What are you reading on Mondays is hosted by Sheila at One Person's Journey - You can hook up with the Mr. Linky there with your own post - but be sure and let me know what you are reading too!
School starts this week for my youngest! I don't know whether to be happy or sad! We go to his meet and greet with his Kindergarten teacher later today. He frowned at me yesterday and said he didn't think he started school until next year. He is a very social guy though and I know he will have a lot of fun.
Currently Reading: Hell, Yeahby Carolyn Brown - Second book in the Honky Tonk series, should be a quick read. Seduced by a Wolf by Terry Spear - I love this series! - It should also be done very quickly. Amish Proverbs by Suzanne Woods Fisher The Women in Jesus' Life by Mindy Ferguson
The Hanging Tree by Bryan Gruley - haven't read any in this for awhile, but hope to get back to it soon!
Roseflower Creek by Jackie Lee Miles - promising start - Hope to get back to it soon!
Title: I Love This Bar (Book 1 in the Honky Tonk series) Author: Carolyn Brown Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
My synopsis/thoughts: Daisy O'Dell is the owner and bartender at the Honky Tonky. She had shown up 7 years earlier when her car had broken down next door. She had left Arkansas after her boyfriend had hit her for the last time. She had run him off with a shotgun and packed up and left. Ruby, the original owner of the Honky Tonk, had taken her in and given her a job and let her live in the apartment behind the bar. When Ruby died in a motorcycle crash, she left the bar to Daisy.
Ruby knew how to run a bar and Daisy did not mess with that. Jukebox, dance floor, pool tables and beer was enough to keep it turning a profit. Ruby also told her no men in the apartment - kept you from making spur of the moment mistakes!
Jared McElroy had moved to town from Oklahoma to help out at his Uncle Emmet's ranch. His uncle had let things slide since his wife, Mavis, had died. Well, Jared and Daisy fell for each other immediately - and I mean fell for each other. See, as they were walking across the bar, they each hit a puddle of beer and got tangled up in each other and hit the floor. All it took was for their eyes to meet for the sparks to fly.
Jared couldn't get it out of his head that she was a barmaid - this was not a good profession in his eyes (or his family's), and even though she was also a vet tech, it didn't negate the first profession. Daisy had sworn off men after her last debacle years before with her abusive boyfriend. These two continue to be drawn to one another like moths to a flame.
There are some other colorful characters in here - including Jared's Uncle Emmet. He was a riot! Then there was Chigger and Jim Bob. When Daisy first met Chigger she thought she was a prostitute - and even though Chigger likes a good role in the hay - she has a good heart and is very loyal. Jim Bob is her boyfriend and one of a set of triplets - Jim Bob, Joe Bob and Billy Bob, who used to run around with Jared as boys, when he would come to visit Emmet and Mavis.
This book was pretty predictable, but sometimes you need one of those. I liked all the references to country songs, as I went through a country phase back a few years. It made me want to go dig up and dust off all those CD's! This is the first book in the Honky Tonk series. Next up isHell, Yeahand I will be reviewing it in the next few days.
~I received a copy of this book from Sourcebooks in exchange for my review.~
I Love This Bar
Publisher/Publication Date: Sourcebooks Casablanca, June 2010
On the brink of the War of 1812, Marianne Denton must marry to unlock her inheritance. Without the money, her mother can't receive medical care and her sister will be destitute. But Noah Brenin needs to sail his cargo to England before the war commences in order to prove his worth to his father and make enough money so he won't have to marry at all.
When Noah walks out on their engagement party. Marianne chases him down and ends up on his merchantman out at sea. The situation worsens when Noah's ship encounters a British man-of-war and the couple is impressed into the British navy.
While a young lad's prophecy of destiny looms over them both, Marianne and Noah are forced to face their darkest fears as they desperately try to escape and fulfill their destinies -- destinies that could change the course of the war and history forever.
