Freebie Alert for Romance Fans!

If you can't get into a full-length book right now, the Timeless Romance anthologies are romance novellas---shorter stories, but with all the feels, like a little romantic snack. And the Blind Date collection is FREE today if you want to try it! 

Get your free download HERE 

Here's the back copy:

Six Blind Dates . . . Six Chances to Fall in Love.

Three Historical Romance Novellas

THE PROMISE THAT KATY DID, by Annette Lyon: After the death of Sue Ellen, the closest thing she has to family, Katy knows it’s time to leave the house she’s lived in as a guest and start over in the city. She quickly secures a job, but before leaving, she must honor the unusual promise she made to Sue Ellen on her deathbed: meet with Mr. Balmer. The elderly gentleman arranges for his grandson Barrett to escort her to a town dance. That evening, shy Katy quickly feels at ease with her partner. If her new position weren’t taking her from town, perhaps something could develop between them. But Barrett may not feel the same about her, and besides, they don't have enough time to find out.

A LADY OF SENSE, by Sarah M. Eden: Eleanor Sherwood has lived her entire life under her parents’ thumb with little hope of escape. When they choose the unbearable Mr. Broadstead to be her future husband, she begs her father for another option. He arranges for her to meet Peter Havensham, who quickly proves himself a good and kindhearted gentleman, completely different from Mr. Broadstead, and utterly undeserving of a forced engagement. Eleanor cannot bring herself to prey upon Peter’s honor, but neither can she imagine a life with Mr. Broadstead. What is a lady to do when faced with such an impossible choice?

A SECOND CHANCE, by Heather B. Moore: Virginia needs a new start in order to recover from her broken marriage, so when her best friend Millie invites Virginia to Chicago, she goes to live with her friend’s family. But when Millie asked Virginia to participate in a double-date, Virginia knows she’s not ready to start dating again. Reluctantly she agrees, only to find out that Max might just be the man who can repair the cracks in her heart.

Three Contemporary Romance Novellas

BRAELYNN’S BLIND DATE, by Victorine E. Lieske. When Braelynn agrees to go on a blind date, she thinks she’s hit the jackpot. Tyler is gorgeous and the perfect gentleman. Of course she should have known it was too good to be true. It turns out that Tyler really wasn’t Tyler, but a random stranger who went along with Braelynn’s mistaken assumption. So, she chalks it up to a dumb mistake until she gets to work Monday morning and discovers that her gorgeous blind date is now her new boss.

BIANCA’S HOPE, by Rachel Branton: A blind-date-gone-wrong is not the way Bianca would have chosen to celebrate the news that she might be losing her business, but saying no to the sister who took care of her after their mother’s death proves impossible. So for one date, one torturous evening, she’ll endure the company of an infuriating, heartless man she has no intention of ever seeing again. She doesn’t expect her heart to have other plans. Bianca soon learns that sometimes the unexpected is not only what you need, it’s exactly what you’ve been waiting for all along.

BLIND SPOT, by Sariah Wilson: Ria has prepared most of her life to meet her prince, trouble is, her mother keeps yanking her back to reality. So when Ria reads about a country teeming with princes, she drops everything and applies to grad school. But every blind date goes wrong, and while Ria commiserates with her roommate Tessa and Tessa’s totally un-prince-like brother Paolo, Ria discovers that all the things she thought she wanted in a man are far from what she really needs.

Hawaii Five-0 Recap & Review: The Second-to-Last-One

We start out with previouslies of Steve getting the phone call from Doris's lawyer that he was given instructions to deliver a package to Steve four months after his mom's death. Cut to two days later and the lawyer shows up and gives Steve an envelope which he opens and looks surprised.

Cut to a woman going into her apartment with her little boy and two tough guys right behind her. They're bank robbers that need her to stitch up a gunshot wound. Just after the TV reports on the bank robbery, (where an officer was killed) there's a knock at the door. Uh oh. It's a really hot "busboy" returning a toy the woman's little boy left at the diner. He asks if she's okay and she says she is, but he sees one of the gunmen in a reflection of the laptop screen. She shuts the door, but he kicks it in and attacks the gunmen. The woman takes her son and runs for the bedroom instead of the open door (why not get out of there!) The busboy is shot in the shoulder, but does shoot one of the gunmen and the other gets away. The woman and her son are safe and she calls the cops, but her good Samaritan leaves before they get there.

Cue music.

Steve is at the cemetery visiting his dad when Danny drives up to say since Steve wasn't answering his phone he pinged him and they have a case. Steve just looks resigned and says there's always a case before he sits on a bench to tell Danny about the lawyer visit. Apparently, it was a cypher, but Steve doesn't know why his mom would send him that and doesn't care what it is because he doesn't want another mystery in his life. Danny doesn't think he'll be able to leave it alone and wonders why Steve came to the cemetery. Poor Steve has been thinking about how it's been ten years since his dad dies and a lot has changed since then, including losing Joe and his mom. It's been a tough year and he's just feeling a little lost. Danny tells him to take a day and relax and he'll do the crime scene himself, but Steve says, no, let's go and he'll drive. (Of course.) They get to the apartment building and Tani runs them down on how the woman (Sylvia) got approached by the robbers at a diner and forced at gunpoint back to her apartment before the busboy threw down and killed one of the robbers and chased the other one out. He saved both of their lives, but didn't stick around to give a statement or get treated for his bullet wound. Oh, and his name popped up as a dead guy's, so he's working under an assumed name. Guess he wasn't always a good Samaritan.

Noelani is telling Steve how the dead bank robber had a crushed trachea and a broken neck, so the guy who killed him obviously had some training. Steve hears yelling in the hall and it's the brother of the victim and he's come to ID the body. Only *they* hadn't ID'd the body, so how did he know to come there? The brother gives him the ScaryCriminalStaredown and Steve guesses that he's going to want blood, but they'll find out who did it and let the system take care of it. Steve also points out that  maybe the partner from the bank robbery told ScaryBro what went down and if that's the case, ScaryBro knows the gunshot wound didn't kill him. ScaryBro rasps that we'll just have to see how that works out. (It doesn't sound promising for the whole system taking care of it idea.) Then we see the good Samaritan climbing a balcony all bloody. He goes inside and finds a bathroom and starts to clean up his gunshot wound in his shoulder, actually stitching up his own wound. Ew.

Back at HQ, they're still trying to figure out who the good Samaritan is but his address is an empty field and no hits on facial rec. He's obviously working hard to stay off the radar. ScaryBro, however, is ID'd as Hector, and he's high up in some crime syndicate and probably enlisted his brother to pull off the bank robbery, like a good crime syndicate brother would. Yikes!

Adam is at the good Samaritan's apartment looking through his mail, talking to Junior about how one of Hector's cars was seen in Sylvia's neighborhood. (How did they find the apartment?) The good Samaritan has good hygiene and left his toothbrush and they get DNA off of it. His name is Lincoln Cole. He's a Marine gunnery sergeant with Fleet Anti-Terrorism Security Teams. FAST teams are the Marines dedicated security forces deployed around the world to handle threats, primarily counter-terrorism. So, why is he here bussing tables with an alias? Well, back in 2016 Cole led a strike team on a siege of a terrorist stronghold in northern Iraq and lost five men before they managed to retreat. He got a purple heart two days later, went AWOL and was never heard from again until today. Since he started his military career with the third regiment in Hawaii, they'll run down who Cole served with there.

Once everyone breaks, Tani pulls Danny aside to an HQ balcony! (How did we not know there was a balcony?) She says she saw that Danny is obviously worried about McG and she is, too. Danny tells her Steve's been running non-stop for the last ten years, and might be burnt out, so he's going to force the issue since if a cop gets burnt out, he could lose reaction time and they can't have that. Tani takes that as concern that Steve won't be able to have their backs like he usually does, but Danny assures her he'll get to the bottom of it. (Since Steve saved all of their lives last week pretty much, I think he'll still have their back, but whatever.)

McG and Junior drive up to a house and approach Chuck Norris who is holding an axe and chopping wood. Apparently he was Cole's CO. Steve tells him he knows what he did for the country and respects that, but please drop the axe. Chuck says if that's true, turn around and drive away. They can't do that because they ran Chuck's phone records and know he got a call from a hotel room that had Cole's blood in it. Junior goes into the house while Steve tells Chuck that other people are looking for Cole and he'll be safest in their custody. Junior finds blood in the bathroom and Cole is running. They chase him down yelling, "Five-0 stop!" (Haha, no one ever stops when they yell that.) Cole gets the drop on Steve in a wooded area and they fight, but Junior comes along and ends it and cuffs Cole. (Cole has a clean shirt on that perfectly fits him. I guess Chuck had an extra?)

They have Cole in the Blue Room of Doom and Steve comes in and uncuffs him and gives him some ice. Awww. He tells Cole that you usually have to do something pretty bad to end up in this room, but here he is, just committing some crazy act of heroism and taking off before anyone can say thank you. But hey, that's his MO since he served valiantly in battle and got a purple heart, then went UA. Now he saves this woman and her kid and disappears. He wants to know what Cole is running from. Cole just asks if he's being charged with anything, but Steve zings him with besides assaulting a law enforcement officer? (Ha!) But, since Cole killed Hector's baby bro, he's in the crosshairs of some very dangerous people so until they fix that, he's not going anywhere. Oh, and can you tell Steve your life story since there's nothing else to do while they wait?

