Free E-books by Donald James Parker

You can currently download all eight of Donald James Parker's book from his website. Titles are: The Bulldog Compact (Book 1 in the Masterson Family Series), More than Dust in the Wind (Book 2), All the Voices in the Wind (Book 3), All the Stillness of the Wind (Book 4), All the Fury of the Wind (Book 5), Angels of Interstate 29, Reforming the Potter's Clay, and Love Waits!

ENJOY! Thanks Mr. Parker!

OOPS!

Somehow my comments box got omitted from the last couple of posts - but thanks to some bloggers who gave me the heads up everything is working again!

Wondrous Words 4-15-2009

Wondrous Words Wednesday is a weekly meme where we share new (to us) words that we’ve encountered in our reading. To join in the fun, post your words on your blog and then leave a message over at Bermudaonion's Blog!

My words today are from Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne.

Porphyry - Used like this: When he chose to take a walk it was with a regular step in the entrance hall with its mosaic flooring, or in the circular gallery with its dome supported by twenty red porphyry Ionic columns, and illumined by blue painted windows.

Definition: Rock containing relatively large conspicuous crystals, especially feldspar, in a fine-grained igneous matrix.


physiognomists - Used like this: His countenance possessed in the highest degree what physiognomists call "repose in action," a quality of those who act rather than talk.

Definiton: The art of judging human character from facial features.

rubicund - Used like this: His eyes were blue, his complexion rubicund, his figure almost portly and well-built, his body muscular, and his physical powers fully developed by the exercises of his younger days.

Definition: Inclined to a healthy rosiness; ruddy.

That's all I have for today! Have you learned any new words this week?

Waiting on Wednesday: Prairie Tale: A Memoir

This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:

Prairie Tale: A Memoir by Melissa Gilbert

Publisher: Simon Spotlight Entertainment

Available: June 9, 2009

Who doesn't know Melissa Gilbert? I grew up on both the books and the T.V. series so I was excited when I stumbled across this book this week. Who doesn't recognize the theme music as soon as it starts - and watching the little girls run through the tall prairie grass. Even thinking about the show reminds me of my childhood - you know, when you had all the time in the world to read however much you wanted! I am really looking forward to this book!

What are you waiting for? Waiting on Wednesdays is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr (Book Review)

Title: Wicked Lovely
Author: Melissa Marr
Publisher: Harper Teen
Published: 2007
Genre: Young Adult/Paranormal
I read this because it is the first in a series and I received the third book as an ARC.

First sentence: The Summer King knelt before her, "Is this what you freely choose, to risk winter's chill?"

Aislinn has been taught three things all her life - 1) Don't stare at the faeries. 2)Don't speak to the faeries. 3) Don't ever attract their attention.

Now the faeries we are talking about here is not the garden variety "Tinkerbell" faeries. These are human size, invisible faeries. Some are beautiful - love to sing and dance - and others are horrible to look at and torment whomever they want whenever they want.

For many years Aislinn - or Ash, was home schooled by her grandmother. Her mother, Moira had died in childbirth. Ash's grandmother can also see the faeries. She has taught Aislinn those three important rules. They have also learned that only the strongest faeries can tolerate steel or iron, so they have fortified their house with iron bars.

Ash has a best friend named Seth who has always stood by her. She has wanted to take their relationship up a notch, but is afraid to lose him as a friend. Seth lives in 2 train cars that he has converted into a home - so Ash feels safe there, as the faeries tend to stay away. Seth, however, does not know of her incredible Sight.

Ash discovers that there are two faeries following her, Keenan and Donia. When Keenan dons his "glamour", which allows him to be visible to mortals, and talks to Ash - she is terrified. She tries her best to be nonchalant and brush him off, but after this first encounter, he only becomes more persistent. He enrolls at her school as a student and basically starts stalking her. She is the first mortal that has not fallen immediately for his charms.

