Mailbox Monday (Sept 17, 2012)

Welcome to Mailbox Monday, the weekly meme created by Marcia from A girl and her books.  This is where I share the titles I have received for review or purchased during the past week.  Mailbox Monday will be hosted in September by Kristen at BookNAround.

The Secret Keeper

by Kate Morton

During a summer party at the family farm in the English countryside, sixteen-year-old Laurel Nicolson has escaped to her childhood tree house and is happily dreaming of the future.  She spies a stranger coming up the long road to the farm and watches as her mother speaks to him.  Before the afternoon is over, Laurel will witness a shocking crime.  A crime that challenges everything she knows about her family and especially her mother, Dorothy -- her vivacious, loving, nearly perfect mother.

Now, fifty years later, Laurel is a successful and well-regarded actress living in London.  The family is gathering at Greenacres farm for Dorothy's ninetieth birthday.  Realizing that this may be her last chance, Laurel searches for answers to the questions that still haunt her from that long-ago day, answers that can only be found in Dorothy's past.  Dorothy's story takes the reader from pre-WWII England through the blitz, to the '60s and beyond.  It is the secret history of three strangers from vastly different worlds -- Dorothy, Vivien, and Jimmy -- who meet by chance in wartime London and whose lives are forever entwined.

The Secret Keeper explores longings and dreams and the unexpected consequences they sometimes bring.  It is an unforgettable story of lovers and friends, deception and passion that is told -- in Morton's signature style -- against a backdrop of events that changed the world. 

Letting Go of Super Mom: Dr. Mommy's 'Get Real' Approach to a Balanced Life

by Daisy Sutherland, DC

***You Are Not Alone***

Women today do it all -- from leading Fortune 500 companies and managing large ministry organizations to running a tight ship at home.  But keeping all those balls spinning can be an impossible task, and the pressure that we place on ourselves to be perfect can be overwhelming.

Letting Go of Supermom is the definitive guide for everything you need to manage your life and your family's life with confidence and grace.  No matter where you are or what your goals, you'll get loads of tips, tricks, and triumphs to help you find the authentic, balanced life you crave, including:

• Parenting and relationship tools
• Time-management and organization tips
• Keys to handling stress - the right way
• Details on nutrition and wellness
• Ways to stay spiritually refreshed, and more

So give up the fight to be perfect in every way, never letting things fall, and always being there for everyone.  It is time to quit trying to be supermom and start becoming the person God made you to be. 

The Summer Before the Storm

by Gabriele Wills

Muskoka, 1914.  It's the Age of Elegance in the summer playground of the affluent and powerful.  Amid the pristine, island-dotted lakes, the granite cliffs, and pine-scented forests of the Canadian wilderness, the young and carefree amuse themselves with glittering balls, lavish picnics, and friendly competitions.  But this summer promises to be different when the charming, ambitious, and destitute son of a disowned heir joins his wealthy family at their cottage on Wyndwood Island.

Through Jack's introduction into the privileged life of the aristocratic Wyndhams and their social circle -- including captains of industry and financial titans -- he seeks opportunities and alliances to better himself, including in his schemes, his beautiful, headstrong, and audacious cousin, Victoria.

Among their large circle of family and friends are hedonists and intellectuals, charlatans and Bohemians, hypocrites and philanthropists; the witty, the frivolous, the heroic, the autocratic, the caring, and the tormented.  Vividly they bring to life the idyllic lifestyle of endless summers on tranquil lakes.  But their charmed lives begin to unravel with the onset of the Great War, in which many are destined to become part of the "lost generation". 

This richly textured tale takes the reader on an unforgettable journey from romantic moonlight cruises to the horrific sinking of the Lusitania, genteel Muskoka to wartime Britain, regattas on the water to combat in the skies over France, extravagant mansions to deadly trenches -- from innocence to nationhood.

The Summer Before the Storm, the first of "The Muskoka Novels", evokes a gracious, bygone era that still resonates in legendary Muskoka. 

What books came home to you this week?

Mailbox Monday (Sept 10, 2012)

Welcome to Mailbox Monday, the weekly meme created by Marcia from A girl and her books.  This is where I share the titles I have received for review or purchased during the past week.  Mailbox Monday will be hosted in September by Kristen at BookNAround.

Resurrection Express

by Stephen Romano

There is no code Elroy Coffin can't break, nothing he can't hack, no safe he can't get in to.  But for the past two years, he's been incarcerated in a maximum-security hellhole after a job gone bad, driven to near-madness by the revelation of his beloved wife's murder.