On a moonless Texas night in 1895, an ambitious young landowner suffers the loss of "the only woman he s ever been fond of" when his wife dies during childbirth with the couple's fourth boy, Karel. From an early age Karel proves so talented on horseback that his father enlists him to ride in acreage-staked horseraces against his neighbors. But Karel is forever haunted by thoughts of the mother he never knew, by the bloodshot blame in his father's eyes, and permanently marked by the yoke he and his brothers are forced to wear to plow the family fields. Confident only in the saddle, Karel is certain that the horse "wants the whip the same way he wants his pop's strap . . . the closest he ever gets to his father's touch." In the winter of 1910, Karel rides in the ultimate high-stakes race against a powerful Spanish patriarch and his alluring daughters. Hanging in the balance are his father's fortune, his brother's futures, and his own fate. Fourteen years later, with the stake of the race still driven hard between him and his brothers, Karel is finally forced to dress the wounds of his past and to salvage the tattered fabric of his family.
Reminiscent of Kent Haruf's portrayals of hope amidst human heartbreak and Cormac McCarthy's finely hewn evocations of the American Southwest, Bruce Machart's striking debut is as well wrought as it is riveting. It compels us to consider the inescapable connections between sons and their mothers, between landscape and family, and between remembrance and redemption.
Sun, summer, and a scrumptious sailing instructor. What more could a girl want?
When spunky Marguerite Westing discovers that her family will spend the summer of 1895 at Lake Manawa, Iowa, she couldn't be more thrilled. It's the perfect way to escape her agonizingly boring suitor, Roger Gordon. It's also where she stumbles upon two new loves: sailing, and sailing instructor Trip Andrews.
But this summer of fun turns to turmoil as her father's secrets threaten to ruin the family forever. Will free-spirited Marguerite marry Roger to save her father's name and fortune? Or will she follow her heart--even if it means hurting the family she loves?
Full of sharp wit and blossoming romance, Making Waves will whisk you away to a breezy lakeside summer holiday.
It's Halloween in New Orleans-and the festivities are going to be killer.
With the help of her best friend Ava, Carmela Bertrand is building a giant monster puppet for the Halloween Monsters & Mayhem parade. Things get terrifying earlier than expected when they overhear an argument between Jekyl Hardy and Brett Fowler- and just minutes later they find Fowler's dead body.
Carmela has known Jekyl for years and can't believe he'd ever resort to murder, despite the fact that Fowler owed him money. But when another victim is discovered-who also had an unfriendly relationship with Jekyl-Carmela is convinced someone is framing her friend and now must find a way to unmask the real killer.
Lizzie Glick longs to fit into her quiet Amish community. Her sisters, Emma and Mandy, are ready to get married and settle into the traditional rhythm of having children and keeping house. But Lizzie isn't sure that's what she wants for her future. It isn't that Lizzie doesn't want to stay Amish. It's just that there's so much to figure out!
Stephen, her quiet, gentle friend, hints that he might be interested in a relationship deeper than friendship, but Lizzie is also drawn to the charming Amos who seems to have eyes for everyone but her.
She has certainly attracted the attention of the egg-truck driver. A thrill runs through her every time the worldly man comes to pick up an order, each time extending his stay a little longer. How long will she keep this a secret from Emma -- and Mam and Datt?
What will become of Lizzzie? She has too hot a temper. She hates housework and dislikes babies. She loves driving fast horses but is petrified of going away from home for a week to work as a maud (maid). Is she too spirited, too innocent, and almost too uninhibited for a young Amish woman?
In this deeply funny (and, no kidding, wise and poignant) book, Rakoff examines the realities of our sunny, gosh everyone-can-be-a-star contemporary culture and finds that, pretty much as a universal rule, the best is not yet to come, adversity will triumph, justice will not be served, and your dreams won’t come true.
The book ranges from the personal to the universal, combining stories from Rakoff’s reporting and accounts of his own experiences: the moment when being a tiny child no longer meant adults found him charming but instead meant other children found him a fun target; the perfect late evening in Manhattan when he was young and the city seemed to brim with such possibility that the street shimmered in the moonlight—as he drew closer he realized the streets actually flickered with rats in a feeding frenzy. He also weaves in his usual brand Oscar Wilde–worthy cultural criticism (the tragedy of Hollywood’s Walk of Fame, for instance).
Whether he’s lacerating the musical Rent for its cutesy depiction of AIDS or dealing with personal tragedy, his sharp observations and humorist’s flair for the absurd will have you positively reveling in the power of negativity.