You see, Keenan is the Summer King and he has been searching for his Queen for centuries. Whoever believes enough to pick up the Winter Queen's staff will either become the Summer Queen, or, if she is not the chosen one, will be filled with winter's chill. Donia was the last girl to take the test and fail. She has been destined to a life with Keenan, whom she loves dearly, but can never truly be with. Her fate lies in the hands of any future mortal girl who takes the test. She will remain filled with winter's chill until someone takes her place - and worse yet, she has to discourage any takers from trusting Keenan.

Ash finally breaks the rules that she has learned and confesses all to Seth. Being her true friend, and secretly in love with her, he believes her without question. Together they set out to discover what Keenan wants with her.

As Ash is pulled further and further into the faery world, will her love for Seth be able to keep her "grounded"? (OK bad pun) Will she be able to fight the pull she feels whenever she is around Keenan? And how does the Donia and the future of both the mortals and the summer faeries rest with Aislinn?

Aislinn leaned in - almost toppling over as she did - but she didn't bite the strange fruit. Instead she whispered, "Why don't all the other faeries glow like you do?"

Keenan lowered his hand. "All the other what?"

"Faeries." She gestured around them, but it was as empty of faeries as it was of humans. (p180, Wicked Lovely)

I had never read a faery book before and I am hooked! Even though this is a young adult book, I found it very entertaining. It is the first book of a trilogy - following is Ink Exchange and then Fragile Eternity. Our library had a three week wait for Ink Exchange and I don't want to wait, so I have already ordered it off of Amazon. I hope to get it soon! Fragile Eternity I was lucky enough to get as an ARC.

Visit these blogs for other reviews of this book:
Bloody Bad Book Blog
Dear Author
Juiciliciousss Reviews

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling (Book Review)

Title: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Author: J.K. Rowling
Publisher: Random House Listening Library
Narrated by: Jim Dale
Genre: YA/Fantasy
I listened to this book for fun!

First sentence: It was nearing midnight and the Prime Minister was sitting alone in his office, reading a long memo that was slipping through his brain without leaving the slightest trace of meaning behind.

Year six finds Harry, Ron and Hermione headed back to Hogwarts after passing their O.W.L.s. There is also a new Prime Minister of Magic after Fudge was fired over his handling of Voldemort's return. Ron and Harry are disappointed as they had not scored high enough on their Potions test to continue on in this class - but this is soon rectified by Dumbledore. Since they hadn't purchased Potions books, they must use some old ones from the classroom until theirs arrive. Harry is lucky and gets one filled with detailed notes and spells. Notes left by the Half-Blood Prince. But who is the Half-Blood Prince?

Dumbledore believes Harry (since he is the Chosen One) is ready to start learning more about his enemy Voldemort. Through a series of memories viewed through the pensieve, Harry sees Voldemort as Tom Riddle and watches his transformation into the Dark Lord. He is also able to discover what a horcrux is and how Voldemort has used them to gain his advantage.


Along the way we have Harry's adventures in Quidditch, learning to apparate and see him developing feelings for Jenny, Ron's sister.

I continue to enjoy this series, having read the first four and now listened to 5 and 6. I was happy to have finished this one before the movie comes out! I have decided though, that I enjoy listening to them more than reading them - probably because I can clearly see the characters (because of the movies) and very much enjoy listening to Jim Dale read them. If you have not read the Harry Potter series, I think you definitely should - regardless of your age. I guess I can admit now that I tried to read the first one when it came out and couldn't get past the first chapter. All the muggles and mudbloods and Quidditch! I am not sure what has changed.

Blog Links

I have a question today for some of you readers who are more experienced in blogging and more tech savvy than myself. It was brought to my attention by a blog that I follow that after the last few posts on their blog that there had been links created linking them to my blog. Does anyone know how these links get created? I had not even visited this blog in over a month and am clueless how they came to be there. Any light that anyone can shed would be much appreciated - I want to make sure that there isn't someone out there randomly linking me to people!
Thanks everyone!!

BoneMan's Daughter by Ted Dekker (Book Review)

Title: BoneMan's Daughter
Author: Ted Dekker
Publisher: Hachette
Genre: Thriller
Available: Today! April 14
My ebook was provided by Net Galley.