Junior comes in to HQ from Chuck's place and Tani questions him about how McG acted in the field. (Which was odd, really. Steve hasn't given any indication he's off in the field.) She's worried about him, but Junior tells her Steve was fine. He's been through a lot this year. Tani encourages Junior to talk to Steve since he's hurting right now, but Junior tells her that McG's the best soldier he's ever worked with and he's able to compartmentalize things and if he's got something to deal with he'll deal with it in his own way, there's nothing to worry about. (Go Junior!)

McG is sitting on the floor facing Cole asking him to help make sense of all this. Cole is silent. McG tells him he read up on that mission in Kirkuk and Cole saved lives that day. Dozens of lives. But his unit lost five men and McG knows how that feels, how it eats at you, especially when everyone is calling you a hero and trying to pin medals on your chest when all you can think about is the men you lost. (McG's tone is so awesome, right here, understanding, but not condescending.) But Cole is in a dark hole, potentially on the hook for a dozen felonies and he's okay with that because he's put himself in a hole since Kirkuk. Cole finally speaks and says he could say the same thing about Steve. (Interesting comment, considering where Steve is at right now.) Steve goes on to say that Cole went off grid and changed his name because he couldn't deal with the guilt of getting out of there alive and he's in Hawaii bussing tables, helping out neighbors and fighting for justice to atone, but he didn't do anything wrong, he just survived. Cole denies that and Steve says, tell me how I'm wrong. Cole tells him he's the reason those men are dead. Dun, dun, dun.

Then we cut to a news van being overtaken by masked men with guns. They give the newswoman an envelope and tell her to make sure whatever is on it gets on the air if she wants to live. (Yikes. Do they really need a thumb drive or to track down a news van? Just stream it. Record it and email it. Ha!)

Cole tells Steve about his mission. They'd captured a Jordanian jihadist and Cole interrogated him until he broke and told them about a high value commander in the village just south of them. They searched it, but didn't find the commander. It was a prearranged ambush! They waited until they cleared the village and let their guards down so they were exposed and they hit them. He lost his five men and four ISF members who were accompanying them. Steve tells him war is messy and that all they can do as leaders is to make the best decisions with the information they had at hand. (I hope he takes his own advice!) Cole feels responsible because he wanted to win so bad and he let it affect his judgment. He's not fighting for justice because if there was any justice he would be dead and they'd be alive. Danny interrupts and Steve goes to the Chatting Table. A local news station cut in with Hector in a mask telling everyone that his brother was killed that morning (and it's a really nice pic of the bank robber that died.) They show Sylvia and her son duct taped in the corner and tell the person responsible for BabyBro's death that if he wants to save them, he has to trade his life for theirs. In two hours.

Quin says they got nothing from CSU and Lou can't get any leads from watching the video. They have no idea where the mom and kid are being held. Danny is talking to Steve about Hector being behind it and he won't stop until Cole is in the ground. They have to think about using Cole to flush out Hector. Steve thinks that's too dangerous. Adam comes up with the burner phone number Hector's been using so Steve calls him and says he knows he has Sylvia and the kid and Steve has the man who killed his brother in his custody. Tani is trying to trace the call, but it's being run through a proxy server. Hector tells Steve since he has the guy, what happens to the woman and child is in his hands. Steve assures Hector that the guy who killed his brother is going away to military prison for a long time for going AWOL so he can let the hostages go. Hector isn't going for that. He wants the guy delivered to him by 5 p.m. Come alone, no cops or the woman and kid are dead.

Cole wants Steve to call Hector back and tell him he'll make the exchange, but Steve reminds him that there's no guarantee Hector will hand the hostages over. Cole wants to try, it's an innocent woman and child! Steve wants to find another way. He understands Cole feels responsible, but they'll do everything they can to get them out of there. Danny is still advocating using Cole as bait, especially since he volunteered and it's what Steve would do if he were in his shoes. Before they can figure it out some MPs come in to take Cole into custody. Steve tries to play it off like, who? but when Five-0 ran Cole's prints, it rang bells for the military. Steve tries to buy time and get them to talk about it, but the lead MP isn't having it. He knows who Steve is and wants him to produce Cole now since the COMMANDANT ordered it himself! (Who is the commandant?) I guess the governor is afraid of the commandant because even he won't help Steve stand up to the guy. Since they don't have a choice, Cole is carted off while they watch. Danny asks Steve what the plan is, but he doesn't know. Then he shrugs and walks away. (Kidding, kidding. They just stand there thinking up plans I guess.)

Cole is traveling in the back seat, but he attacks his guards and escapes. The team is at the Chatting Table all sad about Cole being gone and Hector's phone being out of service, when Quinn gets the call that Cole escaped. Steve thinks he's going to the exchange spot. (Did they tell him where that was?) And he's right! Cole is in a blue car at the drop off when Hector shows up with his men. There's a ringing phone taped to a fencepost. Hector thinks of everything! Cole answers and Hector wants Cole to prove he's unarmed, then start walking. Cole isn't on board until he sees Sylvia and her son. They show him the woman and kid and they start the exchange. He passes Sylvia and tells her to keep walking and don't look back. (His car was hotwired, so how is she going to use it to get away?) Cole stands in front of Hector who raises his gun to Cole's head and says, "This is for my brother." Then Junior snipes him and a gunfight breaks out. Tani gets the woman and her son in the car, then Junior blows up the car when Steve is pinned down.. Cole gets a guy underneath the car and Quinn snipes a guy for Adam. It was a good fight. When it's over Danny tells Steve he thinks Cole might be crazier than him and Steve agrees. (Ha!)

Back at HQ Cole is in Steve's office looking at his medals on the wall. The MPs leave without Cole thanks to Steve speaking to the commandant and getting him to release Cole into their custody until the formal military review. Cole is surprised since he went AWOL and assaulted three MPs while escaping custody, but Steve pointed out that if he hadn't have escaped an innocent woman and child would be dead and it isn't a great look to press charges against a decorated war hero. Cole doesn't know how to thank him and Steve says he doesn't have to. Cole notices the cypher on Steve's desk and asks about it. Steve has been looking stuff up online, but hasn't had any luck cracking it. Cole knows a guy that is a wizard with this stuff and he can make a call. He'll be in touch. As he's leaving Steve tells him it takes courage to forgive yourself and put the past behind you and move on and he believes the men Cole served with would want him to do that. Awww.

Steve meets up with Danny on the beach and asks him what's with the face? Is he worried that Lincoln will be his new BFF? Well, no one can replace you, he says, you're my Danno. Danny isn't going along with the teasing, he wants to have a real convo. He's concerned. Steve takes a breath and tells him that he doesn't know when it happened, but something changed. He's been doing this for so long, protecting everyone except himself. Danny tells him to take some time for himself, but Steve says it's more than that and he can't do it in Hawaii since there are too many memories there. He's been trying to distract himself with dating and the restaurant, but it wasn't working. Danny doesn't understand, does Steve think he's capable of being done? Steve doesn't know. All he knows is that he hit the ground running hard ten years ago and he's been running ever since. He needs time away to get some perspective. Soon. Danny recommends he go to Jersey, but Steve says no, it's full of people like him. Danny gets offended and tells him to go anywhere but Jersey, so Steve gives in and asks for recommendations for restaurants and places to stay. Danny goes inside to get another beer and hears a noise in the house. A masked man is in the dining room and Danny fights with him. Steve hears the crashing and comes in. Danny is bloodied and the guy tried to steal Steve's cypher. Luckily, Steve didn't put it back in the envelope, so the thief will be disappointed. But what did he want it for? (And when is Steve going to get an alarm system for his house? Sheesh!)

I'm so sad this is the second-to-last episode. Did you watch? What did you think?

Freebie for Audio Book Fans With Kids!

With so much uncertainty right now and families staying at home, you might be running out of things to do. Audible has announced that with schools closed, they're going to have audio books for kids available and FREE!

There were quite a few good titles for toddlers through to teens and literary classics that I loved as a kid. My two youngest children were really interested in several audio books listed and I know my family is going to take advantage of this gift.

Click HERE for the link if you're interested in listening as well

Have You Changed Your Reading Habits?

Anyone up for a little poll? I'm interested to see if your reading habits have changed since the pandemic and quarantine started.

Free Romance for Your Quarantine Reading!

How is your quarantine going? I must admit, I'm reading a lot more---and brushing up on subjects that my children are learning so I can teach them. I did see that Jennifer Peel's romance, Hit and Run Love is free today! I'm definitely going to pick this one up.

You can get your free copy here

Here's the back copy:

When it comes to life, Kallie Clemmons is on top of her game. A no-nonsense lawyer, with beauty and a kind heart to match. But when it comes to love, she runs the other way. That is until she runs, literally, into her old college boyfriend, Officer Harrison Monroe. This time around though, Harrison isn’t going to let her do another hit and run. He’s determined to find out why she left him five years ago, without even a goodbye, and if at all possible, convince her to give up her running shoes.

What Harrison doesn’t know is that the key to their future hinges on her past and the secret she’s kept from him.

Will Harrison be able to unlock her secret and help her overcome her fears? Or will he have Kallie running scared?

Hawaii Five-0--Some Thoughts on Steve and Catherine

As Hawaii Five-0 comes to a close, I've been thinking a lot about Steve and Catherine and the slow rebuild we've seen between them since their breakup.

1. We don't hear much about her after the breakup until Steve finds out she was working for the CIA and her cover was about to be blown. Then he was totally focused on the mission and making sure she was safe, calling her, "someone very important to me." Then, after it's over and her cover is intact, Danny asks if Steve if he's going to be angry because she lied and Steve says, "If I'm honest with myself, I also understand why she did it. Under similar circumstances, I'd have done the same thing." So, he's starting to understand. He also tells CGI Jack Lord and Harry that he "might have met the right woman and couldn't hold on to her" and that he only had one that he "let in" speaking about Catherine.