Now a powerful and mysterious visitor who calls herself a "concerned citizen" offers Elroy his freedom if he'll do another job, and sweetens the deal with proof that his wife might still be alive.  All Elroy has to do is hack into one of the most complicated and deadliest security grids in the world -- clear and simple instructions for the best in the business.  Or so he thinks.

Quickly drawn into the epicenter of a secret, brutal war between criminal masterminds, Elroy is forced to run for his life through a rapid-fire labyrinth of deception, betrayal, and intrigue -- where no one is to be trusted and every fight could be his last. . . and the real truth hidden beneath the myriad levels of treachery may be too shocking to comprehend. . .

The Ruins of Lace

by Iris Anthony

Lace is a thing like hope.  It is beauty; it is grace.  It was never meant to destroy so many lives.

The mad passion for forbidden lace has infiltrated France, pulling soldier and courtier alike into its web.  For those who want the best, Flemish lace is the only choice, an exquisite perfection of thread and air.  For those who want something they don't have, Flemish lace can buy almost anything -- or anyone.

For Lisette, lace begins her downfall, and the only way to atone for her sins is to outwit the noble who now demands the impossible.  To fail means certain destruction.  But for Katharina, lace is her salvation.  It is who she is; it is what she does.  If she cannot make this stunning tempest of threads, a dreaded fate awaits.

The most lucrative contraband in Europe, with its intricate patterns and ephemeral hope, threatens to cost them everything.  Lace may be the deliverance for which they all pray. . . or it may bring the ruin and imprisonment they all fear. 

Courageous Teens

by Michael Catt and Amy Parker

You need the courage to stand strong when everything else is falling apart.

You need the courage to say no when the world entices with diversions.

You need the courage to be a faithful leader of the next generation.

Looking at strong biblical characters, examples from the unforgettable film Courageous, insightful questions, and practical applications, Courageous Teens builds an unshakeable foundation for a courageous lifestyle.  Perfect for weekly group or individual study, this inspiring and in-depth study of courage will call teens like you to step out in faith, equipping you with the courage that is vital to your future -- and to the future of us all.

Tilt

by Ellen Hopkins

Witnessing the fallout from the poor choices their parents make and the lies adults tell themselves, three teens are clinging to the last remnants of the secure and familiar world in which they've grown up.  But the ground is shifting.  What was once clear is now confused.  Everything is tilting.

Mikayla is sure she's found the love her parents seem to have lost, but is suddenly weighing nearly impossible choices in the wake of dashed expectations.  Shane has come out, unwilling to lie anymore about who he is, but finds himself struggling to keep it all under control in the face of first love and a horrific loss.  Harley, a good girl just seeking new experiences, never expects to hurtle toward self-destructive extremes in order to define who she is and who she wants to be.

Inspired by teen characters first introduced in her adult novel, Triangles, Ellen Hopkins crafts a wrenching story that explores the ways we each find the strength we need to hold on when our world's been tilted completely off its axis. 

Mailbox Monday (Sept 3, 2012)

Welcome to Mailbox Monday, the weekly meme created by Marcia from A girl and her books.  This is where I share the titles I have received for review or purchased during the past week.  Mailbox Monday will be hosted in September by Kristen at BookNAround.

I am most excited about the win I received this week from Entangled Publishing!  It is a bright new shiny Simple Nook!  I have been tucking it in my purse and taking it with me everywhere!  Thanks Engtangled Publishing!  They are giving away another Nook eReader to celebrate the launch of Bliss Books so go check them out!

Isn't it cute!

Yes, Chef

by Marcus Samuelsson

It begins with a simple ritual: Every Saturday afternoon, a boy who loves to cook walks to his grandmother’s house and helps her prepare a roast chicken for dinner. The grandmother is Swedish, a retired domestic. The boy is Ethiopian and adopted, and he will grow up to become the world-renowned chef Marcus Samuelsson. This book is his love letter to food and family in all its manifestations.    
 
Marcus Samuelsson was only three years old when he, his mother, and his sister—all battling tuberculosis—walked seventy-five miles to a hospital in the Ethiopian capital city of Addis Adaba. Tragically, his mother succumbed to the disease shortly after she arrived, but Marcus and his sister recovered, and one year later they were welcomed into a loving middle-class white family in Göteborg, Sweden. It was there that Marcus’s new grandmother, Helga, sparked in him a lifelong passion for food and cooking with her pan-fried herring, her freshly baked bread, and her signature roast chicken. From a very early age, there was little question what Marcus was going to be when he grew up.
 
