Where I share my love of books with reviews, features, giveaways and memes. Family and needlepoint are thrown in from time to time.

Monday, June 25, 2012

Mailbox Monday (June 25, 2012)





 Mailbox Monday will be hosted in June by Marie at Burton Book Review.
I received lots of ebooks this week and a few physical copies.  My bookshelves appreciated this!




Love is Murder
edited by Sandra Brown


Go on vacation with Allison Brennan's Lucy Kincaid, where she saves a man from drowning, only to discover he is in far greater danger on land. Meet Roxanne St. Claire's "bullet catcher"--bodyguard Donovan Rush--who may have met his match in the sexually charged "Diamond Drop." Debut author William Simon shows us what happens when the granddaughter of the president of the United States is kidnapped. And Lee Child's pitch-perfect "I Heard a Romantic Story" puts a whole new spin on Love Is Murder.

Bodyguards, vigilantes, stalkers, serial killers, women (and men ) in jeopardy, cops, thieves, P.I.s, killers--these all-new stories will keep you thrilled and chilled late into the night.








 

Gone Missing
by Linda Castillo

Rumspringa is the time when Amish teens are allowed to experience life without rules, but everything changes when a child goes missing
 
In the newest chilling thriller from New York Times bestselling author Linda Castillo, Chief of police Kate Burkholder is called upon to assist when an Amish teenager disapears without a trace.
A missing child is a nightmare to all parents, and never more so than in the Amish community, where family ties are strong. So when a body turns up and another young girl goes missing, fear spreads through the community like a contagion. Kate and state agent, John Tomasetti, delve into the lives of the missing teens and discover links to cold cases that may go back years. But will Kate piece together all the parts of this sinsiter puzzle before it's too late? Or will she find herself locked in a fight to the death with a merciless killer.


 


Beach Season
by Lisa Jackson, Cathy Lamb, Holly Chamberlin, Rosalind Noonan

The Brass Ring (Lisa Jackson)
It's a beautiful June day, perfect for a wedding -- until Shawna learns that her fiance, Parker, has been involved in a car crash.  Though his injuries heal, his memories of her are gone.  Yet Shawna won't stop reaching to reclaim the love they once shared. . .

June's Lace (Cathy Lamb)
June MacKenzie is done -- with her high-pressure legal career, her cheating soon-to-be-ex, and the stress of city living.  In her studio on the Oregon coast, she creates beautiful lace wedding dresses, with no intention of ever wearing one again herself.  then songwriter Reece rents the house next door and sets out to change her mind. . .

Second Chance Sweethearts (Holly Chamberlin)
Thea Foss is putting a bad marriage behind her in the pretty vacation town of Ogunquit, Maine.  What's past is past. . . Until her first love wanders into the local diner, reminding Thea of the person she once was, and the life it's not too late to claim. . .

Carolina Summer (Rosalind Noonan)
Jane Doyle needs to get out of New York -- the farther the better.  She's headed toward Florida, but thanks to a storm along North Carolina's Outer Banks, she finds herself stranded in a beautiful, remote town that soon feels a lot like home.  And thanks to the local sheriff, she finds herself staying longer than she planned -- and feeling less lost at sea than ever. . .




From Fame to Shame
by Veronica Blade

Despite the danger of tabloid drama if their identity swap is discovered, Maddie has to save her sister's butt. When Jackie’s ex-boyfriend shows up with a rekindled spark for “Jackie,” his deep gray eyes and sweet kisses make Maddie's heart thumpety thump. But dating the guy who dumped her sister is a no-no. Too bad Dallas isn’t used to girls saying no. What will happen when he discovers Maddie’s deception?



 

Secret of the Wolf
By Cynthia Garner

Warriors of the Rift

Once a generation, the rift between the paranormal world and the human world opens, allowing supernatural entities to cross. Vampire, demon, or shapeshifter, they can save the world-or send it spiraling into chaos.

As a werewolf liaison to the Council of Preternaturals, Tori Joseph is used to straddling the world between humans and immortals. She plays by the rules and always delivers justice, no matter the cost. But after a string of increasingly brutal attacks results in humans turning into werewolves, Tori doesn't reveal her horrifying suspicion: Someone very close to her might be responsible.

