SSR

So I've read a total of 5 new books in the fourth quarter. Honest Illusions by Nora Roberts was one of my favorites. It was about 2 world-renowned magicians who shared a penchant for jewel thievery with different twists and secrets that come close to exposing them to everyone. In the midst a contunually growing romance sparks up between the two main characters that make a good read for any fan of romance novels. That is the basic theme in all of the books that I read, stories and plot lines may be completely different but theres always a romantic element in all of them. The next book is called The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks. I was so excited to read this book and it did not let me down at all. It was a tear jerker and major romance novel (i dont think any guys would be a fan of this one) like almost all of Nicholas Sparks novels. I also read What Matters Most by Luanne Rice. I had read another book by this author and I thought it was O.K. but the setting of this book is what really caught my eye. It's set in Ireland and strings together a long line of four completely different people and eventually ties them all together with an ending I never expected. The next book was by Sidney Sheldon and it was called Master of the Game. I read this book because I read If Tomorrow Comes by him earlier in the year and I absolutely loved it. This one, however, was really enjoyable and I liked it a lot but it wasn't one of my favorites.
The last book was Malice by Danielle Steel. This book was SOO good! It was one of my all time favorite books that I have ever read, and thats a lot of books :). Anyways it was completely devastating, uplifting, and inspirational at the same time. It is a story of a young girl who struggles through her teen years taking care of her sick mother who has cancer and dies a slow painful dealth. Her father was the martyr to everyone in thier town and no one expected that he was beating his sick wife up until the day she died, nor did they suspect that he would continually rape his daughter night after night. The night of the funeral for her mom, her dad came into her room and started to rape her again, but she couldnt take it and accidently shot him and killed him. Because her father was so loved in their community no one believed her story and she was sent to prison. Their she experienced the worst of the worst and when she finnally got out she experienced many more circumstances where men tried to control her and abuse her. Her strenght and perserverence through everything was so inspirational to me and the things I mentioned were just some of the obstacles she overcame in the book. It was truly a amazing book that told an ordinary woman's story, portraying her struggle to truimph over malice and betrayal, and to transform a lifetime of pain into a blessing for others around her.