A Rogue by Any Other Name/ Sarah MacLean/ 386 pgs

I loved the heroine in this story but did not care for the hero at all. This is a revenge plot. Michael, Lord Bourn, lost all of his inheritance, money and land, on a card game when he was 21. Does he take personal responsibility for his choice to wager everything he had? No he does not. Not on page 1 and not on page 386 either. I kept reading, hoping he would do so, but nope. I also kept reading because initially the heroine was awesome. Penelope is a pawn in Michael's plan to revenge himself against the man who won everything he owned. She called the hero out on his behavior again and again. Still, he never owned up to his choices. Eventually she falls in love with him and then I just felt sorry for her. This was one story where the hero needed much, much more self-reflection than just the few pages at the end. On a positive note, the writing was good and Michael has three friends in need of stories:-)

The Year We Disappeared/ Cylin and John Busby/ 329 pages

The Year We Disappeared is a memoir written by Cylin  Busby and her father, John Busby.  It recounts the year in their lives following the attempted murder of police officer John Busby.  Labor Day weekend on the Massachusetts Cape, John is ambushed and shot.  John survives the shooting but loses most of his upper and lower jaw due to the shotgun blast.  Facing a long and painful recovery while fearing for retribution on his family, the reader follows John and Cylin as they tell the tale from their own perspective.  John is gripped by anger and fear for his family.  Cylin must learn to cope with police escorts to school and being shunned by classmates.  The story is especially poignant with the recent crimes against police officers.  Both authors paint a picture of what fear and anger can do to a family.  This is a well written book that will hold the reader's interest.