With 13 1/2, Nevada Barr, New York Times bestselling author of the award-winning Anna Pigeon novels, has written a taut and terrifying psychological thriller. It carries the reader from the horrifying 1970s murder spree of a child -- dubbed "Butcher Boy" by a shocked public -- in Rochester, Minnesota, to Polly, the abused daughter of Mississippi "trailer trash," to post-Katrina New Orleans.
In Jackson Square in the French Quarter a tarot card reader told Polly Deschamps she would be a success. Thirty years later, Polly is a respected professor of literature with good friends and her own home -- a safe life for her and her two daughters.
Butcher Boy, released on his seventeenth birthday, shook the snow from his boots and headed south. New Orleans, a Mecca for runaways then and now, offers sanctuary but never forgiveness.
When Polly falls in love with Marshall Marchand, a restoration architect who is helping to rebuild her adopted city, shadows of the past rise out of the poisoned ground of New Orleans as thick and deadly as the toxic waters of the flood.
Like history, some crimes are doomed to repeat themselves. Evil stays the same, only the victims' names change. As two broken pasts collide in an uncertain present, Polly is determined that her children's names will never be on that list.
Sixteen-year-old Cheyenne Wilder is sleeping in the back of the car while her stepmom fills her prescription. Before Cheyenne realizes what's happening, someone is stealing the car -- with her inside! Griffin hadn't meant to kidnap Cheyenne; all he planned to do was take the car. But once Griffin's dad finds out that Cheyenne's father is the president of a powerful corporation, everything changes -- now there's a reason to keep her. How will Cheyenne survive this nightmare? She's not only sick - she's BLIND!
In search of adventure, twenty-nine-year-old Conor Grennan traded his day job for a year-long trip around the globe, a journey that began with a three-month stint volunteering at the Little Princes Children's Home orphanage in war-torn Nepal. But what began as a lark became a passionate commitment that would transform the young American and the lives of countless others.
Within minutes of his arrival, Conor was surrounded by a horde of gleeful boys and girls showering him with warm welcomes. Yet, as he soon learned, the children's cheery smiles belied years of pain and abuse; many of the boys and girls at the Little Princes Children's Home were not orphans at all but victims rescued from human traffickers. Moved by their plight, Conor vowed that when his trip was over he would return to the children of the Little Princes Children's Home and eventually reunite them with their families -- a promise he would risk his life to keep.
Little Princes is the powerful story of a soul's awakening, and a reflection of the noblest and darkest of human intent. It is a true, and often hilarious, tale of the power of optimism, love, and faith. And it is an unforgettable account of children, families, and one man whose decision to take a stand makes the world a better place for all of us.
As Lane explains, “Not to say that I'm not excited by the new technologies and reading devices introduced (it seems) nearly every month, I am. But I'm sure on some level I'll always be a traditional book guy.” And aren't we all? New York Times bestselling author and illustrator Lane Smith delivers a book to the technorati and literati alike. Juxtaposing a book-loving ape and a tech-savvy donkey, with clever illustrations and a brilliant punch line, Smith's nod to the times will be a collector's item on shelves, and will be read again and again in bookstores, libraries for years to come.
El Patron by Michele Scott (Contest win from the author)
What began as an innocent love affair for one young woman, Marta Peña, in Costa Careyes, Mexico in 1969, sets in motion a series of events that spans the next thirty years. This is the story of South American drug lords Antonio Espinoza and Javier Rodriguez, and their violent quest for power. In a sweeping family saga, we meet the women who love them and the children they vow to protect at any cost. With a complex web of interconnected families, this gritty novel delves into the lives of a power hungry clan, following the rise of their business, the destructive path of their torrid and erotic love affairs, and the struggle to balance intense greed with devout family loyalty. Strong women face tragedies that test their will and their commitment to the men they passionately desire. As young girls grow into women, their traumatic pasts will drive their actions and force them to make gut-wrenching decisions. With murder, drug trafficking, dirty politics, illegal gambling, prostitution, obsessive love affairs, and family strife, El Patrón is a whirlwind in the vein of Mario Puzo's The Godfather.