First sentence: The day that Ryan Evans' world forever changed began as any other day he'd spent in the hot desert might have begun.

Ryan Evans is a Naval Intelligence Officer on location near Fallujah. Normally he deciphers information from his desk, but today he is being sent out to a remote location. His caravan is hit on the road and he is taken hostage by a man called Kahlid. Kahlid wants to show America all the senseless killing of women and children that is happening because of America's bombs. He tells Ryan that he must either tell him where his wife and daughter live, or watch more children die in front of him by having their bones broken one by one.

Many days and several children later, Ryan is able to escape. But is he leaving the same man that he was when he was captured?

Celine and Bethany are Ryan's wife and 16 year old daughter back in Texas. They were abandoned by Ryan years ago because he felt the best way to serve them, the only way he knew how, was to serve his country. Now he is back and wants to be the husband and father he never was. But Celine is currently involved with the D.A. Burton Welsh. Is it too late for this family to mend?

BoneMan is a serial killer that made his way across Texas two years earlier. A man was convicted and sent to prison. Evidence has come to light that the blood samples that were used to convict may have been planted. BoneMan has been set free. Ricki Valentine, the FBI agent who was on the case 2 years ago, reopens the investigation now. Either they have just released a serial killer back on the public, or they never had him to begin with.

BoneMan has been looking for the perfect daughter - as he considers himself to be the perfect father. When the girls he abducts do not live up to his expectations - he is forced to kill them by breaking their bones one by one. After two years of no activity, he is feeling the need to find a daughter again. Who better than the soon to be step daughter of the D.A. that is trying to find him and the daughter of a man who doesn't deserve her - as he abandoned her years earlier? How far will a father go to protect his daughter?

This is my second Ted Dekker book and I can't wait for more. I love the way that we really get to know these characters. We can feel their pain, their frustration, their fear. And what is scarier than having one of your children abducted! If you love thrillers, this is a book you won't want to miss.

Where are you? 4-14-2009

I have just been in to meet with my pastor and my boss. He has "recommended" that I take a sabbatical with my family to let the press die down. See, I was shot in the chest by a parishioner who claimed that I had tried to rape her, when in actuality it was because I had rebuked her. My wife is struggling with believing that I was not having an affair. (Fatal Illusions by Adam Blumer)

Where is your reading taking you? Stop over at Adventure in Reading and share!

Teaser Tuesday 4-14-2009

TEASER TUESDAYS asks you to:
Grab your current read.
Let the book fall open to a random page.
Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!
Please avoid spoilers!

"I'm late." The words resounded outside her body, as if someone else might be reminding her of the PJ she knew she should be, the PJ who should fight to extricate herself from Boone's magnetic pull. She managed to turn away, and as she did, the hallway bowed, as if made of gelatin. She took another step; it wobbled, and she ricocheted off the lockers.

(from Nothing but Trouble by Susan May Warren, p74)

Musing Mondays 4-13-09

Musing Mondays is hosted by Rebecca at Just One More Page.

Today's Musing Monday question is about blog posts:

How do you respond to the comments on your blog? Do you try to email individually or comment on post yourself answering the comments above? What do you think is the best way to respond to comments and do you respond to all of them? Do you feel slighted if you don't receive a response back from the blog owner?

Lets break this down as this covers quite a bit of ground.

Do I respond to comments? This is something that I have just been trying to get better at - so this question is very timely for me.

Do I email individually or comment on post? I will try to email the person back if their comment comes through with an email address and not a address. If there is no email address, I will at least try to visit their blog and comment somewhere, thanking them for visiting mine. I generally don't leave answers/comments in my own comment section in response to other questions - the reason I don't is because I seldom go back and read answers if I have left a question. If it is something that I really wanted to know, then I will mark it to get emailed if there is new comments - but this is infrequent. If I have a way to contact the blog owner, and I want to ask a question - I might leave it on the blog and then also send an email.