2. The next time they see each other, Cath is coming to tell him his mother has been kidnapped and she needs his help to break her out. While on the plane, Cath tells Steve she wanted to tell him and he was the last person she ever wanted to lie to. She thanks him for saving her when her cover was nearly blown. He accepts that and says she would have done the same thing for him. Cath also finds out Steve was going to propose. It's still a little awkward between them, but at the end, he asks out of curiosity what she would have said, and she tells him she would have said yes. He closes the airplane door and lingers on it for a bit. Feelings are obviously still there and maybe thoughts of what if.

3. Then, when terrorists are on the island Cath comes to Steve with the mission, and we get a lot of cute dialogue. Things are easier between them. Steve tells Cath that Tani reminds him of her, "she's an army brat, you're a navy brat, you're both good at your job and you both got good hearts." Awww.

They talk about how they were friends before they were in a relationship, and yes, they talk about how sleeping together wasn't good for their friendship, not that it wasn't awesome. Ha! Steve had mentioned to Joe that he was hesitating in asking Cath out because he didn't want to ruin their friendship. And while their relationship hasn't been smooth sailing, I'm glad they didn't lose that foundation!

They have each other's back through the whole mission. There are so many "looks," between them, but especially in the spike pit when her hands are on his shoulders and he's about to boost her up. *le sigh* Their bond is so obviously still there. They also get a chance to clear up the questions she had surrounding the proposal and if he was really going through with it or just thinking about it. He assures her he was going to propose. It was nice to see some of the past being cleared up so they can move forward. And they are actually in really close proximity to each other for nearly that entire episode and working together like they've been partners for years.

At the end, Lou asks him if it was nice to catch up with Cath and he says, "yeah, it was nice," and Lou gives him a look and he grins and says, "What?" the ease and camaraderie is obviously back between them.

Alex O'Loughlin also had this to say about that episode.

"It was great to see Michelle and it was cool to pick up where we left off. It's a great action, travel-y episode with McGarrett and Catherine," O'Loughlin told ET in March. "It's also nice to see these two sharing the same space for a minute and to explore how they feel about each other, how everything is cool [between them]. It was weird for a minute, the way she left -- somebody who's about to get proposed to and they choose an allegiance to the government and national security. It was a big blow for McGarrett. I think this episode served as a gentle closure and reinstated the friendship between the two of them, which was really important." https://www.etonline.com/hawaii-five-0-sneak-peek-mcgarrett-and-catherine-have-a-spicy-reunion-exclusive-100248

Really important to reinstate the friendship for the rebuild of something more? Hmmm....

4. We see Cath again after Joe dies, when Steve calls her to help bring in those who were responsible for the hit on Joe and the SEAL team. Once again, the ease between Steve and Cath is there. He confides in her about feeling responsible for Joe's death and she tells him she's in this with him until the end and reassures him that Joe's death isn't his fault. He confides in her about Greer and she is there for him. (We also get them playing a married couple for the mission, which was fun.) In the final scene with Greer, we also have Steve unarmed in front of Greer, totally trusting Cath to have his back. In the end, he tells her how Joe was the one who helped bring her into his life and they are both glad Steve took his advice. They hug, and say a lingering goodbye "until next time."

So, looking back, I can see a pattern of them slowly rebuilding their relationship after the breakup from awkward to the friendship to realizing how much they still trust and rely on each other. Obviously, I'm hoping that Cath will be in the series finale and we'll see that "next time." She was his girlfriend in the beginning, the woman he said "I love you," to and the one he wanted to marry. I want him to have his happily-ever-after and I believe she is the woman he could be happy with. (And so did Freddie, Joe, Aunt Deb, Doris, and Danny).

I can hardly wait for the new episode this Friday!

Freebie Friday for Regency Fans!

This funny meme is going around Facebook this morning

 AND 

 

coincidentally, a cute Regency Rapunzel retelling, Maiden in the Tower, by Heidi Kimball is FREE today! (I just started it last night and I'm really enjoying it!) 

Get your free copy HERE 

Here's the back copy:

He's the first man she's ever met. She's the exact opposite of the woman he's supposed to marry.

Lisette Hunt has been hidden away her entire life, with nothing but a large window up in the cottage turret to give her a glimpse of the outside world. Until Gerry Worthington stumbles into her garden in search of his runaway dog.

As a second son, Gerry has never seen the need to take life too seriously. Less than pleased with his frivolity, his mother orders him to marry a woman of means and banishes him to his family’s small, rundown estate. Unfortunately, innocent and penniless Lisette is the very opposite of what he needs.

But Gerry cannot resist the mystery surrounding Lisette, and soon he can no longer resist Lisette and her endearing peculiarity. As Gerry slowly opens Lisette’s eyes to a larger world, she begins to open her heart to him. However, when Gerry uncovers the truth about who Lisette really is, it may cost them a chance at happiness together.

Book Review: Promised

I was really excited to see another new author added to Shadow Mountain's Proper Romance line and this one sounded good!

In Promised, by Leah Garriott, we meet Margaret who has had her heart broken. She decides that she'll never give her heart away again and will be content with a marriage of convenience. She meets a known rake named Mr. Northam and Margaret decides he's the perfect man for her to marry and thus protect her heart. Unfortunately, his cousin, Lord Williams, decides he wants Margaret for his own and offers for her. But Margaret is determined to lock her heart away, no matter how handsome Lord Williams is or how he makes her smile. Will her heart be able to rule her head? Or will it be her undoing?

I loved the hero, Lord Williams. He has such a great character arc as his character is slowly revealed throughout the story. His actions toward Margaret are so puzzling at first, but when all is made clear, I wanted to go back and re-read those parts! Margaret is a stubborn woman who is determined to push away any man who could win her heart. She draws out her own emotional pain by sticking to promises that should have been abandoned long ago (and this does drag down the pacing of the book a bit) but she is relatable and the reader will root for her to see the truth of the situation. I enjoyed Margaret's family and the rest of the secondary cast. The author is skilled at really making them memorable. The setting was easy to imagine, especially the Brinton's estate, and the symbolism of the lake for the characters was particularly well done. This is a book you will finish with all the happy feels. I will definitely look for more by this author!

Get your copy here

Here's the back copy:

Margaret Brinton keeps her promises, and the one she is most determined to keep is the promise to protect her heart.

Fooled by love once before, Margaret vows never to be played the fool again. To keep her vow, she attends a notorious matchmaking party intent on securing the perfect marital match: a union of convenience to someone who could never affect her heart. She discovers a man who exceeds all her hopes in the handsome and obliging rake Mr. Northam.

There's only one problem. His meddling cousin, Lord Williams, won't leave Margaret alone. Condescending and high-handed, Lord Williams lectures and insults her. When she refuses to give heed to his counsel, he single-handedly ruins Margaret's chances for making a good match. With no reason to remain at the party, Margaret returns home to discover her father has promised her hand in marriage—to Lord Williams.

Under no condition will Margaret consent to marrying such an odious man. Yet as Lord Williams inserts himself into her everyday life, Margaret is forced to realize that Lord Williams is exactly the type of man she'd hoped to marry before she'd learned how much love hurt. Margaret is faced with her ultimate choice: keep the promises that protect her or break free of them for one more chance at love. Either way, she fears her heart will lose.

Kindle Unlimited Offer!

⭐️ Heads up! If any of you have ever wanted to try Kindle Unlimited (the Amazon program that lets you read and listen to thousands of books for free) (all my books are in this program and many of my favorite authors) Amazon is offering a two month trial of Kindle Unlimited for FREE.

You can click HERE for more information and to sign up.

Happy St. Patrick's Day AND A Deal!

Happy St. Patrick's Day! I had so much fun setting a leprechaun trap last night with my little boy. Alas, the leprechaun was too smart for us, but he did leave some chocolate gold coins.

If you would like to get in the St. Patrick's Day mood, two out of the six novellas included in Sarah Eden's British Isles collection are set in Ireland! And the collection is on sale today for only .99 cents! 

Get your sale copy HERE

Here's the back copy:

The SARAH M. EDEN BRITISH ISLES COLLECTION contains two brand new historical romance novellas A FRIEND INDEED and A HAPPY BEGINNING, as well as four hand-picked readers’ and reviewers’ favorites of Sarah’s popular Timeless Romance Anthology novellas. Readers will love this selection of six historical romance novellas set in the British Isles.

Hawaii Five-0 Recap & Review: The One With Hirsch

We start out with Steve running on the beach and voices from the past are running through his head. His dad feels like he didn't say he loved him enough, Joe saying he couldn't be prouder of the man he'd become and his mom saying I love you so much. Steve runs faster as Joe says you're the closest thing I had to a son. Don't wait as long as I did to find somebody. (Awww. Go find Cath!) Steve looks haunted. (No wonder he's not sleeping and is pacing at night.)

Cue music.

Tani is waking up in bed at 7 a.m.She goes to her front room where Junior has made an amazing breakfast, but her only response is wow, that's a lot. (Poor Junior.) He was going for sweet and romantic, but Tani is all weird and says it's nice, but she usually gets a coffee on the way to work. When Junior points out she's usually late because of it, she says she shouldn't have asked him to stay over, she has a routine and is used to her own space. Junior looks so hurt when she tacks on that maybe they're moving too fast. He says he'll clean up. (Dang! Poor guy was just trying to do something nice!)