Going on right now - over at Bitten by Books - is a great contest for a Kindle (I have decided it would be kind of cool to have one of these - not to replace books, but just to complement them.. .). They are talking about Louise Marley's latest book - Mozart's Blood - about a vampire opera singer! So head on over and get in on the fun!
My synopsis: Zoey's family is falling apart - her dad has gotten a girl not much older than herself pregnant, her mom had a nervous breakdown and tried to kill herself, and there is a boy at school, Doug, who seems to always be making trouble for her.
Zoey is trying to handle all of this on her own and not cause any more problems. She ends up hooking up with a good friend, Brandon, and loses her virginity to him. Brandon is somewhat of a player, but Zoey doesn't think he would play her because they had been such good friends. Next thing you know, Zoey is in a car accident - but who was she with?
Zoey gets taken to the emergency room and is soon released, but she can't remember anything about the night before. She doesn't want to tell her dad because he is leaving for Hawaii with his girlfriend to get married. Her mom is in a facility for her nervous breakdown so she can't tell her either. She remembers making plans to go parking with Brandon, so operates under the assumption that that is what happened. She is a little confused as to why Doug pulled her out of the wrecked car, but just figures he was in the car that she hit. What really happened that night?
My thoughts: This book was good enough to keep me interested, but I wouldn't say it was one of the best YA books I have read this year. I wasn't sold on the fact that nobody figured out that she had lost her memory of that night. I can see her trying to hide it, but it took her an awful long time to get details out of anyone else. I would think the whole night would have been the gossip around school the next few days - but everyone seems pretty mum about it. I did like Doug's character - but I have always liked dark-haired bad boys! He was the only one who seemed to be honest and true to himself. Zoey seemed a little clueless, and while she was dealing with a lot of bad stuff, she seemed a little selfish (of course, I know teens tend to be egocentric - just felt she was a little much).
~I received a copy of this book from Pocket Books in exchange for my review.~
I can't believe that today was the first day of school for my sophomore! Where did summer go? It is strange to think also that my oldest daughter won't be going to school for the first time in 13 years either! Well, we had to take a couple of pictures this morning so I had to share!
It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!
You never know when I might play a wild card on you!
***Special thanks to Audra Jennings Senior Media Specialist
The B&B Media Group for sending me a review copy.***
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Travis Thrasher is an author of diverse talents with more than twelve published novels including romance, suspense, adventure, and supernatural horror tales. At the core of each of his stories lie flawed characters in search of redemption. Thrasher weaves hope within all of his tales, and he loves surprising his readers with amazing plot twists and unexpected variety in his writing. Travis lives with his wife and daughter in a suburb of Chicago. Solitary is his first young adult novel.
List Price: $14.99
Paperback: 400 pages
Publisher: David C. Cook; New edition (August 1, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1434764214
ISBN-13: 978-1434764218
AND NOW...THE FIRST CHAPTER:
1 . Half a Person
She’s beautiful.
She stands behind two other girls, one a goth coated in black and the other a blonde with wild hair and an even wilder smile. She’s waiting, looking off the other way, but I’ve already memorized her face.
I’ve never seen such a gorgeous girl in my life.
“You really like them?”
The goth girl is the one talking; maybe she’s the leader of their pack. I’ve noticed them twice already today because of her, the one standing behind. The beautiful girl from my second-period English class, the one with the short skirt and long legs and endless brown hair, the one I can’t stop thinking about. She’s hard not to notice.
“Yeah, they’re one of my favorites,” I say.
We’re talking about my T-shirt. It’s my first day at this school, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t think carefully about what I was going to wear. It’s about making a statement. I would have bet that 99 percent of the seven hundred kids at this high school wouldn’t know what Strangeways, Here We Come refers to.
Guess I found the other 1 percent.
I was killing time after lunch by wandering aimlessly when the threesome stopped me. Goth Girl didn’t even say hi; she just pointed at the murky photograph of a face on my shirt and asked where I got it. She made it sound like I stole it.
In a way, I did.
“You’re not from around here, are you?” Goth Girl asks. Hersparkling blue eyes are almost hidden by her dark eyeliner.
“Did the shirt give it away?”
“Nobody in this school listens to The Smiths.”
