Dream a Little Dream by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

In this romance by a well-known romance writer, there are a bunch of people who are in trouble.  By the end of the novel, they're not in trouble anymore.

Rachel's husband left her when he faced legal trouble; overnight, her world collapsed and she was left with nothing.  Once looked up to in her community, she's now despised.  Her sudden change in fortune has changed her personality; as her finances become more desperate, so does she.

When her car breaks down outside a tumble-down drive-in movie on the edge of town, she meets the irksome owner who insults her little boy.  Bowed but unbeaten, she asks the guy for a job, and to sweeten the deal, makes an outrageous offer.

Despite this unpromising beginning, she gets the job and finds that helping the ornery owner fix up his tumbledown drive-in movie parking lot surprisingly fulfilling.

Last to Die by Tess Gerritsen

I really enjoyed this book and I was surprised that I did.

I had the impression that this book would have a lot of "action," which it did, but I found that I really enjoyed it anyway.

Characterization was not very deep, but the main plot of the book turned on some orphaned children.  I wouldn't have guessed it, but I enjoyed the characters of the children.

Part of the story was the relationship between Jane Rizzoli and medical examiner Dr. Maura Isles, and that was a smaller part of the story than I anticipated.

I'd love to talk to someone who's read some of the other books in the series and could tell me if that's typical.  Of course, one of the problems with reading a book in a series out of order is that the "backstory" will not (or should not) be repeated for you as a newcomer.  For myself, although I'm curious about the backstory, I probably will never have time to read the other books in the series.

However, if I find a paperback from this series floating around in a drugstore or a used book sale, I'll grab it.

An enjoyable discovery.