Steve gets back to his house and is getting a drink of water when he notices a coffee on the counter. He thinks Junior's home, but it's Hirsch. Eddie is sitting next to him and Steve informs Eddie he fails as a guard dog. (LOL Steve's house is the most broken into house on the island I bet.) Steve asks why Hirsch broke in and Hirsch tells him the door was unlocked and he was worried. Ha! Steve doesn't like to run with keys, Danny is on spring break with his kids and Junior slept somewhere else. Hirsch gets to the point that his Uncle Oscar had heart surgery and is moving in with him. This is the uncle that taught him all the essentials of con jobs and lock picking, but he's a model citizen these days. The problem is, when the movers dropped off Oscar's boxes, there was an antique snuff box in them worth $200,000. Given Oscar's history of criminal ventures, it might have been ill-gotten. Steve says "Let's go arrest your uncle," but Hirsch says the statute of limitation was six years, but could he look at  HPD archives and see if someone reported box stolen so he could return it? Of course if no report was made, he could sell it to the highest bidder, since elder care is not cheap. Steve says he'll have Tani run it. Then he gets a phone call.

The team is looking at a dead guy on the side of the road. He was changing a flat tire and died instantly from a gunshot wound. Apparently there's the same sort of robberies happening on the island right now, targeting an airport rental car, sticking a nail in the tire, and robbing them when they're changing the tire. Now they've graduated to murder, but murder victim Greg flew in with his wife. Where is she?

Back at HQ Hirsch brings Tani a cappucino and tries to get more info out of her about her relationship with Junior, but she wants to focus on his uncle. She found a police report about the stolen snuffbox from 1978, the same year Uncle Oscar moved to Seattle. But it wasn't just a robbery, it was a murder. The housekeeper interrupted the robbery and was killed. Hirsch is sure his uncle isn't a murderer, but when they pull up old newspapers, Tabitha's fiance is Uncle Oscar going by the fake name of Jay Gilbert. Uh oh. They go to Hirsch's house and Uncle Oscar is flirting with his nurse. They try to ask him what made him move to Seattle, if he was in any kind of trouble, and his heart rate goes up so the nurse says he has to lay down. Tani doesn't feel like he's innocent, but agitating him could be dangerous, so they'll get the facts first.

At the Chatting Table, Junior welcomes Adam back, but Steve only gives him a nod. Sad. They found the rental car a few miles from crime scene with luggage missing, and the car wiped clean. No sign of the wife and no ransom demands, so they'll widen the search perimeter in case she's still out there. Steve really wants to ID the perps, but all they have is the robbery pattern. Who is accessing the car rental lots without being seen? What about airport buses? They'll pull up the records and see what they find.

Tani and Hirsch goes to uncle Oscar's former fiance Tabitha May and she talks about her returned snuffbox and fiance. All bad memories. Sadly, she never recovered from her fiance's betrayal and never trusted or loved again. Even though her housekeeper was murdered and she found out he'd pulled the same con on four women, he was the love of her life and she wishes she was more than a mark.

Junior is running the search for Cynthia and they find her unconscious and bloody in the jungle, with a thready pulse so he calls for a medic. In the hospital, she tells them that eight hours earlier, someone offered to help fix their flat tire, then pulled a gun and demanded their money and wedding rings. The husband fought for one of the guns and was shot so she ran into the woods while they shot at her, too. She didn't realize she was hit, just kept moving even though she felt faint. The next thing she remembers is waking up in a hospital bed. She manages to ID one of the shooters. After Lou and Junior leave, Lou says he's not sure he buys her whole grieving widow story. Why risk getting hung up on murder when those guys had a good scam going?

Tani and Hirsch are at HPD looking at the old case file. The housekeeper was shot through the eye. Ew. Jay Gilbert was the prime suspect, lots of info on his four other cons. They called him the Casanova Con Man because he romanced women before he robbed them. Tani mutters, "just like every other relationship." So Hirsch starts asking if there's trouble in paradise already and what happened, so she tells him her and Junior are in their first fight because he made her breakfast. (Still sounds ridiculous.) Hirsch tries to give her relationship advice that relationships are more like a marathon than a sprint and just say sorry and move on. She knows that and they go back to focusing on the case. There is an inventory of stolen stuff that includes a rare Winchester Magnum custom engraved pistol, first edition books, and jewelry. Hirsch knows the fence his uncle probably used, his old roommate Stanley, so if the gun was fenced before the murder, then his uncle probably didn't do it.

Lou and Junior are in the car, not talking. Lou invites him to confide in him, so Junior tells him he made Tani breakfast and suddenly he's the bad guy and they're moving too fast when all he wanted to do was save Tani a trip to the coffee shop. Lou wisely says it wasn't about breakfast, just give her some space and she'll figure it out. They turn the radio on and dance together to Walking on Sunshine. (So cute!)

The team finds a shuttle bus driver that appears to be the inside man, so Steve and Adam head down there. Steve waits until some people get off the shuttle, then gets on and informs the rest of the people that this bus is out of service, but another one is coming. They all get off and he shows the driver the nail. The bus driver confesses pretty quickly that he stops in the rental car lot, goes to the holding area and props a nail underneath the front tire. Luckily, he knows all the blind spots for the security cameras. He takes a photo of the car and gives it to his guys. They score, he gets a cut and that's it. He gives up the names of the crew and Adam, Junior, and Lou go to the house with the team. One robber has been tortured, but still has a pulse. The other one is still missing. There is luggage open on bed that has a secret compartment in it lined with lead and sporting a GPS. So Cynthia lied. Her husband wasn't killed for wedding rings, this whole thing was over what was in the bag. They're going back to the hospital to question Cynthia, but when they get there, alarms are going off and the hospital is in lockdown. Cynthia is gone. So, the buyers of whatever they were smuggling in figured out what was going on, used the GPS in the luggage to find the robbers, tortured one of them, but didn't get what they came for because one robber got away. The only person that can tell who these buyers are is Cynthia and she's MIA.

Tani and Hirsch are at a care center to talk to Stanley who is pretty talkative. He fenced items for Oscar all the time and they split the profits fifty/fifty. But he wouldn't part with the engraved pistol and skipped town because he didn't want to share the proceeds from the snuffbox. He says Oscar came back to the apartment the night of the murder acting all cagey and left. Didn't make sense until Stanley saw the papers the next day and he realized Oscar killed the housekeeper. He thought about going to the police, but  it would have been hard to explain how he got the information. He always felt bad for the housekeeper though, since she was shot in the eye. Hirsch tells him that his uncle isn't living large off what he got for the snuffbox and is now living with him. Stanley asks if they're going to arrest Oscar, but Tani says they need a search warrant for the boxes he had sent to Hirsch's house, but if they find the gun, the case could be done by the end of day. They walk out and Hirsch is thinking his uncle might be a murderer after all, but Tani is all, hey, did you hear what he said about the housekeeper? He said she was shot through eye and only the police and murderer knew that. If she's right, she knows what Stanley will do next.

Reporting in, Junior says they have an APB out on the missing robber and there's no word on Cynthia. Adam looked into the couple's travel history, and Cynthia has been logging dozens of trips a year, including Antwerp, which means they were probably smuggling diamonds. They're going to reach out to HPD on who fences diamonds on the island because if the buyers find the missing robber first, he's dead.

Back at Hirsch's, Stanley is sneaking in to plant the gun. Oscar confronts him after forty-two years of thinking about what he wanted to say after Stanley forced him off the island. Stanley is still mad Oscar wanted to walk away from that kind of a payday because he had the hots for the mark and that she didn't love Oscar, she loved Jay Gilbert. Oscar says he's going to call the cops and tell them everything and he doesn't care if he gets put away as long as Stanley goes away, too. Stanley goes for the gun, but Tani comes in gun drawn thanking him for the confession since it will be that much easier to put him away for murder. (I totally saw that one coming.)

Junior found a nurse who said her cell phone was stolen, so he got the phone record and Cynthia called her contact---a Samoan street gang. If the gang is going after the diamonds Cynthia is probably with them. They find out the diamonds are going to be sold in ten minutes in a parking structure so they head over and there's a good gunfight between the robber and the street gang. Cynthia has her gun pointed at the robber on the ground. She's shaking. Steve pulls up, has his own little gunfight with the street gang before he approaches Cynthia and tells her to drop the weapon or he has to put her down. Yikes. He talks to her about losing the most important person in her life and he understands the weight of her pain. But killing him won't take the pain away, just put the weapon down. She's tearful, but does it and they take her into custody.

Stanley is also being taken away while Oscar watching with Tani and Hirsch. He says he fell in love and wasn't afraid of going to the police, but couldn't look Tabitha in the eye and tell her what he'd done. He always hoped he'd have the courage to return the snuffbox. The next scene is of him at Tabitha's house explaining how he knows he caused her a lot of pain, but the truth is she saved his life because he went straight after that and never loved any other woman like he loved her. He'd like her forgiveness. Hirsch is happy about getting his uncle a second chance with Tabitha because if things go well with her, Oscar won't have to move in with him. Honesty would have saved them a lot of heartache. (Hint, hint, Tani.)

Back at Steve's house, Junior lets Hirsch, Lou, and Tani in and everyone is surprised the door was locked. Steve's been locking it since Hirsch broke in and drank their coffee. (Yeah, when has that ever been a deterrent? Steve needs an alarm system.) Hirsch goes to get a chardonnay and Lou goes with him so Tunior can talk. They go into the back with twinkly lights and tiki torches and she tells him that her reaction this morning wasn't about breakfast. Since her mom left her when she was really young, it screwed her up so that anytime someone is good to her, she gets this fear that she'll lose them or she doesn't deserve them, so she self-sabotages and leaves them first. Junior is so lovely and good and kind, she got scared. Junior assures her he isn't going anywhere.  They hug and Junior offers to be meaner, but she laughs and says he couldn't if he tried.