Yes, Chef chronicles Marcus Samuelsson’s remarkable journey from Helga’s humble kitchen to some of the most demanding and cutthroat restaurants in Switzerland and France, from his grueling stints on cruise ships to his arrival in New York City, where his outsize talent and ambition finally come together at Aquavit, earning him a coveted New York Times three-star rating at the age of twenty-four. But Samuelsson’s career of  “chasing flavors,” as he calls it, had only just begun—in the intervening years, there have been White House state dinners, career crises, reality show triumphs and, most important, the opening of the beloved Red Rooster in Harlem. At Red Rooster, Samuelsson has fufilled his dream of creating a truly diverse, multiracial dining room—a place where presidents and prime ministers rub elbows with jazz musicians, aspiring artists, bus drivers, and nurses. It is a place where an orphan from Ethiopia, raised in Sweden, living in America, can feel at home. 
 
With disarming honesty and intimacy, Samuelsson also opens up about his failures—the price of ambition, in human terms—and recounts his emotional journey, as a grown man, to meet the father he never knew.Yes, Chef is a tale of personal discovery, unshakable determination, and the passionate, playful pursuit of flavors—one man’s struggle to find a place for himself in the kitchen, and in the world.

The Time in Between

by Maria Duenas

Between Youth and Adulthood . . .

At age twelve, Sira Quiroga sweeps the atelier floors where her single mother works as a seamstress.  By her early twenties she has learned the ropes of the business and is engaged to a modest government clerk.  But then everything changes.

Between War and Peace . . .

With the Spanish Civil War brewing in Madrid, Sira impetuously follows her handsome new lover to Morocco, but soon finds herself abandoned, penniless, and heartbroken.  She reinvents herself by turning to theone skill that can save her: creating beautiful clothes.

Between Love and Duty. . .

As World War II begins, Sira is persuaded to return to Madrid, where she is the preeminent couturiere for an eager clientele of Nazi officers' wives.  She becomes embroiled in a half-lit world of espionage and political conspiracy rife with love, intrigue, and betrayal.

A massive bestseller across Europe, The Time In Between is one of those rare richly textured novels that enthrall down to the last page.  Maria Duenas reminds us how it feels to be swept away by a masterful storyteller. 

I won My Brilliant Friend from Bookreporter.com's Fall Preview Contest!

My Brilliant Friend

by Elena Ferrante

A modern masterpiece from one of Italy’s most acclaimed authors, My Brilliant Friend is a rich, intense, and generous-hearted story about two friends, Elena and Lila. Ferrante’s inimitable style lends itself perfectly to a meticulous portrait of these two women that is also the story of a nation and a touching meditation on the nature of friendship. The story begins in the 1950s, in a poor but vibrant neighborhood on the outskirts of Naples. Growing up on these tough streets the two girls learn to rely on each other ahead of anyone or anything else. As they grow, as their paths repeatedly diverge and converge, Elena and Lila remain best friends whose respective destinies are reflected and refracted in the other. They are likewise the embodiments of a nation undergoing momentous change. Through the lives of these two women, Ferrante tells the story of a neighborhood, a city, and a country as it is transformed in ways that, in turn, also transform the relationship between her protagonists, the unforgettable Elena and Lila. Ferrante is the author of three previous works of critically acclaimed fiction: The Days of Abandonment, Troubling Love, and The Lost Daughter. With this novel, the first in a trilogy, she proves herself to be one of Italy’s great storytellers. She has given her readers a masterfully plotted page-turner, abundant and generous in its narrative details and characterizations, that is also a stylish work of literary fiction destined to delight her many fans and win new readers to her fiction.

What books came home to you this week?

Mailbox Monday (Aug 20, 2012)

Welcome to Mailbox Monday, the weekly meme created by Marcia from A girl and her books.  This is where I share the titles I have received for review or purchased during the past week.  Mailbox Monday will be hosted in August  byJennifer D at 5 Minutes for Books.

I go back to work tomorrow morning!  (Posting this on Sunday night)  I am looking forward to it, but all the sudden it feels like I am really behind on my reading!  I did have a good week in books though - and also was able to hit some garage sales and picked up a few more.

The Roots of the Olive Tree

by Courtney Miller Santo

Meet the Keller family, five generations of firstborn women -- an unbroken line of daughters -- living together in the same house in a secluded olive grove in the Sacramento Valley of Northern California.

Anna, the family matriarch, is 112 and determined to become the oldest person in the world.  An indomitable force, strong in mind and firm in body, she rules Hill House, the family home she shares with her daughter Bets, granddaughter Callie, great-granddaughter Deb, and great-great-granddaughter Erin.  Though they lead ordinary lives, there is an element of the extraordinary to these women:  the eldest two are defying longevity norms.  Their unusual lifespans have caught the attention of a geneticist who believes they hold the key to breakthroughs that will revolutionize the aging process for everyone.

