seductive Secrets by Lynne Connolly
Seven Up by Janet Evanovich - Audio Cassettes
A Good Walk Spoiled by John Feinstein Audio Cassettes
Three Reader's Digest Condensed Books - each hardback:

Cold Harbour and The Courtship of Peggy McCoy
The Things We Do for Love, Three Weeks With My Brother, The Murder Artist and Night Train to Lisbon
Follow the Stars Home, Hunting Badger, The Quiet Game and Second Wind

New Book Group #82 November 9, 2018

Stella Cameron: Key West
SINGLES:
Magic Strikes by Ilona Andrews
Killing Time by Linda Howard
The Wedding Night by Barbara Dawson Smith

New Book Group #81 August 17, 2018

SINGLES
Best Laid Plans by Allison Brennan
Darkness Tell Us by Richard Laymon
Cooking Most Deadly by Joanne Pence


New Book Group #80 August 17, 2018

Note: The Final Judgment and
The Book of Fate are Audio Cassettes
SINGLES:
Summer’s Moon by Lacey Baker
The Final Judgment by Richard North PattersonAudio Cassettes
Firebird by Janice Graham
No Getting Over a Cowboy by Delores Fossen
The Book of Fate by Brad Meltzer Audio Cassettes


New Book Group #79 July 13, 2018
I found this box of books buried under some other boxes.

The Vanishing Act of Esme Lenox by Maggie O’Farrell
P.S. by Helen Schulman
Her Sexiest Surprise by Dawn Atkins (personally autographed)
Dakota Child by Linda Ford
Calling the Shots by Ellen Hartman
Promises, Promises by Amber Miller
This Time for Keeps by Jenna Mills
A Daughter’s Legacy by Virginia Smith
Another Man’s Baby by Kay Stockham


New Book Group #78 April 27, 2018

SINGLES
Blackberry Bush
Breaking Point
A Tangled Affair
To Wicked to Love
Roses are Red Audio Cassettes


New Book Group #77 February 16, 2018- All gone

New Book Group #76 November 3, 2017
13 books remain of the original 37:

I finally Have them Listed!
Boots & Booties by Kristine Rolofson
Saucer the Conquest by Stephen Coonts
The Scorpion Seducer by Bonnie Vanak
Hell On Earth by David L. Porter
White Night by Jim Butcher
Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey
The Glimpses of the Moon by Edith Wharton
Crisscross by Harmon Henkin
Maelstrom by Anne McCaffrey
Inhuman Condition by Clive Barker
101 Commonsense Rules for the Office by John R. Brinkerhoff


This shelf of 35 books are what is left from Groups #1 (11/27/09) through Group #75 September 29, 2017

(Title list reads left at bottom to right at top - 14 titles.)
Rehabilitation
Secret Blessing
Named of the Dragon
Daring by Jillian Hart
Aunt Erma's Cope Book
JoAnn Ross: Confessions
The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan
Bound by Destiny by Rayka Mennen
Rainbow Mars by Larry Niven

(Title list reads left at bottom to right at top - 21 titles.)
Plan of Attack by Dan Brown
(*Three more very old books from my Gothics box.)
*The Man in the Garden by Paule Mason (1969 - yellowed)
Fire Dancer by Ann Maxwell
*Four books are very old; pulled from a box of gothic novels I found.
*Maggie – Her Marriage by Taylor Caldwell (1953 very old, yellowed pages, some stain damage doesn't effect reading)
First Things First by Stephen R. Covey- Audio Cassette
Trilogy Of Mysteries Audio Book Shadow Prey, There Was A Little Girl, Smokescreen Audio Cassettes (NOT CDs)
Raintree Haunted by Linda Winstead Jones (spine creases)
The Shadowing by Joan Overfield
The Sweetheart Dance by Patti Ann Colt
BOX 4 2015 (reboxed from Boxes 47-53)
Undateable by Ellen Rakieten & Anne Coyle
Jezebel by Katherine Sutcliff
The Hidden Truth of Cytech's Randall Forty by Vickie Kennedy
Breakfast in Bed by Sandra Brown - Audio Cassette Tapes (link is for mass media version)
BOX 3 2015 (reboxed from Boxes 39- 47)
Shetland Summer by Janet Lynnford
BOX 2 2015 (reboxed from Boxes 24- 38)
The Trailsman: Texas Lead Slingers by Jon Sharpe
A Courtesans Guide to Getting Your Man by Susan Donovan and Celeste Bradley -- NOTE This book has dog bite damage; it is missing half back cover and the edges of pages in the back third of the book... it does not effect the text but I will understand if no one wants this one
An Honorable Man by Rosemary Rogers (spine creases)
The Willful Widow by Valerie King (spine wear)
Foundation (Foundation Novels) by Isaac Asimov
BOX #1 2015 (reboxed from Boxes 1- 23)
Ghost Writer (Shivers #3) by M.D. Spenser
Alien Chronicles - The Crimson Claw by Deborah Chester

If you saw the pictures posted of my bookshelves and boxes you know I do have lots of books! And that doesn't include the other eight or so boxes at my office!! And more books as I find deals too good to pass up! I am sharing my book bounty by these Friday Pick Giveaways.