I can tell her that I stole the shirt, or in a sense borrowed it, butthen she’d ask me from where.
I don’t want to tell her I found it in a drawer in the house we’re staying at. A cabin that belongs to my uncle. A cabin that used to belong to my uncle when he was around.
“I just moved here from a suburb of Chicago.”
“What suburb?” the blonde asks.
“Libertyville. Ever hear of it?”
“No.”
I see the beauty shift her gaze around to see who’s watching. Which is surprising, because most attractive girls don’t have to do that. They know that they’re being watched.
This is different. Her glance is more suspicious. Or anxious.
“What’s your name?”
“Chris Buckley.”
“Good taste in music, Chris,” Goth Girl says. “I’m Poe. This is Rachel. And she’s Jocelyn.”
That’s right. Her name’s Jocelyn. I remember now from class.
“What else do you like?”
“I got a wide taste in music.”
“Do you like country?” Poe asks.
“No, not really.”
“Good. I can’t stand it. Nobody who wears a T-shirt like that would ever like country.”
“I like country,” Rachel says.
“Don’t admit it. So why’d you move here?”
“Parents got a divorce. My mom decided to move, and I came with her.”
“Did you have a choice?”
“Not really. But if I had I would’ve chosen to move with her.”
“Why here?”
“Some of our family lives in Solitary. Or used to. I have a couple relatives in the area.” I choose not to say anything about Uncle Robert. “My mother grew up around here.”
“That sucks,” Poe says.
“Solitary is a strange town,” Rachel says with a grin that doesn’t seem to ever go away. “Anybody tell you that?”
I shake my head.
“Joss lives here; we don’t,” Poe says. “I’m in Groveton; Rach lives on the border to South Carolina. Joss tries to hide out at our places because Solitary fits its name.”
Jocelyn looks like she’s late for something, her body language screaming that she wants to leave this conversation she’s not a part of. She still hasn’t acknowledged me.
“What year are you guys?”
“Juniors. I’m from New York—can’t you tell? Rachel is from Colorado, and Jocelyn grew up here, though she wants to get out as soon as she can. You can join our club if you like.”
Part of me wonders if I’d have to wear eyeliner and lipstick.
“Club?”
“The misfits. The outcasts. Whatever you want to call it.”
“Not sure if I want to join that.”
“You think you fit in?”
“No,” I say.
“Good. We’ll take you. You fit with us. Plus … you’re cute.”
Poe and her friends walk away.
Jocelyn finally glances at me and smiles the saddest smile I’ve ever seen.
I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t terrified.
I might look cool and nonchalant and act cool and nonchalant, but inside I’m quaking.
I spent the first sixteen years of my life around the same people, going to the same school, living in the same town with the same two parents.
Now everything is different.
The students who pass me are nameless, faceless, expressionless. We are part of a herd that jumps to life like Pavlov’s dog at the sound of the bell, which really is a low drone that sounds like it comes from some really bad sci-fi movie. It’s hard to keep the cool and nonchalant thing going while staring in confusion at my school map. I probably look pathetic.
I dig out the computer printout of my class list and look at it again. I swear there’s not a room called C305.
I must be looking pathetic, because she comes up to me and asks if I’m lost.
Jocelyn can actually talk.
“Yeah, kinda.”
“Where are you going?”
“Some room—C305. Does that even exist?”
“Of course it does. I’m actually heading there right now.” There’s an attitude in her voice, as if she’s ready for a fight even if one’s not coming.
“History?”
She nods.
“Second class together,” I say, which elicits a polite and slightly annoyed smile.
She explains to me how the rooms are organized, with C stuck between A and B for some crazy reason. But I don’t really hear the words she’s saying. I look at her and wonder if she can see me blushing. Other kids are staring at me now for the first time today. They look at Jocelyn and look at me—curious, critical, cutting. I wonder if I’m imagining it.
After a minute of this, I stare off a kid who looks like I threw manure in his face.
“Not the friendliest bunch of people, are they?” I ask.
“People here don’t like outsiders.”
“They didn’t even notice me until now.”
She nods and looks away, as if this is her fault. Her hair, so thick and straight, shimmers all the way past her shoulders. I could stare at her all day long.