But Anna is not interested in unlocking secrets the Keller blood holds.  She believes there are some truths that must stay hidden, including certain knowledge about her origins that she has carried for more than a century.  Like Anna, each of the Keller women conceals her true self from the others.  While they are bound by blood and the house they share, living together has not always been easy.  And it is about to become more complicated now that Erin, the youngest, is back, alone and pregnant, after two years abroad with an opera company.  Her return and the arrival of the geneticist who has come to study the Keller family ignites explosive emotions that these women have kept buried and uncovers revelations that will shake them all to their roots.

Told from varying viewpoints, Courtney Miller Santo's compelling and evocative debut novel captures the joys and sorrows of family -- the love, secrets, disappointments, jealousies, and forgiveness that tie generations to one another.  

Safekeeping

by Karen Hesse

Radley's parents had warned her that all hell would break loose if the APP took power.  And now, with the president assassinated and the government cracking down on citizens, the news is filled with images of vigilante groups,  frenzied looting, and police raids.  It seems as if all hell has broken loose.

Coming back from volunteering abroad, Radley just wants to get home to Vermont, and the comfort and safety of her parents.  Travel restrictions and delays are worse than ever, and by the time Radley's plane lands in New Hampshire, she's been traveling for over twenty-four hours.  Exhausted, she heads outside to find her parents -- who always come, day or night, no matter when or where she lands -- aren't there.

Her cell phone is dead, her credit cards are worthless, and she doesn't have the proper travel papers to cross state lines.  Out of money and options, Radley starts walking. . .

Illustrated with 50 of her own haunting and beautiful photographs, this is a vision of a future America that only Karen Hesse could write:  real, gripping, and deeply personal.

The Reunion

by Dan Walsh

Everything lost can be found.

Aaron Miller knows a thing or two about loss.  He's lost love.  Dignity.  Second, and even third, chances.  Once honored for his heroism, he now lives in near obscurity, working as a handyman in a humble trailer park.

But God is a master at finding and redeeming the lost things of life.  Unbeknownst to Aaron, someone is searching for him.

With deep insight into the human heart, consummate storyteller Dan Walsh gently weaves a tale of a life spent in the shadows but meant for the light.  Through tense scenes of war and tender moments of romance, The Reunion will make you believe that everyone can get a second chance at life and love. 

Fire in the Ashes

by Jonathan Kozol

In this powerful and culminating work about a group of inner-city children he has known for many years, Jonathan Kozol returns to the scene of his prizewinning books Rachel and Her Children and Amazing Grace, and to the children he has vividly portrayed, to share with us their fascinating journeys and unexpected victories as they grow into adulthood.

For nearly fifty years, Jonathan has pricked the conscience of his readers by laying bare the savage inequalities inflicted upon children for no reason but the accident of being born to poverty within a wealthy nation.  A winner of the National Book Award, the Robert F. Kennedy Book Award, and countless other honors, he has persistently crossed the lines of class and race, first as a teacher, then as the author of tender and heartbreaking books about the children he has called "the outcasts of our nation's ingenuity."  But Jonathan is not a distant and detached reporter.  His own life has been radically transformed by the children who have trusted and befriended him.

Never has this intimate acquaintance with his subjects been more apparent, or more stirring, than in Fire in the Ashes, as Jonathan tells the stories of young men and women who have come of age in one of the most destitute communities of the United States.  Some of them never do recover from the battering they undergo in their early years, but many more battle back with fierce and, often, jubilant determination to overcome the formidable obstacles they face.  As we watch these glorious children grow into the fullness of a healthy and contributive maturity, they ignite a flame of hope, not only for themselves, but for our society.

Jonathan Kozol, the author of Death at an Early Age, Savage Inequalities, and other books on children and their education, has been called "today's most eloquent spokesman for America's disenfranchised." But he believes young people speak most eloquently for themselves; and in this book, so full of the vitality and spontaneity of youth, we hear their testimony.

The Good Woman

by Jane Porter

Is it possible to leave it all behind?

The firstborn of a large Irish-American family, Meg Brennan Roberts is a successful publicist, faithful wife, and doting mother who prides herself on always making the right decisions.  But years of being "the good woman" have taken a toll, and though her winery career thrives, Meg feels burned-out and empty, and more disconnected than ever from her increasingly distant husband.  Lonely and disheartened, she attends the London Wine Fair with her boss, ruggedly handsome vintner Chad Hallahan.  It's here, alone together in an exotic city, far from "real" life, that Chad confesses his long-standing desire for Meg.