I started Friday Pick on November 27, 2009 and in almost NINE years I have posted 88 groups of 16 plus an additional 21 totaling 1,429 books to find new homes! (as of November 8, 2019).

I am happy to say that so far about 1,296+ books have found new homes through this feature! YAY. [A year or so ago I posted I had reached 2000 books given away. As I calculated the numbers 11/2/17 I realized that had to be an error. I realized I went from 1098 to 2001 instead of 1101. Guess I was tired; sorry for the error.] I have to update my print out to check the exact number sent out - a few were never claimed. I periodically update the lists - deleting those won. You can still go to the Friday Pick list link to see older posts and the older lists book pictures if you want!

Note rules here regarding international entries.

Because postage to overseas can be prohibitive I am willing to give a $5.00 book certificate to international winners - Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Borders, ARe, TWRP, ClassAct Books, eTreasures, Desert Breeze, etc....you tell me where and I'll set it up. So for my overseas visitors, your comment may indicate a smaller book and I'll check postage or note your choice of gift card.

I learned that The Book Depository does not ship to everywhere. The postage for some of the books to faraway places runs between $7.00 and $10.00 and up. Since I would award $5.00 for The Book Depository to an international winner, as an alternative you may choose a smaller book and we will hope the postage will not exceed $6.00. If the postage is more, or if you want to pick a larger book and you are willing to pay any extra postage beyond the $6.00 I will work with you on that. This may not make a difference to many but if it helps one or two of you to give one of my books a home that will make me happy too. :o)

Repeating this helpful blog tip: You can right click on a link and you will be given the choice to open the link in a new window or tab so you do not navigate away from the screen you are on!! I use this all the time!

#NetGalley Book Review: Someone to Honor by Mary Balogh

I found this delightful! (Read in two days!).
Someone to Honor
by Mary Balogh

File Size: 2288 KB
Print Length: 396 pages
Publisher: Berkley (July 2, 2019)
ASIN: B07NK4K5L2
Genre: Historical Romance, Regency
My Rating: 4.5 of 5.0.

First appearances deceive in the newest charming and heartwarming Regency romance in the Westcott series from beloved New York Times bestselling author Mary Balogh.
Abigail Westcott's dreams for her future were lost when her father died and she discovered her parents were not legally married. But now, six years later, she enjoys the independence a life without expectation provides a wealthy single woman. Indeed, she's grown confident enough to scold the careless servant chopping wood outside without his shirt on in the proximity of ladies.
But the man is not a servant. He is Gilbert Bennington, the lieutenant colonel and superior officer who has escorted her wounded brother, Harry, home from the wars with Napoleon. Gil has come to help his friend and junior officer recover, and he doesn't take lightly to being condescended to--secretly because of his own humble beginnings.
If at first Gil and Abigail seem to embody what the other most despises, each will soon discover how wrong first impressions can be. For behind the appearances of the once-grand lady and the once-humble man are two people who share an understanding of what true honor means, and how only with it can one find love.

Review:
Abigail Westcott’s life changed dramatically when her wealthy, titled father died, and it is discovered that he was already married when he married Abigail’s mother. The family rallied together but it still left Abigail, her mother, elder sister, and brother trying to find their places in the finicky Regency society. Six years later Abby is still trying to determine who she is as she avoids society that would snub her even though her extended family is more than ready and able to support her in social circles.

Abby arrives with family to see her brother, Harry, who has returned to their childhood home injured from the war. Behind the house, Abby comes upon a man chopping wood without his shirt. Abby still has the aristocratic response to scold the man, whom she assumes is a servant, for not donning his shirt in front of a lady.

Gil, a lieutenant colonel, is Harry’s superior officer who has traveled home to care for and support his friend. Gil might be the first to acknowledge that he is not really a gentleman, but that doesn’t stop him from taking umbrage with the haughty young woman who has upbraided him.

Although the two didn’t get off on the right foot, they soon state their apologies and begin to see their common interest in caring for Harry. Slowly Abby and Gil share time and discussion which draws them closer. When circumstances indicate that Gil needs a wife to help him in efforts to gain custody of his daughter, Abby is willing to step into the role with Harry’s encouragement. Abby has her own reasons for agreeing to the marriage and Gil is willing to accept her help while pledging to honor her and to be a good husband. The couple might be able to find their way without too much trouble until they have to face Abby’s mother and the rest of her Westcott and other titled family. Now there is increased tension between the newlyweds in addition to the stress of the upcoming custody trial. Will the stresses tear them apart or pull them closer?

I really liked both of these characters who have to walk a tight rope with their damaged backgrounds in a society that can be ruthless. Their initial opposition turned to friendship was well developed. The court custody trial was also a delight for me. The Judge has a certain irascible attitude mixed with humor that made the event fun reading.

Mary Balogh is a “go-to” author for me for her engaging historical romances. She creates interesting characters and provides plausible plots that are navigated with a touch of humor. I have read several of the books in the series and although they read fine as standalones, I think reading them in order helps understand the characters better as the stories proceed. I highly recommend this book, the author and the series.

Source: 2019 NetGalley. This qualifies for 2020TBR, 2020 NetGalley and 2020Alphabet goals.