Lou and Hirsch are on the couch dissecting the chardonnay, but Lou isn't doing it right. Adam comes in with beer and Lou is relieved. Adam just got off the phone with Interpol and Cynthia is cooperating so they'll be able to shut down the diamond smuggling operation. While all this is going on in his house, Steve is in the garage listening to his dad's old tape about five-year-old Steve saying he wanted to be a cop. His dad told him to be anything but that because the life of a cop is not easy. He's proud of the work he did, but has regrets. Steve gets a phone call from a lawyer in London that his mom left instructions to deliver a package to Steve four months after her death. Dun, dun, dun. What could it be?

So, the Hirsch case was a bit of predictable filler, but both cases had some good twists. Did you watch? What did you think?

Freebie Friday for Historical Fiction Fans!

If you enjoy historical fiction, you will love this FREE book, The Girl in Gray. I didn't know much about the Hundred Days War between Finland and Russia before I read this book. I was amazed at how the author can bring these people to life to tell the story of the horrors of that war and how life changes so quickly---nothing is black and white. This is definitely a book that will stay with you long after the last page.

Get your free copy here

Here's the back copy:

A country fighting to stay free.

A woman with an impossible decision.

In November of 1939, Sini Toivola is sure of two things: she loves Marko Linna, and she has a comfortable life in Helsinki. But when the massive Soviet army invades her beloved homeland and Marko spurns her affections, her life is turned upside down. Needing a fresh start, Sini decides to join the female volunteer corps—the Lotta Svärd—and is sent to serve near the front lines. Service at a field hospital proves a good distraction—until Sini discovers a Russian soldier lost behind their camp.

Duty requires her to turn him in, but her heart begs to keep him safe and help him escape. Torn between love for her country and love for her enemy, Sini must choose—but no matter what choice she makes, heart-wrenching consequences await them all.

.99 Cents Boxed Set Sale for Romantic Suspense Fans!

I know some of us are worried with the world events that are happening, and I wanted to do something for all of you. 

For me, when I am worried, sometimes the best thing I can do is escape into a book. So today I am offering my Canadian Spies boxed set of three action adventure romance stories for only .99 cents and sending it along with a gentle hug from me. 

Get your boxed set here

Stay safe, my friends!

Here's the back copy:

From the ruins of Greece to exotic Turkey, these three action adventure romances will keep you on the edge of your seat with daring operatives that find their chance for love in unexpected places.

Through Love's Trials (Book One)

Attorney Kenneth King can't wait to get away on vacation and leave the courtroom behind. He only has one last errand to do for his boss―drop off a flash drive to fellow attorney Emma James. But as soon as the drive is in his hands, his boss is murdered and Kenneth becomes the next target. With nowhere left to turn, he reaches out to Emma for help―but that only puts them both in danger.

Emma James just wants to settle into her new job and provide a good life for her little girl. That is all threatened when she gets a flash drive with information on it that points to an imminent terrorist attack on U.S. soil. With her choices dwindling and her vulnerabilities made crystal clear, Emma is pushed to the limit by those who want her dead and the rest of the country to suffer. How far will she be forced to go to save the lives of everyone around her, including those she loves?

Kenneth and Emma have to find a way to work together to stop the terrorists, but it's the most difficult trial of their lives―and the verdict will be life or death.

On the Edge (Book Two)

Dylan Campbell, a CSIS officer, has been undercover hundreds of times before and is ready to get out of the game. But before he can tell his bosses at the Canadian spy agency, he discovers a terrorist plot that could take him―and millions of others―out permanently. Getting the information up the chain of command proves complicated, though, when Dylan's cover is blown and he's captured and thrown in an African prison. Will he be the first test subject for the new and deadly virus about to be unleashed on the world?

American CIA officer Elizabeth Spencer is undercover for one reason―to find the virus being weaponized at a private hospital in Africa. When she meets Dylan, a Canadian photojournalist, she uses him to strengthen her story that she's only there to help. But the more she works with Dylan, the more the lines between professional and personal get blurred. She knows better than to get involved with someone while on assignment and the reason for that rule hits home when the terrorists’ move up their timetable and Dylan is put in grave danger. Can she stand by and watch him die?

With everything on the line, Dylan and Elizabeth have one chance to stop the terrorist attack before it reaches North America―but they have to make it to Greece. Can they break Dylan out of prison and stay alive long enough to prevent the release of the virus? Or will one or the other be called upon to offer the ultimate sacrifice?

Time Will Tell (Book Three)

Undercover operative Jason Wright and his partner Kamal were left for dead in Iran---casualties of a war on terror. But Jason survived and he's out for revenge. He's selling his country's secrets to the highest bidder and he doesn't care who gets it---as long as he gets paid and Kamal's death is avenged.

Andrew Blythe, a Canadian CSIS agent, races against time to stop the information exchange, knowing that a dangerous terrorist organization will use it to gain control of the Baku oil leases in the Caspian Sea. With those leases, they will be able to finance a weapon of mass destruction---and kill thousands of innocent people.

But things don't go as planned and Andrew finds himself wounded and on the run, unsure of who to trust. Desperate, he takes Ashton Carlson's car, and pulls her into the web of espionage that is tightening like a noose around him. Forced to keep her with him for safety's sake, Andrew isn't prepared for the feelings she stirs in him. But with danger around every turn, Andrew knows time is running out for both of them. Can he stop the terrorists' plans and keep Ashton from being killed? Or will he have to make the ultimate sacrifice to save them all?

Book Review: Lakeshire Park

I was so lucky to get an advanced copy of Lakeshire Park, Megan Walker's addition to the Proper Romance line. I loved it!

Amelia Moore is in a bad situation. Her mother has passed away, leaving them in the care of their stepfather who wants to wash his hands of both Amelia and her sister. She has one last chance to save them both by encouraging an attachment between Clara and Sir Ronald. Luckily, Sir Ronald invites them to a house party which is the perfect opportunity to cement the match. Unfortunately, the arrogant Mr. Peter Wood also wants a match between Sir Ronald and his sister. It becomes a sort of competition and Peter and Amelia are thrown into some circumstances that are fun and funny! 

I thought the author did an amazing job with the wit between the characters and still held true to the society rules and expected decorum of the regency period. I loved the chemistry between Amelia and Peter and the building attraction between them. There is a good character arc as Amelia realizes that her judgments may not always be correct and Peter also sees things in a different way the longer he knows Amelia. I really enjoyed the ending and all the twists and turns Amelia had on her journey to love, as well as her sister Clara. The secondary cast was well-rounded and there were several characters that I hope to see in future books. Ms. Walker is definitely an author I would love to read again! Don't miss this one!

You can get your copy here

Here's the back copy:

Brighton, England 1820

Amelia Moore wants only one thing--to secure the future happiness of her younger sister, Clara. With their stepfather's looming death, the two sisters will soon be on their own--without family, a home, or a penny to their names. When an invitation arrives to join a house party at Lakeshire Park, Amelia grasps at the chance. If she can encourage a match between Clara and their host, Sir Ronald, then at least her sister will be taken care of.

Little does she know that another guest, the arrogant and overconfident Mr. Peter Wood, is after the same goal for his own sister. Amelia and Peter begin a rivalry that Amelia has no choice but to win. But competing against Peter--and eventually playing by his rules--makes Amelia vulnerable to losing the only thing she has left to claim: her heart.

Book Review: The Masked Baron

The Masked Baron starts out with such a great setting and atmosphere, it almost came across as a gothic mystery. There were some elements of a Beauty and the Beast retelling, but the author definitely made the story her own. I was interested to find out how the mystery of the witch would unfold and who would ultimately solve it and really enjoyed seeing how the secondary cast of friends and servants rallied around the hero and heroine. (I hope the author does another story that gives Ellison's best friend a book of his own!)

Unfortunately, I had a really hard time enjoying the romance in this one. "Annie" is Ellison's ward and she seems very young throughout the story. The romance with her guardian, who seems much older, just didn't work for me at all. There were also quite a few story elements that just didn't make sense and were not believable, which I think could have been solved with one more thorough edit. With that said, however, I do have to say the author does a wonderful job with the mystery and the setting portion and I wouldn't mind trying another book by her.

Get your copy here

Here is the back copy:

Andalin is accustomed to her father’s frequent travels—and to being left behind. So when he returns home and instructs her to pack her belongings, she is bewildered—but there is no time for questions as she is whisked away on a mysterious journey under the cover of night. When their tense flight leads them into the forbidding Black Forest, the pair quickly finds themselves in great peril. With little hope of escape, father and daughter are spared when rescue appears in the form of the mysterious Dark Rider, a notorious deadly highwayman feared by all he meets. But his assistance does not come without a price: he is taking Andalin with him. Now her fate rests in the hands of the enigmatic masked man whose secrets are inescapably tied to the beautiful young woman now in his charge.

Hawaii Five-0 Recap & Review: The One With the Hatfield & McCoys!

We start out with Frank Bama making a really yummy breakfast. (Is Steve running a hotel now? Is Frank staying there?) Junior comes in to see him pouring bacon grease into the flour for flavor and Frank tells him that doing that helped him land someone special. Junior confesses that he used to lie awake hoping for something more, but now he's awake seeing all the ways he can screw this up and since the waffles are Frank's get out of jail free card, Junior gets the recipe. Super cute scene!