Overwhelmed, flattered, and desperately confused, Meg returns home, only to suddenly question every choice she's ever made, especially that of her marriage.  For Meg, something's got to give, and for once in her life she flees her responsibilities -- but with consequences as reckless and irreversible as they are liberating.  Now she must decide whether being the person everyone needs is worth losing the woman she was meant to be.  

Reunion

by Lauraine Snelling

The Sorenson family has always been a tight-knit clan, gathering every year at Dagmar Sorenson's home in Munsford, where her children Keira and Marcus also live.  This year, the first since Dagmar's passing, will be bittersweet.  Keira dutifully sorts through Dagmar's belongings, desperately searching for her birth certificate so she can apply for a passport for a much-dreamed-for trip to Norway.  Why did her mother hide the document?  The fifty-year-old secret shakes her whole world.  Who is she?  Who is her father?  And who was the woman she called Mother?  How can she tell her family the truth?

Her brother, Marcus, and his wife, Leah, have a devastating secret of their own.  Their college-bound daughter, Kirsten, is pregnant.  Has she destroyed the bright future she's earned?  Her father's trust?  And what about his ministry?  

As the reunion draws closer, the secret each family member keeps erodes the solid bonds between them.  Will the truth break them entirely?

Here's to Not Catching Our Hair on Fire

An absent-minded tale of life with Giftedness & Attention Deficit--Oh look! A chicken!

by Stacey Turis

A belly-laugh inducing romp through a life so convoluted and chaotic you know it has to be true.  Stacey Turis's debut gives a voice to the genius yet tormented souls suffering from giftedness,  ADHD, or a combination of both (known as twice exceptional) who are too afraid to speak.  Chronicling her life journey from a state of self-loathing to one of self-acceptance, the stories flow timelessly, always incorporating the resulting lessons and reflections gleaned from each adventure.  Including both the tragic, stomach churning details of a horrifically abusive time in her childhood to comic adventures such as deciding to dye her hair plum the day before an important presentation to a bank only to have it turn purple, her life has never suffered from a dull moment.  Though she often thought Karma was the reason she found herself in so many "pickles," a friend explained to her that when you put yourself out in the world more than anyone else, it's really just a matter of statistics.  Lucky for Turis and the rest of us, putting herself out there all these years allows us to look at life through her pair of less-struggle-more-sass glasses. 

The Sanctuary

by Ted Dekker

The Sanctuary is the gripping story of a vigilante priest, Danny Hansen, who is serving a 50-year prison term in California for the murder of two abusive men.  Filled with remorse, Danny is determined to live out his days by a code of non-violence and maneuvers deftly within a ruthless prison system.

But when Renee Gilmore, the woman he loves, receives a box containing a bloody finger and draconian demands from a mysterious enemy on the outside, Danny must find a way to save her.  They are both drawn into a terrifying game of life and death.  If Renee fails, the priest will die; if Danny fails, Renee will die.

The Sanctuary relentlessly plumbs the depths of punishment and rehabilitation, both in flawed corrections system and in the human heart.  It is Ted Dekker at his best -- a powerful morality tale fueled by consuming writing.

The following four books I purchased at garage sales this weekend:

Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson

Morning Comes Softly by Debbie Macomber

Every Breath You Take by Ann Rule

Graham Rust's Needlepoint Desings by Graham Rust

Mailbox Monday (Aug 13, 2012)

Welcome to Mailbox Monday, the weekly meme created by Marcia from A girl and her books.  This is where I share the titles I have received for review or purchased during the past week.  Mailbox Monday will be hosted in August  byJennifer D at 5 Minutes for Books.

False Memory

by Dan Krokos

The most dangerous thing Miranda North can do is remember who she is.

Miranda North wakes up alone on a park bench with no memory.  In her panic, she releases a mysterious energy that incites pure terror in everyone around her. Except for Peter, a boy who isn't at all surprised by Miranda's shocking ability.

Left with no choice but to trust this stranger, Miranda discovers that she was trained to be a weapon and is part of an elite force of genetically altered teens who possess flawless combat skills and powers strong enough to destroy a city. But readjusting to her old life isn't easy -- especially with Noah, the boyfriend she can't remember loving.

Then Miranda uncovers a dark truth that sets her team on the run.  Suddenly her past doesn't seem to matter. . . when there may not be a future.

Dan Krokos's tour-de-force debut is a pulse-pounding action thriller in which one girl's discovery of her past provides enough high-octane drama to ignite an unforgettable and bold new series.

