Two lonely people wash up on the shores of a crowded vacation isle.

When Jack Dent is left at the altar, it’s too late to cancel the honeymoon reservations. He comes to Clark Island with a vague plan to drink and wench his way through two painful weeks. But, somehow, the would-be misanthrope is drawn into other people’s problems.

Rebekka Jordaan’s gap year has turned into a nightmare. She left South Africa to experience life in America as an au pair, but now she’s marooned with three miserable brats from a dysfunctional family. She’s in way over her head, but she’s no quitter.

Will either one of them ever make it off the island?

Shy and stuttering Morgan McKenna struggles through special needs classes in high school and then lands a job in the local library. Travis Cooper is a brilliant college student who is barely pulling a C in Girls 101. A chance meeting is the start of a unique relationship: for Travis, an important friendship without all the anxiety of a romance; for Morgan, an awakening that stirs powerful emotions she’s never experienced before. When Travis receives an acceptance letter to a coveted grad program in England, will it all end?

Available at  Amazon.

The year is 1873.  Johanna is on academic probation at the University of Berlin and Eduard is a stuffy assistant professor. When fate brings them together, it’s hate at first sight! But they form an unlikely alliance and travel to Florence to study a rare Aztec history. When they stumble on an obscure coded document, they face unseen danger from those who believe the mysterious monograph holds the key to a vast fortune! Will Eduard and Johanna find Montezuma’s lost treasure – or something even more valuable – before it’s too late?

Available at Amazon and Smashwords.

Emma, A Modern Retelling,

by Alexander McCall Smith

This 2014 re-do of the Jane Austen classic is delightful. Emma Woodhouse is intelligent, rich, beautiful…and spoiled. The novel tracks her personal growth from self-absorbed to self-aware. Along the way, she develops empathy for the feelings of others, as her schemes to engineer happiness for others backfire. Will her new-found maturity also help her to find true love?

Alexander McCall Smith examines the world through the eyes of a wide cast of relatable characters, always treating them with humor and light irony, not bitter sarcasm. The novel is well-paced and interesting. An easy, yet rewarding read. I would definitely recommend this book.

More reviews here .