Janice Kay Johnson ~ LOST...BUT NOT FORGOTTEN ~ HSR series (blog entry)

     I've had the first two books of this series ~ Open Secret and Lost Cause in my TBR for awhile.  I got them because, at some time during last year's challenge, I read a book by Janice Kay Johnson and absolutely LOVED it; getting these books in a trade was a no-brainer. 
Very recently I got the third, and last, in the series ~ Kids by Christmas ~ in one of my eHarlequin orders.  The reason that I got it was because it was by Janice Kay Johnson; I had no idea that it was the third and final book in the series.  Boy, you shoulda seen me dancing around when I noticed that!Uh... never mind... better that you not be exposed to something so messy .

   So yesterday when the weather was continuing its nasty foray into reminding us that yes, Alberta can experience winter just about any time of the year (we've had killing frosts in July, snow in June and August... fun, eh?), these books were definite day brighteners ~ and oh, so welcome!  Today there is actually sun shining ~ Wahoo! ~ and I've just finished the second story.  Oh boy.  If I hadn't already been a fan of Janice Kay Johnson's the first book alone would have done it... the second was just the icing on the cake... and I'm getting ready to read the third one very, very shortly.

The series is about three siblings, separated at a young age upon the tragic accidental death of their parents, and how the oldest sibling, Suzanne, finally decides that if she's ever going to find her younger brother and sister, Lucien and Linette, she is going to need the help of a P.I. 
Enter Mark Kincaid, and the beginning of an outstanding, emotional and extremely heartwarming series of three people, some scarred more deeply than others, but all missing something in their lives; not only do they find family, but they find love.  I've shed any number of tears, most of them happy, but I'm feeling ~ even after only the first two books mind ~ so uplifted and joyous.  JKJ is a compelling storyteller that not only brings her characters to life, but makes their experiences more personal than just a mere recitation of events.  Fabulous, fabulous series... and one very worthwhile to find. 

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  I'm going to post this here, just 'cause it makes more sense, to me anyways.  This is purely an oversight somewhere, but it's one of those little pesky, nagging things that I just can't seem to let go.
   In the first book when Suzanne initiates the search for her long-lost siblings, she refers on a few occasions to her aunt and uncle that had kept her, but put Lucien and Linette up for adoption.  In Open Secret ~ Linette, now Carrie St. John's story ~ Suzanne's aunt is Jeanne.  But in the second book, Lost Cause ~ Lucien, now Gary Lindstrom's story ~ the aunt's name is now Marie.  Small?  Petty?  Yep... annoying?  You bet.  Did it affect my enjoyment of the story, no not the stories... it was just like having a small grain of sand in your shoe while walking through nature... you know it's there, wish it wasn't, but the view is too beautiful to stop and remove it.

Okay, I'm done.   

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kalyko ~ Reading: One of life's little joys and a much needed reward!