Adam and Quinn just finished surfing together (and she can't say Noshimuri, haha!) and he's thanking her for inviting him out since it's tough to be away from Five-0. (You kind of made your own bed there, Adam.) Quinn hopes Steve puts him back on the team. He's fair and smart, but just needs time. She gets a phone call and tells someone named Olivia to calm down and stay where she is, Quinn is on her way! And she's out. Bye Adam!

Cue music.

Steve and Danny meet up with Tunior on a horse ranch where Tani has stepped in cowpies with her boots. LOL Last night HPD got a call that four men rode through on horses with bandannas over their faces, and then they found the vic, a guy named Daniel. The cause of death was a gunshot wound to the back of the head, and there were four sets of hoofprints leading up to door, which was kicked in, and poor Daniel had rope burns on his wrists, gravel in his wounds, and lacerations on head. So he was dragged behind one of the horses. (Which they show! Ew!) The house is undisturbed so it wasn't a robbery. Maybe it was revenge or he had info of some sort.  But what did he know that would make this worthwhile?

Quinn pulls up in front of a house and a teenager answers. They hug and she goes inside to a messy house. Quinn checks out the fridge, just water and soda. Apparently Olivia's dad hasn't been around for the last three days, but he left money for food and calls every night to check in. Except for last night. Quinn doesn't look convinced and tells her to get her stuff, she'll drive her to school. On the way, they're talking about softball and cheer and Quinn finds out Dad took the money Quinn gave Olivia for her uniform. Sad! She says she'll find him.

Back at HQ, Lou is reporting on Daniel's financials. The guy was flat broke, with multiple liens, and overdue mortgage payments, and had been trying to get a loan from every bank. Maybe he ran out of places to borrow money and turned to more unsavory places. But why not take his valuables if recovering a debt? They're going to keep digging. Junior reports that the vic had a high blood alcohol level and there's a bar not too far away called the Cattle Prod. Tani knows it, so they're going to check it out and see if anyone saw him or if trouble followed him home. Junior wants to know how she knows the bar and is guessing  that she was in a biker gang or dated a ranch hand. She says no. The bartender recognizes her though he can't quite place her. He does tell them that Daniel was in there last night celebrating and buying drinks for everyone with top shelf liquor. He'll hand over all the credit card transactions and security footage. Bartender finally remembers where he knows Tani from---the came in for the Sunday night roundup, which is a line dancing competition and she won four weeks in a row! She hasn't been back so someone else could win and she broke up with the cowboy who introduced her to the place.

Security footage shows no one followed Daniel home that night, but Lou figures out that Daniel got a small business loan from a credit union and bought some digging and trenching equipment so he could make his ranch a macadamia nut farm. He hired some ranch hands and three days ago, Daniel was digging by himself, then suddenly sent them all home. So he must have dug something up on the property! They find out what it was pretty quick. Two sets of human remains. But why would two old skeletons get a guy tortured and killed?

Quinn goes to Adam to see if he'll help her track down the deadbeat guy who turns out to be her ex-husband. He used to play in a lot of local card rooms, so she's hoping Adam can get her in. He says he'll make some calls. (Good old Adam. He knows all the shady places!)

Lou reports that the bones are between 130-140 years old, one male one female. Male shot once in head, female shot twice in chest. It's not a murder suicide, though, because they were killed with different caliber weapons. And thanks to property records, they find out that a guy named Abel owned the ranch back then. He worked as a ranch hand, then went to the mainland, came back and bought the homestead and settled down with his wife. But finding skeletons wouldn't be a cause for Daniel to celebrate because he'd have to shut everything down so the state can investigate. Weird. They found a familial match to Abel, who is on his way in.

Quinn is apologizing for pulling Adam in, but he understands wanting to keep the past in the past. She says she never saw herself falling for an older, divorced guy, but he was charming and had Olivia and she loved the family they made. She realized four months into the marriage that he had a problem when he emptied out their joint bank accounts, but promised to pay it back. No more trust after that. She stayed longer than she should have for Olivia and it was hard to leave her, but she still keeps in touch. But he's reached a new low stealing from his daughter. Adam assures her they'll find him. She also mentions that no one knows she was married, not even Steve. She's not a sharer. (Yeah, we don't know much about Quinn at all.)

Adam gets them into a game and shows the JaketheEx's pic. Apparently, Jake came around quite a bit until a few days ago when he had a bad streak and no one's seen him since he went bust. Quinn is worried because Jake gets desperate when he's chasing a loss. Adam has another idea for someone to help them.

Lou is interviewing Abel's cowboy-hat-wearing-descendant. He didn't go into ranching since land is too expensive and is an accountant instead. He tells Lou that his father always said that land was cursed and that's why their family sold it. Apparently, in the 1870s, Abel set off to the mainland with his friend Buddy McCoy to seek out their fortunes. They made it to Colorado and legend has it they came into a small fortune of Civil War era gold coins. They brought the money home and bought adjoining ranches, but problems started when they couldn't agree on what to do with the rest of the gold. That disagreement turned violent and Abel's wife was killed by one of the McCoy family. Abel grabbed the rest of the coins and took off to the mainland and was never seen again. To this day there is bad blood between the two families. Lou informs him that it turns out his uncle never made it to the mainland. A real-life Hatfield and McCoy story!

 Back at the Chatting Table everyone is talking about how poor Abel didn't flee with the gold, his bones revealed he shot himself standing in the same grave he dug for his wife. So, Daniel probably found the gold coins now worth millions, which is why he was celebrating. And his killers were trying to get out of him where he stashed the coins. Tani remembers seeing the name Buddy McCoy, he was in the bar with Daniel! And he would definitely understand the significance of finding the gold on Abel's property. And guess what? Raymond McCoy's ranch is under three miles from Daniel's property, accessible by a road and horseback!

The team goes to the McCoy ranch with guns drawn, but it's empty, though there are a lot of missing guns from the gun racks. Lou spots three or four guys on horseback on a ridge. Steve is going after them on horseback, but no one else wants to go. Lou has a bad back, Junior doesn't mess with horses, Tani's boots are made for dancing, not riding. Danny volunteers since he's been taking riding lessons with Grace. Everyone else will cover the route behind the mountain to organize a roadblock or stay behind at the ranch in case they double back. (Steve and Danny on horses? Yes, please!)

While they are riding, they chat about Steve doing a James Coburn cowboy thing and arguing over who would be Kris Kristofferson in Billy the Kid. Someone has them in their gun sights as they ride along. (Dun, dun, dun.) Danny brings up that Steve is pacing back and forth at night and he's not sleeping. Steve doesn't want to talk about it. He's got a lot on his mind, that's it. Danny says he's there if he wants to talk. Steve appreciates the offer. They see footprints and realize the men split up here and Steve knows why. The gunmen sees their riderless horses and then Steve is behind him with a knife to his throat. Stand up slow and turn around. Cuff him, Danno. They shoot the guy's gun off a couple of times and when someone on his radio asks what's going on, Steve forces him the guy to say he saw two cops and shot them both. "Uncle Ray" tells him to grab the weapons and meet him at the cabin. Now they're all going to go to the cabin!

Quinn and Adam go to see Kamekona who makes a call to get them into people with bad credit games. Quinn goes to stare at the beach and reminisces about Jake taking her on a date to see Olivia's soccer game and how he could be such a good dad, warm, loving, kind---all the things her own father wasn't. Maybe that's why she was drawn to him. Adam tells her, "See? Sharing isn't so bad is it?" Quinn gets a call from Olivia and tells her everything will be okay and she'll keep her posted.

Steve and Danny get to the cabin and tie the gunman to a tree, then gag him. They're going to go have a look-see when someone starts shooting at them and we've got a gunfight! They get inside the cabin and Steve only has three bullets left. Uh oh. Not good, since there's seven of them outside. Steve has a plan, though. He gives Danny his gun with the three bullets to lay down cover while Steve improvises. Danny does not like this plan and calls him a nincompoop. Steve runs outside with a rope while bullets are coming through the cabin walls, but none of them hit Danny. Meanwhile, Steve lassos a guy and breaks his neck to get his gun. He picks off a bunch of the other guys and Danny gets one, too. Uncle Ray fights with McG and Steve is thrown to the ground and hits his head on a rock so things go fuzzy and there's ringing in his ears. Uncle Ray has a log over his head to bash Steve with when Danny shoots him. Steve wants an apology for calling him a nincompoop, but Danny just calls him that again. Luckily, Steve is okay.

The team meets up with them and Lou is surprised they did all that, but they say they improvised, ha! What happened to the gold? Well, the scout they tied up told them they came up here to stash it, but never told Steve and Danny where and now everyone is dead. So there's millions of dollars in gold coins up there, so hopefully word doesn't get out or a bunch of wannabe Indiana Jones will come looking for it. Steve and Danny have to ride the horses back down and everyone else leaves on ATVs.

Quinn gets into a game with Adam and sits down by Jake. He tells her he can explain, but she takes him outside. He just lost track of time, but she informs him he left his daughter alone for three days! The cops are there to book him on a misdemeanor gambling charge, but she'll make sure he gets probation if he enters a program and sticks with it this time. He is begging her not to do this, but Quinn says she's doing it for Olivia and he's lucky she's not charging him with child endangerment. If he messes up again, he'll go to jail and lose custody of his daughter. He's yelling don't do this Quinn as she drives away crying. Adam reaches out to comfort her and it was a really sweet scene.