The Fine Color of Rust

by P.A. O'Reilly

Set in the Australian bush, a wryly funny, beautifully observed novel about friendship, motherhood, love, and the importance of fighting for things that matter.

Loretta Boskovic never dreamed she would end up a single mother with two kids in a dusty Australian country town.  She never imagined she'd have to campaign to save the local primary school.  She certainly had no idea her best friend would turn out to be the crusty old junk man.  All in all, she's starting to wonder if she took a wrong turn somewhere.  If only she could drop the kids at the orphanage and start over. . .

But now, thanks to her protest letters, the education minister is coming to Gunapan, and she has to convince him to change his mind about the school closure.  And as if facing down the government isn't enough, it soon becomes clear that the school isn't the only local spot in trouble.  In the drought-stricken bushland on the outskirts of town, a luxury resort development is about to siphon off a newly discovered springwater supply.  No one seems to know anything, no one seems to care.

With a dream lover on a Harley unlikely to appear to save the day, Loretta needs to stir the citizens of Gunapan to action.  She may be short of money, influence, and a fully functioning car, but she has good friends.  Together they can organize chocolate drives, supermarket sausage sizzles, a tour of the local slaughterhouse -- whatever it takes to hold on to the scrap of world that is home.

The Sisters Montclair

by Cathy Holton

The last thing twenty-one-year-old Stella Nightingale wants is a job as a caregiver for wealthy Alice Montclair Whittington.  Alice, a ninety-four-year-old Southern grande dame with a dry sense of humor and a wicked tongue, has already run off a long line of caregivers.  But Stella, a former runaway from a broken home who's only recently begun to put her life back together, is desperate for work.  And she figures she can handle Alice.

But strange things are happening at Alice's rambling mountaintop estate.  As an unlikely friendship develops between the two women, Alice, whose memory comes and goes, begins to reveal long-ago tales of her illustrious past, tales that pose more questions than they answer.  Who is her mysterious sister, Laura? Why won't Alice and her sister, Adeline, ever speak of her?  And why are the other caregivers afraid to go down in the basement?

As Stella tries to separate fact from fiction in Alice's life, she struggles to overcome her own devastating family secret, compelled by a deepening friendship that will change the lives of both women forever.

 

Postcards from the Dead

by Laura Childs

New Orleans is in the throes of another fantastic Mardi Gras celebration when the party gets crashed by a murderer.  Now a scrapbooking sleuth is going to have to stop the partying to catch the killer. . .

There's a parade rolling through the historic French Quarter, with gigantic floats, silver beads, and dizzying lights -- and Kimber Breeze of KBEZ-TV is broadcasting live from a small balcony on the fourth floor of the Hotel Tremain, interviewing locals and capturing the spectacle down below.  Her next subject will be Carmela Bertrand, owner of Memory Mine scrapbooking shop.  Carmela has never been a fan of Kimber, but she isn't about to turn down the chance of good publicity for her shop. 

But before Carmela's shop gets its five minutes of fame, a killer slips onto the balcony and strangles Kimber with a cord, leaving her body dangling above the parade.  Carmela is horrified, but she quickly discovers the nightmare isn't over. Because someone is now leaving strange postcards at Carmela's shop -- signed by the dead Kimber.  Now Carmela and her friend Ava will have to risk their own necks to find out who's posing as a ghost -- and to expose a killer. . .

 

Barefoot in the Rain

by Roxanne St. Claire

They say you can never go home again. . .

When "Life Coach to the Stars" Jocelyn Bloom is embroiled in scandal, the only place she can hide is the one place she wishes she could forget. She left Barefoot Bay -- and the boy next door who knew all her secrets - years ago.  Now nothing about the tiny island off the coast of Florida is quite how she remembers it, especially Will Palmer.  He's even more gorgeous and tempting . . . and still capable of turning her world inside out.

But what if someone is waiting for you?

To Will Palmer, Guy Bloom is more than the elderly, senile neighbor he looks after -- he's the last connection to Jocelyn, the woman Will loved and lost.  But the reunion with Jocelyn doesn't go smoothly.  Shocked by the change in her father's personality, Jocelyn struggles to reconcile her dark childhood with the sweet, confused man who has grown close to Will.  Jocelyn has guided countless clients to happiness -- but can she escape the rainy days of her past for anew sunny future with Will?

Hunk for the Holidays

by Katie Lane

Always  putting business before pleasure, Cassie McPherson works hard for her family's construction business.  That might explain why she doesn't have a date for the company Christmas party.  But it doesn't quite explain why she's crazy enough to hire an escort for the event or -- crazier still -- why she's dying to unwrap him like a present. . .