What is the best way to respond to comments and do you respond to all of them? Again, if I am able to just shoot a reply email, then that is what I will do. If they are just commenting and I don't feel I have anything relevant to add, I leave it at that. If I want to share additional information or answer a question, then I will definitely email back. To me that is the best way - I get too many emails to have to link up to everyone's comments - that would just make it crazy!

Do I feel slighted is someone doesn't answer? Not at all. I know that I don't always have the time to answer - and most of the time my comments aren't being left to get an answer, but to just show support to the person who created the blog - to let them know that I am reading it!

So readers - I would like to hear from you? Do you like getting email responses? Do you need a response to your comments? Do you ever feel slighted? I would really like to know!

Mailbox Monday 4-13-09

It is time for another edition of Mailbox Monday hosted by The Printed Page or In Your Mailbox hosted by The Story Siren. Please stop by those posts and take a look at what packages everybody else got this week! I had a fantastic week and got some great looking books! Some that weren't even expected!

The Moon Looked Down by Dorothy Garlock

(Hachette Books)

Threatened and hounded out of their home in Germany in1933, the Hellers fled to small-town America. Here in Victory, Illinois, they started anew as farmers. . .and took great pride in becoming citizens of their new country. But ten years later, with World War II raging, they have become the target of vicious attacks perpetrated by a handful of small-minded men. Will the Hellers be forced to escape once more? And how will the blossoming romance of twenty-year-old Sophie Heller and schoolteacher Cole Ambrose withstand the danger that now follows them with every step?

Knight of Desire by Margaret Mallory

(Hachette Books)

FEARLESS IN BATTLE

His surcoat still bloody from battle, William FitzAlan comes to claim the strategic borderlands granted to him by the king. One last prize awaits him at the castle gates: the lovely Lady Catherine Rayburn.

TENDER IN BED

Catherine risked everything to spy for the crown. Her reward? Her lands are declared forfeit and she is given this choice: marry FitzAlan or be taken to the Tower. Catherine agrees to give her handsome new husband her body, but she's keeping secrets, and dare not give him her heart.

As passion ignites and danger closes in, Catherine and William must learn to trust in each other to save their marriage, their land, and their very lives.

One Scream Away by Kate Brady

(Hachette Books)

Killer Chevy Bankes is a master of disguise, and just paroled, he's coming after the woman who sent him to jail, the beautiful antiques expert Beth Denison. A set of antique dolls brings Beth into his sight, and inspire Chevy's disturbing crimes as he draws closer to Beth and her young daughter. Chevy sends the dolls to Beth one-by-one and she soon realizes that these antiques carry the same marks as his victims, signaling that the final piece in his collection will be for her.

Neil Sheridan gave up his FBI shield five years ago, but his best friend Rick, a cop, pulls him in as a consultant on a case involving a serial killer who is eerily similar to a murderer Neil encountered in the past. The investigation leads Neil to Beth's doorstep, and he is certain she isn't telling him the truth. Neil is the only one who can get through Beth's defenses and, as they grow closer, discover the secrets that Beth is hiding about her fateful night with Chevy.
(description from Hachette website)

Tame by a Laird by Amanda Scott

(Hachette Books)

Jenny Easdale is ready to accept her fate. She's agreed to marry a man she will never love - yet not before slipping away for one last adventure. Following a traveling minstrel troupe, she's whisked into a world of intoxicating freedom. Then, all too soon, she finds herself in danger - from a vengeful political plot against Scotland and from the man who has come to take her home.

Duty bound to return with his brother's wayward bride, Sir Hugh Douglas is not prepared for how her quick wit, courage, and laughing eyes touch his warrior heart. Now, as the merry minstrels play matchmaker and passion sparks between Hugh and Jenny, the conspiracy against Scotland builds. . . and threatens all they hold dear.

Jantsen's Gift by Pam Cope with Aimee Molloy
(Hachette Books)

Ten years ago, Pam Cope owned a cozy hair salon in the tiny town of Neosho, Missouri, and her life revolved around her son's baseball games, her daughter's dance lessons, and family trips to places like Disney World. She had never been out of the country, nor had she any desire to travel far from home.