Steve and Danny are on horseback and there's a beautiful sunset in the background. Steve stops to look at it and says, "You know I've always taken sunsets for granted. Probably because I figured I'd see a million more. Just cause you see something every day doesn't make it any less special. In fact, I think those are the thing that yo're going to miss the most in the end, you know?" Danny isn't feeling sentimental and says the sun going down means it's going to be dark soon and they'll have to sleep in the woods. Steve wants him to let him have this moment and Danny says, sure, I'll just go find a squirrel to grill for dinner. Steve sort of sighs and says, in ten years have you ever seen a squirrel Danny? Because there aren't any, how have you not learned that? Danny says he's a slow learner because if he wasn't he would have gotten a new partner a long time ago. Steve says, "Admit it, you're going to miss this when it's done." (*sniffle* I know I will!) Danny says, yeah, but he'd never say it out loud. (It truly is a beautiful sunset and I'm so sad at the symbolism that the show is nearly over!)

What did you think? Did you watch?

Freebie Friday for Historical Romance Fans!

If you want to get in the spirit of St. Patrick's Day, you can get Heidi Ashworth's historical romance, O'er the River Liffey for free today!

Get your free copy here

Here's the back copy:

Irish heiress Caroline Fulton knows this house party, ostensibly celebrating the victory of Waterloo, is really an audition: will she make a suitable wife? Her host, an English lord, has already won over her father, who’s determined to buy a title with Caroline’s dowry. She is far from taken with the baron, however, especially once she meets Niall Doherty, the impoverished, perceptive tutor to her host’s younger brothers. He shares her love of Irish fairy tales and seems to guard a troubled past…but neither quality will earn Caroline’s father’s approval.

In The Non-Fiction Corner: Enlightened

In the Non-Fiction Corner
With Lauren

Enlightened is about one woman's personal journey in studying the scriptures. The author does have some good ideas and it's an interesting read. However, I found that many of her stories didn't really fit with the point she is trying to get across and would likely be better as an addition to her personal family history. She also had very consistent reminders for readers to take notes on what she was saying, but the repetition made me think of an elementary school teacher's constant reminders to follow instructions. With that said, however, I did enjoy the overall message of the book that we should all find our own unique way to study the scriptures. 

You can get your copy here

Here is the back copy:

Is it Time?

Kathryn Elizabeth Jones has been a lover of journaling since the time she was a teenager. But the journaling that began as a keeper of secret thoughts, daily activities, and hopes and dreams of the future, one day changed direction in focus and feeling the moment she realized what personal revelation could truly mean for her.

Although personal scripture reading began at about the same time, it was much later, while Kathryn was reflecting on the power of the Kirtland Temple dedication, that the Lord’s voice was heard, and Kathryn wrote of the experience.

Connecting personal revelation to scripture study and prayer as a conduit for an even stronger relationship with Jesus Christ, is the premise of this book.

May it enlighten your life and may your own path be made clear as you take the Lord’s hand, listen to His words, and follow His voice.

Book Review: Willa and the Whale

Willa and the Whale is a tender and poignant story about Willa, a twelve-year-old girl who has lost her marine biologist mother and is now living with her father and stepmother. She's trying to deal with the ocean of grief she's swimming in, but is struggling, until she meets Meg, a whale who can talk to her. (I loved Meg! So fun.)

I really enjoyed Willa's voice in this story. It's so authentic! The authors have done a magnificent job of really portraying the life of a young girl dealing with grief and family and school issues. I loved all the symbolism with the ocean, the secondary characters, especially Willa's friend Marc. Chad Morris and Shelly Brown just have such a way of touching a reader's heart.

I loved Willa's journal entries and how she begins to learn to cope with her grief with the help of Meg. The authors address difficult topics in such a sensitive way and combine it with just enough lightheartedness that it doesn't feel heavy. I think this is the perfect book to read with tweens and teens, not only for the entertainment value (who hasn't wanted to talk to a whale!) but it is sure to spark some good conversations about how to deal with grief and loss and that there is always hope, no matter what.

This is another one for our keeper shelf!

Get your copy here

Here's the back copy:

Can a whale talk to a human? Willa thinks so . .

After losing her mom, Willa is grieving and having a hard time living with her dad and his new family on an island off the coast of Washington State. Her dad tries to cheer her up by taking her whale watching, something Willa's mom used to do.

While all the passengers are on one side of the boat, Willa encounters a humpback whale on the opposite side. Willa feels so lonely that she starts to talk to the whale—and the whale talks back!
The whale, named Meg, quickly becomes a trusted friend and confidante Willa can speak to whenever she's by the ocean.

Meg offers sound advice Willa needs about dealing with a nemesis at school and trying to figure out why her friend Marc is keeping secrets about his family life.

Before the story ends, it will take all of Willa's courage and connections to tackle a problem that's as big as a blue whale!

About the Authors: 

SHELLY BROWN was born in the Northwest and grew up near the ocean. It’s a part of her. She can surf and point out all sorts of sea creatures and plants (though not necessarily at the same time.) Now that she lives in the mountains, she has saved money, planned, and taken Chad and their five kids to both coasts to swim, surf, search tide pools, snorkel, and watch sea lions, seals, turtles, whales, and more. Her soul speaks ocean.

Growing up, CHAD MORRIS was fascinated by blue whales. He read books about the world’s largest creature and did grade school reports on them. He drew pictures of them and taped them to his wall (the pictures, not whales—that would be impossible). He would love to see a blue whale in real life, but he’d rather not meet a Bobbitt or zombie worm. Seriously, he’d prefer his bones not become jelly.

Hawaii Five-0 Recap & Review: The One With The Dead Pirate

We found out last Friday that Hawaii Five-0 won't be returning next season. I am so sad! It seems sudden and I'm worried they won't have a chance to wrap up the storylines in a satisfying way. Not to mention I'm going to miss this show. I've watched from the very first episode and it doesn't seem like it's already been ten years. The show had a great run and I will definitely miss it.

We start out with Adam in the previouslies again, showing his footage of Kenji killiing Haru and Endo and  Kenji lying, saying he sent them to Japan, then cut to the masked SUV guys coming for him with guns.

Our next scene is at McG's home, where he is ironing again and Danny is watching. Our SuperSEAL likes ironing and just wants to iron in peace, but Danny can't resist needling him, telling him to invest in wrinkle-free clothes. McG brushes him off with, "Is it boring being as predictable as you are?" (Oddly, he says he's going on a date with Emma now, but isn't she the vet who said she was dating someone during Eddie's PTSD ep? Weird. And last week it was Brooke. Something's fishy there.) Junior comes in and asks McG to leave the iron out because he has a date, too. McG thinks it's great Junior and Tani are giving it a go. Steve gets a phone call that shots were fired at Adam's building and Grover is on the way. Uh oh.

Grover gets to Adam's place and sees the Yakuza dead bodies near the door. Adam is bloody, but okay. (Since Adam took out most of the Yakuza sent after them when they kidnapped Tamiko, I would think when the henchmen found out they were assigned to go over to Adam's place, they would be, um, hey, can I have a different assignment? Please. Ha!) Adam tells Lou that Kenji sent them and they need to take Kenji and his crew down now. Lou wants to get him somewhere safe, but Adam grabs his SD card and admits that he's been trying to dismantle Kenji's operation for months and finally has the evidence to do it.

Cue music.

SWAT is on their way to Kenji's. Kenji is bailing, grabbing money and passports and a gun out of his safe while SWAT rolls up. His terrible-decision-making crew opens the door and start firing while Kenji runs away. Adam gives chase to Kenji (and he's already cleaned up and changed clothes. Maybe in the SWAT truck?) However, Adam has a light on his gun that announces his position to Kenji so Kenji nearly picks him off. Junior and Lou are holding off the other Yakuza back at the house and Kenji is running across a stream and up a hill. (You know, I'm wondering where Tamiko is. We haven't seen her for ages? Did they break up?) Adam is right behind him, but when he gets to the top of the hill, Kenji tackles him. They fight, each trying to grab the gun and Adam wins and shoots Kenji in the shoulder. Kenji tells him to finish it, but Adam wants to hear him say Masuda. Kenji smiles and says, yeah, I killed Masuda and you and your girlfriend would have been next had Tokyo not intervened. Adam is shaking, but doesn't pull trigger and instead, calls for EMTs. He taunts Kenji that he was playing him, working for Five-0 the whole time and now he has footage of Kenji executing Endo and Haru. He's going away and will never get out! Kenji doesn't look worried and says he'll talk and he has a lot to say about Adam, so how can he let him live? Adam says he'll take his chances. (Well, he's pretty, but no one said he was smart.)

Back in Maui Noelani is headed to her uncle's wake. She briefly talks to her parents who accept a donation to her uncle's church from a councilman since the uncle was a pastor who helped a lot of kids get out of gangs and get clean. Her parents think her profession is weird since she works with dead bodies and they sort of just woodenly stand there through the whole thing. Noelani gives up and goes to pay her respects. While looking at the body in the coffin, she notices a red rash on her uncle's wrists.

Adam has been called to the boss's office. Steve is sitting there with him, dumbfounded about Adam's plan to dismantle the Yakuza from within and spy on Five-0. Adam assures Steve he only gave the Yakuza morsels to keep them on the hook while he gathered evidence. Steve seems more upset that Adam lied to him multiple times, even though he had several chances to come clean. Adam is all, yeah, you would have said it was too dangerous and shut it down, so he did what he had to do. Steve is feeling a bit of righteous anger and tells him that wasn't his call to make because Adam risked the reputation of the entire unit and that's something Steve has to answer for. Adam says Steve can take his badge if he wants, he'll understand, but Steve snaps back with, "if I want your badge, I'll take your badge!" He tells Adam to go down to HPD and debrief the organized crime division and tell them everything he knows. (Steve is wearing a very nice blue shirt for this scene.) Before Adam leaves, Steve gets a call. A freighter two miles off coast was attacked and the crew were taken hostage. The captain was shot dead and, according to crew, it was the Coast Guard who attacked them! Dun, dun, dun.