With whiskey-colored eyes and a killer smile, James is one gorgeous hunk who really knows how to fill out a tuxedo.  He charms everyone -- including Cassie.  And when the night ends, the party doesn't stop.  As Cassie falls, literally, into his bed, James falls head over heels in love.  Now he has to figure out a way to tell her the truth: he's not an escort. He's her family's fiercest business rival.  But all he wants for Christmas is her. . .

 

War Stories

by Elisabeth Doyle

A wounded veteran seeks renewal through an imagined relationship with a neighborhood girl.  A grieving father finds peace and reconciliation at the site of a disastrous bus crash.  A young woman searches for identity and meaning in the wake of her husband's injury.  Teenagers embark on a fateful last joyride.

These are just a few of the characters and circumstances that comprise War Stories, the beautifully tragic collection of short fiction by Elisabeth Doyle.  Drawing upon both the literal and figurative meaning of her title, these diverse and deftly written stories are joined through Doyle's remarkable style and ease of creating a universe full of despair, hope, and dreams.

These nine tales tell of people young and old, male and female, who share two things:  humanity and resilience.  These are taut stories of unexpected loss, the enduring quest for transcendence, and heartbreaking love. At turns tender and harsh, tragic and yearning, these stories will leave you wanting more.

 

To Catch a Vampire

by Jennifer Harlow

Beatrice Alexander, telekinetic special agent, is still adjusting to life among the F.R.E.A.K.S. while wiping out zombies and other supernatural threats.  When Bea learns about her "special assignment" investigating a series of human disappearances with Oliver Montrose, her gorgeous but annoying vampire co-worker, she reluctantly agrees to go undercover.  Disguised as a married couple, they infiltrate the gothic vamp scene in Dallas.  While sniffing out clues, Oliver's convincing public -- and not so public -- displays of affection have Bea swooning in her bustier and fishnets.  Between contending with her fake husband's ex-lover Marianna and feeling guilty for hiding the mission from her werewolf crush Will, Bea discovers she's not the only F.R.E.A.K. keeping secrets.  Clubbing with the undead turns bloody when Oliver's old enemy, the Lord of Dallas, decides to seek his revenge.  Caught in the crossfire, Bea is up to her neck in blood-sucking trouble.

What books came home to you last week?

Mailbox Monday (August 6, 2012)

Welcome to Mailbox Monday, the weekly meme created by Marcia from A girl and her books.  This is where I share the titles I have received for review or purchased during the past week.  Mailbox Monday will be hosted in August  byJennifer D at 5 Minutes for Books.

What the Heart Remembers

by Debra Ginsberg

Whispers of the past. . .


When Eden Harrison receives a heart transplant from an unknown donor, her seemingly charmed life falls apart.  Haunted by dreams of people and places she doesn't recognize, Eden is convinced that her new heart carries the memories of its original owner.  Eden leaves her old life, including her fiancé, behind as she is mysteriously drawn to the city of San Diego.


Whispers of the mind. . .


There Eden becomes fast friends with Darcy, a young woman recently widowed by Peter, her wealthy, much older husband.  But Darcy is unsettled by her inability to mourn, and more unsettled by recurring thoughts of Adam, a musician with whom she was having an affair -- and who has suddenly vanished.


Whispers of the heart. . .


Yet the more Eden learns about Darcy, the more she realizes that all is not as it seems, and she begins to suspect foul play behind Peter's and Adam's fates.  As the tension around them escalates, Eden's mysterious dreams become more and more frequent.  Can Eden listen to what her heart is trying to tell her before it is silenced forever?

The Survivor

by Gregg Hurwitz

Nate Overbay, a former soldier suffering from PTSD and ALS, goes to an eleventh-floor bank and climbs out the bathroom window onto the ledge, ready to end it all.  But as he's steeling himself to jump, a crew of gunmen bursts into the bank and begins viciously shooting employees and customers. With nothing to lose, Nate climbs back inside, confronts the robbers, and with his military training, starts taking them out, one by one.  The last man standing leaves Nate with a cryptic warning:  "He will make you pay in ways you can't imagine."


Soon enough, Nate learns what this means.  He is kidnapped by Pavlo, a savage Ukrainian mobster and mastermind of the failed heist.  Now blocked from getting into the bank vault to retrieve the critical item inside, Pavlo gives Nate a horrifying ultimatum:  Either break in and acquire the item or watch Pavlo slowly kill the people Nate loves most - his estranged wife, Janie, and his teen-aged daughter, Cielle.  Nate lost them both when he came back from Iraq broken and confused.  Now he's got one chance to protect the people he loves, even if it's the last thing he is able to do. 