Then, on June 16th, 1999, her life changed forever with the death of her 15-year-old son from an undiagnosed heart ailment.

Needing to get as far away as possible from everything that reminded her of her loss, she accepted a friend's invitation to travel to Vietnam, and, from the moment she stepped off the plane, everything she had been feeling since her son's death began to shift. By the time she returned home, she had a new mission: to use her pain to change the world, one small step at a time, one child at a time. Today, she is the mother of two children adopted from Vietnam. More than that, she and her husband have created a foundation called "Touch A Life," dedicated to helping desperate children in countries as far-flung as Vietnam, Cambodia and Ghana.

Pam Cope's story is on one level a moving, personal account of loss and recovery, but on a deeper level, it offers inspiration to anyone who has ever suffered great personal tragedy or those of us who dream about making a difference in the world.

(Description from Hachette website)

Enduring Justice by Amy Wallace
(Waterbrook Multnomah)

A PAINFUL PAST
Hanna Kessler’s childhood secret has remained buried for over two decades. But when the dark shadows of her past threaten to destroy those she loves, Hanna must face the summer that changed her life and the man who still haunts her memories.

A RACIALLY-MOTIVATED KILLER
As a Crimes Against Children FBI Agent, Michael Parker knows what it means to get knocked down. Difficult cases and broken relationships have plagued his entire year. But when the system fails and a white supremacist is set free, Michael’s drive for retribution eclipses all else.

A LIFE-ALTERING CHOICE
A racist’s well-planned assault forces Hanna and Michael to decide between executing vengeance and pursuing justice. The dividing line between the two is the choice to heal. But when the attack turns personal, is justice enough?

Mama's Got a Fake I.D. by Caryn Dahlstrand Rivadeneira

(Waterbrook Multnomah)

No one begins life as a mom. Before you have children, you are an amazing combination of friend, daughter, confidant, visionary, encourager, and thinker. You start out in life using your gifts and abilities in a surprising variety of settings.

Then you have children and the role of mom–as wonderful as it is–seems to consume you. It’s easy to lose your identity when others see you as a mom and little else. What happened to the artist, the team-builder, the organizer, the entrepreneur, the leader–the person you’ve lost touch with?

In Mama’s Got a Fake I.D., Caryn Dahlstrand Rivedeneira helps moms like you reclaim the person God made you to be. God still wants to use you in ways that let your gifts, passions, and personality shine.

This inspiring and practical guide will show you how to break free from false guilt, learn a new language to express your true identity, and follow God’s lead in sharing who you really are. God wants you to discover who he made you to be–in your family and beyond. It’s time to reveal the woman who got hidden behind all that mom.

Dear Mom by Melody Carlson
(Waterbrook Multnomah)

Hear your daughter’s heart…without the angst, arguments, or arm-wrestling

Raising a teen daughter can be like trying to chart a course underwater. You can drown in an ocean of one-word answers, defensive conversations, and unpredictable outbursts, and never get anywhere. Popular teen girls’ novelist Melody Carlson helps you cut through murky, deep, uncharted and seemingly unsafe waters so you can hear what your daughter’s really trying to tell you through her anger, silence, and mixed messages:

“I need you, but I won’t admit it.”
“I’m not as confident as I appear.”
“I have friends. I need a mother.”

Instead of focusing on outward behaviors, Dear Mom captures your daughter’s heart and soul. You can know your daughter’s hopes and fears, doubts and dreams about her identity, guys, friendships, and even you. And you can connect on a deeper, more intimate level that will carry both you and your daughter through the stormy seas of life.