“Glad you’re in some of my classes.”
“I’m sure you are,” she says.
We reach the room.
“Well, thanks.”
“No problem.”
She says it the way an upperclassmen might answer a freshman. Or an older sister, her bratty brother. I want to say something witty, but nothing comes to mind.
I’m sure I’m not the first guy she’s left speechless.
Every class I’m introduced to seems more and more unimpressed.
“This is Christopher Buckley from Chicago, Illinois,” the teachers say, in case anybody doesn’t know where Chicago is.
In case anybody wonders who the new breathing slab of human is, stuck in the middle of the room.
A redheaded girl with a giant nose stares at me, then glances at my shirt as if I have food smeared all over it. She rolls her eyes and then looks away.
Glancing down at my shirt makes me think of a song by The Smiths, “Half a Person.”
That’s how I feel.
I’ve never been the most popular kid in school. I’m a soccer player in a football world. My parents never had an abundance of money. I’m not overly good looking or overly smart or overly anything, to be honest. Just decent looking and decent at sports and decent at school. But decent doesn’t get you far. Most of the time you need to be the best at one thing and stick to it.
I think about this as I notice more unfamiliar faces. A kid who looks like he hasn’t bathed for a week. An oily-faced girl who looks miserable. A guy with tattoos who isn’t even pretending to listen.
I never really fit in back in Libertyville, so how in the world am I going to fit in here?
Two more years of high school.
I don’t want to think about it.
As the teacher drones on about American history and I reflect on my own history, my eyes find her.
I see her glancing my way.
For a long moment, neither of us look away.
For that long moment, it’s just the two of us in the room.
Her glance is strong and tough. It’s almost as if she’s telling me to remain the same, as if she’s saying, Don’t let them get you down.
Suddenly, I have this amazingly crazy thought: I’m glad I’m here.
I have to fight to get out of the room to catch up to Jocelyn.
I’ve had forty minutes to think of exactly what I want to say, but by the time I catch up to her, all that comes out is “hey.”
She nods.
Those eyes cripple me. I’m not trying to sound cheesy—they do. They bind my tongue.
For an awkward sixty seconds, the longest minute of my sixteen years, I walk the hallway beside her. We reach the girls’ room, and she opens the door and goes inside. I stand there for a second, wondering
if I should wait for her, then feeling stupid and ridiculous, wondering why I’m turning into a head of lettuce around a stranger I just met.
But I know exactly why.
As I head down the hallway, toward some other room with some other teacher unveiling some other plan to educate us, I feel someone grab my arm.
“You don’t want to mess with that.”
I wonder if I heard him right. Did he say that or her?
I turn and see a short kid with messy brown hair and a pimply face. I gotta be honest—it’s been a while since I’d seen a kid with this many pimples. Doctors have things you can do for that. The word pus comes to mind.
“Mess with what?”
“Jocelyn. If I were you, I wouldn’t entertain such thoughts.”
Who is this kid, and what’s he talking about?
And what teenager says, “I wouldn’t entertain such thoughts”?
“What thoughts would those be?”
“Don’t be a wise guy.”
Pimple Boy sounds like the wise guy, with a weaselly voice that seems like it’s going to deliver a punch line any second.
“What are you talking about?”
“Look, I’m just warning you. I’ve seen it happen before. I’m nobody, okay, and nobodies can get away with some things. And you look like a decent guy, so I’m just telling you.”
“Telling me what?”
“Not to take a fancy with the lady.”
Did he just say that in an accent that sounded British, or is it my imagination?
“I was just walking with her down the hallway.”
“Yeah. Okay. Then I’ll see you later.”
“Wait. Hold on,” I say. “Is she taken or something?”
“Yeah. She’s spoken for. And has been for sometime.”
Pimple Boy says this the way he might tell me that my mother is dying.
It’s bizarre.
And a bit spooky.
I realize that Harrington County High in Solitary, North Carolina, is a long way away from Libertyville.
I think about what the odd kid just told me.
This is probably bad.
Because one thing in my life has been a constant. You can ask my mother or father, and they’d agree.