The Exceptions

by David Cristofan


No loose ends.  It's the Bovaro family motto.  As part of the Bovaro clan, one of the most powerful and respected families in organized crime, Jonathan knows what he must do: take out Melody Grace McCartney, the woman whose testimony can lock up his father and disgrace his entire family.  The only problem: he can't bring himself to do it. 


Had Jonathan kept his silence, Melody and her parents would never have been identified and lured into the Witness Protection Program, able to run but never to hide.  So he keeps her safe the only way he knows how -- by vowing to clean up his own mess while acting as her shield.


But as he watches her take on another new identity in yet another new town, becoming a beautiful but broken woman, Jonathan can't get her out of his mind. . . or his heart.  From the streets of Little Italy to a refuge that promises a fresh start, Jonathan will be forced to choose between the life he's always known, the destiny his family has carved out for him, and a future unlike anything he's ever imagined.  

The Trinity Game

by Sean Chercover

Would you know a miracle if you saw one?


Daniel Byrne is an investigator for the Vatican's secretive Office of the Devil's Advocate -- the department that scrutinizes miracle claims.  Over ten years and 721 cases, not one miracle he tested has proved true.


But case #722 is different; Daniel's estranged uncle, a crooked TV evangelist, has started speaking in tongues -- and accurately predicting the future.  Daniel knows Reverend Tim Trinity is a con man.  Could Trinity also be something more?


The evangelist himself is baffled by his new found power -- and the violent reaction it provokes.  After years of scams, he suddenly has the ability to predict everything from natural disasters to sports scores.  Now the mob wants him dead for ruining their gambling business, and the Vatican wants him debunked as a false messiah.  On the run from assassins, Trinity and Daniel flee Atlanta, through the back roads of the Bible Belt to New Orleans, where Trinity plans to deliver a final prophecy so shattering his enemies will do anything to keep him silent. 

Freak

by Jennifer Hillier

Suspense magazine chose Jennifer Hillier's "truly frightening" debut, Creep, as one of 2011's best novels, while #1 bestselling author Jeffery Deaver cautioned "you better call in sick -- you're not going anywhere until you finish reading."  Now, Hillier returns to the Pacific Northwest college town where one killer's stranglehold has ebbed. . . but another sick mind has waited for the perfect moment to pick up where the terror left off.


Sitting alone in a maximum-security prison cell, Abby Maddox is a celebrity.  Her claim to fame is the envy of every freak on the outside: she's the former lover of Ethan Wolfe, the killer who left more than a dozen dead women in his wake and nearly added Puget Sound State professor Sheila Tao to the tally. Now Abby, serving a nine-year sentence for slashing a police officer's throat in a moment of rage, has little human contact -- save for the letters that pour in from demented fans, lunatics, and creeps.  But a new wave of murders has given Abby a possible chance for a plea bargain -- because this killer has been sending her love letters, and carving a message on the bodies of the victims:  Free Abby Maddox.


Jerry Isaac will never forget the attack -- or his attacker.  The hideous scarring and tortured speech are daily reminders that the one-time Seattle PD officer, now a private investigator, is just lucky to be alive.  Abby Maddox deserves to rot in jail -- forever, as far as Jerry's concerned.  But she alone may possess crucial evidence -- letters from this newest killer -- that could crack open the disturbing case.  With the help of Professor Sheila Tao, seasoned police detective Mike Torrance, and intuitive criminology student Danny Mercy, Jerry must coax the shattering truth from isolated, dangerous Abby Maddox.  Can he put the pieces together before Abby's number one fan takes another life in the name of a killer's perverted idea of justice?

Creep

by Jennifer Hillier

If he can't have her. .. .


Dr. Sheila Tao is a professor of psychology, an expert in human behavior with her own hidden past.  But she's not the only one keeping secrets. . . When Sheila began an affair with her sexy graduate assistant Ethan Wolfe, she knew she was playing with fire.  Consumed by lust when they were together, she was riddled with guilt when they were apart.  Now she's finally engaged to a good man, and it's time to end the dangerous liaison.  But Ethan has something different in mind.  He intends to make her pay for rejecting him.


. . . No one can.


As Sheila attempts to counter Ethan's increasingly threatening moves, he schemes to reveal her darker, most intimate secrets by destroying her prestigious career. . . and then her.   Caught in a terrifying cat-and-mouse game, Sheila must fight for her life and free herself from the ex-lover whom she couldn't resist -- who is now the manipulative monster who won't let her go. 

 
What books came home to you last week?