Angels of Destruction by Keith Donohue
(Shelf Awareness/Shaye Areheart Books)

Keith Donohue’s first novel, The Stolen Child, was a national bestseller hailed as “captivating” (USA Today), “luminous and thrilling” (Washington Post), and “wonderful...So spare and unsentimental that it’s impossible not to be moved (Newsweek. His new novel, Angels of Destruction, opens on a winter’s night, when a young girl appears at the home of Mrs. Margaret Quinn, a widow who lives alone. A decade earlier, she had lost her only child, Erica, who fled with her high school sweetheart to join a radical student group known as the Angels of Destruction. Before Margaret answers the knock in the dark hours, she whispers a prayer and then makes her visitor welcome at the door.

The girl, who claims to be nine years old and an orphan with no place to go, beguiles Margaret, offering some solace, some compensation, for the woman’s loss. Together, they hatch a plan to pass her off as her newly found granddaughter, Norah Quinn, and enlist Sean Fallon, a classmate and heartbroken boy, to guide her into the school and town.

Their conspiracy is vulnerable not only to those children and neighbors intrigued by Norah’s mysterious and magical qualities but by a lone figure shadowing the girl who threatens to reveal the child’s true identity and her purpose in Margaret’s life. Who are these strangers really? And what is their connection to the past, the Angels, and the long-missing daughter?

Angels of Destruction is an unforgettable story of hope and fear, heartache and redemption. The saga of the Quinn family unfolds against an America wracked by change. As it delicately dances on the line between the real and the imagined, this mesmerizing new novel confirms Keith Donohue’s standing as one of our most inspiring and inventive novelists.

(From Random House website)

Spiced by Dalia Jurgensen
(Shelf Awareness/G.P. Putnam's Sons)

Spiced is Dalia Jurgensen's deliciously entertaining memoir of leaving her office job and pursuing her dream of becoming a chef. On her path to earning spots in world-class New York kitchens, she reveals in witty detail the dry cakes and burnt posts of her early internships, and the secrets to holding her own in male-dominated kitchens, and divulges what life in chef whites is really like - from the sweet to the less-than-savory. Find out what happens in the kitchen when a restaurant critic is spotted in the dining room, how great food is made, what the staff eats at "family mean," why cooks hate waiters, and what happens after the last customer leaves.

The Lake That Stole Children by Douglas Glenn Clark
(Bostick Communications/CreateSpace)

The Lake That Stole Children blends the magic of Disney's Pinocchio with the magnificent quest of Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea. It begins with a boy's deep yearning and leads to a grown man's startling discovery. The story begins with a town troubled by a big secret. Children have been disappearing and no one knows why. A fisherman, who lives with his family on the outskirts of town, cared nothing about the town's troubles - until he too lost a son. Following a dangerous search on a nearby lake, the fisherman believes he knows where the children may be and vows to save them. When the town refuses to help in his quest, the fisherman realizes that to save his son he must face one seemingly insurmountable obstacle - himself.

(description from Amazon)

"You Wanna Go To Willard?" by Linda M. Holbrook

(Bostick Communications/BookSurge Publishing)

Growing up, Laura felt different, even abnormal. She was the third child of four and the oldest girl. Her mother conditioned her to respect elders. It was required to always use proper behavior and articulate manners. Laura lived with the notion of a reward for good behavior. People liked children that behaved meticulously. Her life was focused on doing all the things people asked of her. She never objected or even questioned why. Convinced everyone would like her if she did. But the older she got, and the harder she tried, the worse it became. Haunted by her thoughts of being retarded, she struggled to find an answer.

Through trial and error decisions she wandered down dark paths of repeated disappointments. With years of trying too hard, she wanted the truth about whom she was or who she was supposed to be.

Was happiness a myth? Her persistence pushed her over the hurdles in her life. Something inside told her she would find it. The happiness she wanted and desperately needed.

Teenagers Suck by Joanne Kimes and R.J. Colleary

(Bostick Communications/Adams Media)

Moodswings? Check. Eye rolls? Check. Slamming doors and easily annoyed teens? Check. Check.