Steve, Danny, Junior, and Tani fly out there and interview a crew member. He thought it was a routine check, they had Coast Guard uniforms and badges, and their skiff was skinned to make it look like the real deal. But once they were on board it was guns out and they ordered them on the ground. They locked the crew in the cabin and ordered the captain to take them down to the safe, so that's where everyone heads to next. There are some shell casings near the captain's body, so he got a couple of shots off before he was killed. There was payroll and petty cash in the safe, but only around 20-50 grand. The crew member gets dismissed so the team can spitball possible reasons a gang would go to so much trouble for less than fifty grand when the cargo was worth millions. Maybe they were just getting started with the safe when the captain fired and they bailed? Right in the middle, Noelani calls Steve and says she needs his help. The family was told her uncle died of a heart attack, but a rash on his arm doesn't jive with a cardiac event and it wasn't mentioned in the coroner report. The coroner won't give her the time of day and she wants the truth. Steve will send Quinn to help her out so they can get to the bottom of it. (I was surprised his cell phone worked in the bottom of the ship.)

Junior finds a fresh blood trail and shows Steve. If the captain fired his weapon and hit one of the pirates, his crew could have left him for dead and he could still be hiding on the ship. They split up to go look for him, guns drawn. Tani and Junior are going door to door and he's sorry he had to cancel their date. They were both looking forward to it. Tani goes into a kitchen area and gets a knife thrown at her, then attacked with a fire extinguisher. She fights with the pirate and the door closes and locks so Junior can't get to her. He's yelling for Steve, quickly escalating from Boss! to McGarrett! while Tani is getting her head pushed toward a hot grill. She whacks the guy with a pan, and while she's going for her gun he throws her around, she kicks him and breaks a coffeepot over his head. (In the real world she wouldn't have stood a chance. That guy was huge compared to her.) McG and Junior work together to kick the door in and hear shots fired. They rush in and Tani is standing there, saying she found him. (Loved Junior's emotion and protectiveness in the scene.)

Noelani and Quinn go visit the CrankyCoroner. He's not happy to see him, but Quinn shows her badge and they start asking questions like how did he fail to notice an obvious rash on the pastor uncle's body? When Quinn threatens to arrest him, he caves and said he saw the rash, but someone approached him in the parking lot and said if he didn't say the uncle died of a heart attack, something bad would happen to him. Since he was too scared to go to the police, he just didn't mention the rash. The rash indicates carbon monoxide poisoning, but if it was a suicide, then why cover it up? They're going to need a description of the man who threatened CrankyCoroner and footage of the parking lot.

The gang is back at the Chatting Table, and Lou tells them he got satellite images of the freighter during the attack and guess what? The pirates loaded a crate from the ship! But HPD went through the ship's inventory and it was all accounted for, so something was smuggled onto the freighter with legit cargo. Well, if the pirates knew there was something smuggled onto the ship, they had to have an inside man. Since they ID'd the pirate Tani killed, Kyle Munoz, they're going to look for any connections he had to someone on the crew. And Tunior will also look into boats that fit the pirate boat description.

Quinn easily finds the man who threatened the coroner and it's Eke, a guy who just got out of prison for trying to kill Noelani's uncle a decade ago. They go see him and he says that back in the day they ran with bad crews and when someone was a rival gang member, you retaliated and thought of them as the enemy. He was shocked that Noelani's uncle wrote to him in prison that he forgave him and turned his life around told him so could he. It gave him hope, but why did he threaten CrankyCoroner? Well, the day Uncle died, he invited Eke over, but didn't answer the door. Eke went around back and could hear the car running in the garage. Uncle was in the driver's seat with a hose from the tailpipe to the window. Eke cleaned up the evidence and insisted CrankyCoroner declare it a heart attack so that his legacy wouldn't be suicide. He gave so many people hope, how would they feel knowing he took his own life? Noelani doesn't believe Uncle would commit suicide, so they're going to his house to check it out.

Lou found a link between dead Kyle and the crew member they talked to, Karl Lawson. Karl and Kyle! Besties! They went to high school together and phone records confirm they were in touch last week and Karl was getting wire transfers from overseas accounts for the last three years. So, in a confusing twist, Steve tries to explain that Karl calls Kyle to put a crew together and pull off the heist, then Karl tells his smuggler friends the boat was hit by a pirate attack. They want to talk to Karl, and we see him in the back of an HPD squad car when they are rammed and Karl is kidnapped by masked men. Poor dumb Karl. When the team looks at footage of the kidnapping, with the way Karl is struggling it obviously wasn't a rescue attempt (how did they know when he would be transferred?) But the team guesses the kidnappers are the smugglers Karl was working for and they want their stuff. Oh, and Tunior didn't have any luck looking for the boat the pirates used so now they're going to look for the people who gave it a makeover.

Back at her uncle's house, Noelani is looking at pictures and remembering good times. CSU is running the garden hose for prints while Noelani is confiding to Quinn that her parents already don't approve of her job, how will they react if her looking into this reveals that her uncle really did commit suicide? Quinn tells her that her brother Brian committed suicide and her family never talked about it at all and it made things worse. Brian's life was so much more than the way he died and the same thing goes for the uncle. No matter what they find, she should remember that.

Tani is at the Magnum PI friend's bar, (what was his name again?) anyway, the guy is sad that Quinn didn't come. Tani will put a good word in for him in exchange for the favor of calling Oz the Boat Makeover Guy down. She tells some story to Oz that she's been dating a guy and things aren't working out so she wants to secure his boat and have it skinned for ten grand. He agrees and she pulls out her handcuffs and puts him under arrest. She asks him for info on a client that made him skin a boat to look like the Coast Guard. He doesn't remember at first, but when she threatens him with a holding cell, he suddenly recalls that she's looking for Michael Garcia.

Quinn tells Noelani that there was only one set of prints on the hose and they are Eke's but that's weird her uncle's weren't on it. Unless someone wiped down the hose before Eke found the body. They can't think of anyone that would want to kill the uncle, so they find a kid named Lewis through phone records that Uncle helped. Noelani tells the kid she just wants to find out what happened to her uncle and the kid says he told the uncle too much and that's why Uncle is dead. There's a guy on the city council who is big in the drug game on the island and Uncle knew him. It was the councilman who gave the donation at Uncle's wake! The councilman tells the gangs where to sell and the cops won't bother them and in return they cut him in. Lewis wanted out of this life and Uncle made him feel like he could change, but because he talked Uncle is dead and he's next. Quinn assures him they're going to do their jobs and make sure the councilman can't hurt anyone ever again.

Steve, Danny, Junior, and Lou are all approaching Michael Garcia's house with guns drawn. They go in and find all the dead pirates still in Coast Guard uniforms. It looks like their mouths were foaming and they don't have any gunshot wounds. The powder all over the table and cupboards probably isn't heroin, so Steve calls for backup and a HAZMAT team. But instead, they get black SUVs and gunmen that start shooting at them! The guys duck under the table, but powder is floating into the air with the bullets and Danny doesn't want to be in the room with the powder that killed the people. LOL Back up is ten minutes out so Steve and Junior start picking off the smugglers. They get out of the house and Danny is coughing on the ground when another smuggler shows and Steve shoots him, nearly deafening Danny. When the EMTs get there, Steve gets some oxygen and they talk about how Lawson thought he was ripping off a little heroin, but that stuff is actually a synthetic opiod with a really long name that is ten thousand times stronger than morphine and was banned from the chemical weapons convention. It's that dangerous, which explains Steve's pounding headache. So the pirates went to all that trouble to steal that booty only to have it kill them. Tani lightens the mood with a little joke: Why are pirates called pirates? Cuz they ARRGGGH. No one laughs and she says, "Come on. That was solid." (Cute scene.)

Quinn and Noelani meet up with the CrookedCouncilman and show him the donation envelope he gave earlier. It's evidence now and the DNA on it matched the DNA on the teacup found in Uncle's kitchen. The second teacup had traces of roofies in it, so when Uncle found out the councilman was dirty, he confronted him and told him he needed to come clean and he would help. The councilman drugged him instead, then helped him to the car and ran the hose from the exhaust pipe to the window to make it look like a suicide. But he didn't count on Uncle having helped so many people that some of them were willing to help him in return. CrookedCouncilman gets cuffed and taken away. Noelani's parents awkwardly come up and pat her on the back and say they're proud of her and Uncle would be, too. Then we get a cemetery scene with Lewis and Eke there, too, and people laying roses on the coffin.

Back at the Magnum PI guy's bar, Quinn brings Noelani for just one drink and the team is there! It helps her feel better. Danny says Steve is buying the next round and Steve says he will he just needs to go home and get his wallet. Ha! He's been saying the same thing for ten years. Aww. The band takes a break and Backstreet Boys come on, which was Quinn's jam in fifth grade. The Magnum PI guy comes up and gets introduced to everyone and he offers the next round on the house. He and Quinn talk about the dinner he owes her and Noelani suggests they dance. Apparently, he's a much better dancer than dart player, so Quinn says to show her what he's got. Tunior are watching, think they can take them with dance moves, but they won't give away their best stuff right off. So everyone is on the floor dancing to Everybody Rock Your Body while Steve, Lou, and Noelani watch. A very sweet scene.

I thought it was a good episode overall, I'm mostly just sad that this is one of the very last ones ever! Did you watch? What did you think?