Synopsis (from back cover):India Hayes is a lot of things. . . starving artist who pays the rent as a college librarian, daughter of liberal activists, sister of an emotional mathematician, tenant of a landlady who has kissed the Blarney Stone one too many times, and a bridesmaid six times over. But she's about to step into the most challenging role of her life: amateur sleuth.
Childhood friend and now knockout beauty, Olivia Blocken is back in town to wed her bodybuilder fiance with India a reluctant attendant. . . not just because the bridesmaid's dress is a hideous mess, but because she's betraying her brother. Mark still carries a torch for the bride who once broke his heart and sent his life into a tailspin.
When Olivia turns up dead in the Martin College fountain and the evidence points to Mark, India must unmask the real culprit while juggling a furious and grieving Mother of the Bride, an annoyingly beautiful Maid of Honor, a set of hippie-generation parents, the police detective who once dated her sister and is showing a marked liking for her, and a provost itching to fire someone, anyone -- maybe even a smart-mouthed librarian.
India's investigation leads her on a journey through childhood memories that she'd much rather have left in the schoolyard, but to avoid becoming the next victim, it is a path she must follow.
Maid of Murder is a fast-paced, laugh-out-loud mystery set in an amusing world of academia. Readers will fall in love with India Hayes' fierce loyalty and wit.
My thoughts: I thought this debut novel was a lot of fun. I love that the amateur sleuth is a librarian. I worked in a library in high school and would love to be a librarian. There is just something trustworthy and loyal about someone who loves books. Anyway - India's family, inspite of all their eccentricities, really care for each other and and India really goes all out to prove that Mark is innocent. But don't think just because it is a cozy mystery that you will figure it out quickly. It kept me guessing. I look forward to reading more India Hayes mysteries!
About the author: Author Amanda Flower, a native of Akron Ohio, started her writing career in elementary school when she read a story she wrote to her sixth grade class and had the class in stitches with her description of being stuck on the top of a Ferris wheel. She knew at that moment she’d found her calling of making people laugh with her words. Like her main character India Hayes, Amanda is an academic librarian for a small college near Cleveland. When she is not at the library or writing her next mystery, she is an avid traveler who has been to seventeen countries, forty-eight U.S. states, and counting. Maid of Murder is her debut novel and the first in a series featuring amateur sleuth India Hayes. Amanda is also currently seeking a publisher for her middle-grade children’s mystery, The Mystery of the First Andora. She lives and writes near Akron.
Title: Final Touch (Book 3 - The Rayne Tour series) Authors: Brandilyn Collins and Amberly Collins Publisher: Zondervan
My synopsis: Shaley's dad, Gary, had just recently come into her life and back into her mother, Rayne's, life. They had fallen in love all over again and were set to be married. On their wedding day, at a mansion surrounded with security, Shaley is kidnapped.
The kidnapper seems to be able to stay one step ahead of the police and FBI. He has told Shaley that he is a preacher and has chosen Shaley for his wife. He is taking her to the home of his new church in Montana. He claims that all his actions are for God and he is going to teach Shaley the true meaning of religion.
Shaley, however, has her own personal relationship with God and her mom and dad both recently committed their lives to God also. Shaley prays that someone will be able to find her even as both her parents and Rayne's band pray for her safe return. Will it be enough to bring Shaley home?
My thoughts: I enjoyed reading this YA trilogy. Even though Shaley doesn't live the life of a typical teenager, I like the way that it shows her turning to God in all situations. With an imperfect family, and being raised by a rock-n-roll single mom, Shaley still manages to keep God the center of her life. Something that is hard enough to do as a "normal" teenager. Nice trilogy for tween/teen readers.
by Carolyn Brown - Second book in the Honky Tonk series, should be a quick read.
by Terry Spear - I love this series! - It should also be done very quickly.
by Suzanne Woods Fisher
by Mindy Ferguson
by Bryan Gruley - haven't read any in this for awhile, but hope to get back to it soon!
by Jackie Lee Miles - promising start - Hope to get back to it soon!
by Jennifer Ackerman
by Michael Connelly - Husband and I actually got a little more of this listened to over the weekend.
by Kathy Charles
by Wayne Josephson
by Jane Porter
by Lou Anders
(Book 1 in the Honky Tonk series)