Let's face it: Teenagers Suck. Tacklers of Teenage Terrors R.J. Colleary and Joanne Kimes take readers on a humorous but helpful ride through teenage troubles, such as how to:

• Pick your battles (do you ignore or forbid the bellybutton ring and lower back tattoo?)
• Handle the Clash of the Curfew
• Talk to your teens when he's constantly text messaging
• Tackle the oh-so-uncomfortable but very important topic of teen sex
• Address peer pressure (because their friends are doing way worse things that jumping off that proverbial bridge!)
  
  With an equal dose of empathy and humor, Colleary and Kimes will expertly guide parents through this traumatic, tender, and (dare we say it) sometimes terrific part of raising kids.
  

Why Shoot a Butler? by Georgette Heyer
(Sourcebooks)

Every family has secrets, but the Fountains' are turning deadly…
On a dark night, along a lonely country road, barrister Frank Amberley stops to help a young lady in distress and discovers a sports car with a corpse behind the wheel. The girl protests her innocence, and Amberley believes her—at least until he gets drawn into the mystery and the clues incriminating Shirley Brown begin to add up…

In an English country-house murder mystery with a twist, it's the butler who's the victim, every clue complicates the puzzle, and the bumbling police are well-meaning but completely baffled. Fortunately, in ferreting out a desperate killer, amateur sleuth Amberley is as brilliant as he is arrogant, but this time he's not sure he wants to know the truth…

Cousin Kate by Georgette Heyer

(Sourcebooks)

A surprising invitation

Kate Malvern is rescued from penury by her unt Minerva, who brings her to stay at Staplewood. But the household is strange and strained - Kate's uncle lives in his own private wing, and her handsome, moody cousin Torquil lives in another.

A dark family secret

As bizarre events ufold and Kate begins to question the reasons for her aunt's unexpected generosity, she has no one to confide in but her cousin Philip. Sympathetic though he may appear, will he tell her what she needs to know. . .before it's too late?

Frederica by Georgette Heyer

(Sourcebooks)

One of readers favorites, Frederica is full of surprises

When Frederica brings her younger siblings to London determined to secure a brilliant marriage for her beautiful sister, she seeks out their distant cousin the Marquis of Alverstoke. Lovely, competent, and refreshingly straightforward, Frederica makes such a strong impression that to his own amazement, the Marquis agrees to help launch them all into society.

Lord Alverstoke cant resist wanting to help her

Normally wary of his family, which includes two overbearing sisters and innumerable favor-seekers, Lord Alverstoke does his best to keep his distance. But with his enterprising - and altogether entertaining - country cousins getting into one scrape after another right on his doorstep, before he knows it the Marquis finds himself dangerously embroiled...

The Convenient Marriage by Georgette Heyer

(Sourcebooks)

Horatia Winwood is simply helping her family

When the Earl of Rule proposes marriage to her sister Lizzie, Horatia offers herself instead. Her sister is already in love with someone else, and Horatia is willing to sacrifice herself for her family's happiness. Everyone knows she's no beauty, but she'll do her best to keep out of the Earl's way and make him a good wife. And then the Earl's archenemy, Sir Robert, sets out to ruin her reputation...

The Earl of Rule has found just the wife he wants

Unbeknownst to Horatia, the Earl is enchanted by her. There's simply no way he's going to let her get into trouble. Overcoming some misguided help from Horatia's harebrained brother and a hired highwayman, the Earl routs his old enemy, and wins over his young wife, gifting her with a love that she never thought she could expect.

I would love to hear about the books that you got this week!

(All descriptions are from book covers unless otherwise noted.)

The Friday 56 4-10-09

Rules:
* Grab the book nearest you. Right now.
* Turn to page 56.
* Find the fifth sentence.
* Post that sentence (plus one or two others if you like) along with these instructions on your blog or (if you do not have your own blog) in the comments section of Storytime with Tonya and Friends.
*Post a link along with your post back to Storytime with Tonya and Friends.
* Don't dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

"Looks like . . . she's been here . . . a couple of days at least."

Riley nodded. The stench of decomposing flesh had already confirmed that fact. (Fatal Illusions by Adam Blumer, p56)

How's that for a grabber - this would have been a good Teaser Tuesday!