Investigating the paranormal violence, no-nonsense detective Dante MacMillan believes Tori is hiding something. His search for the truth draws him into greater danger as he gets closer to the dark realm of the immortals-and to the sexy werewolf who stirs his primal lust. Now with evil closing in around them, Dante must convince Tori to trust him . . . before her deadly secret destroys them both.

 

Tangled Ties to a Manatee
by Kalen Cap

A pregnant manatee is rare at any zoo, and a first for the Grove City Zoo in Ohio. Ankh is a delight to zoo patrons, a concern to its staff, and the unintentional victim of two con men. She has no idea how many human relationships, problems, and dreams tangle around her. 

Jerry is a young developmentally disabled man who happily follows Ankh's pregnancy on the zoo's webcam. He has a shy crush on Janelle, a pretty college student who volunteers for his group home’s outings to the zoo. 

Jerry's Aunt Vera also loves nature and runs an environmental retreat center. But all is not well, with Vera or the center. The center needs money and is under investigation as a cult. 

Amid their college studies, Janelle and her friend Cecily try to help. Instead, Janelle re-awakens an old obsession in Vera when an innocent tarot reading hints at how the center might be saved. 

Two bumbling con men are attempting to sabotage the region’s electrical grid as part of a lucrative scheme. But Jerry accidentally gets in their way and becomes their captive. 

When the con men surprisingly succeed in bringing the grid down, it spells danger for Ankh, her unborn pup, and the many people tied to them both. With investigations of their own, Cecily and Janelle try to untangle it all to find Jerry, save a manatee’s life, and rescue Vera from herself. 

Tangled Ties to a Manatee is a humorous crime thriller with environmental themes. The novel is revealed through multiple points of view and centers around college-aged characters.






Forgive Me, Alex
by Lane Diamond

Tony Hooper stands in shadow across the street, one amongst many in the crowd of curiosity-hounds gathered to watch a monster's release. Seventeen years after Mitchell Norton, "the devil," terrorized Algonquin, Illinois on a spree of kidnapping, torture and murder, the authorities release the butcher from psychiatric prison.

Tony longs to charge across the street to destroy Norton—no remorse—as if stepping on a cockroach. Only sheer force of will prevents his doing so.

"The devil" walks the world again. What shall Tony do about it? Aye, what indeed.

After all, this is what Tony does. It's who he is. "The devil" himself long ago made Tony into this hunter of monsters. What a sweet twist of fate this is, that he may still, finally, administer justice.

Will FBI Special Agent Linda Monroe stop him? She owes him her life, so how can she possibly put an end to his?

Tony Hooper and Mitchell Norton battle for supremacy, with law enforcement always a step away, in this story of justice and vengeance, evil and redemption, fear and courage, love and loss.




The Secret Life of Copernicus H. Stringfellow
by Lorin Barber

Copernicus H. Stringfellow, a.k.a. Nick, is not your run-of-the-mill genius. His mind is so powerful it can stop a speeding automobile or stem internal bleeding. As Nick goes about quietly doing good, he discovers that his powers are greatly enhanced by the nutrients present in Twinkies. Follow Nick on his amazing adventures in this humorous and exciting action-packed book for all ages.



 

Dangerous Past
by A.F. Ebbers

Airline Captain Frank Braden is being stalked by unknown assailants who must arrange his death to look like a suicide or an accident before a specific deadline.


 

You, Fascinating You
by Germaine Shames

In the final weeks of 1938, in the shadow of Kristallnacht and imminent war, a heartsick Italian maestro wrote a love song called “Tu Solamente Tu.” 

Its lyrics lamented his forced separation from his wife, the Hungarian ballerina Margit Wolf, in the wake of Mussolini’s edict banishing foreign Jews from Italy. The song, first recorded by Vittorio de Sica in 1939, catapulted to the top of the Hit Parade and earned its composer the moniker “the Italian Cole Porter.” The German version, “Du Immer Wieder Du,” would be performed by Zarah Leander, the foremost film star of the German Reich, and its English counterpart, “You, Fascinating You,” by the Glenn Miller Army Air Force Band. 
Twenty-two years would pass before the maestro and his ballerina again met face-to-face.

You, Fascinating You begins as a backstage romance and ends as an epic triumph of the human spirit.




The Secret of Ravelston
by Sergio Silveira


Jane Freemont is British young lady with a very big problem.  She is modern girl...but she lives in early 19th Century.  Jane has a critical, inquiring mind that is always ready to state her honest opinions--no matter whom she may inconvenience.  This causes the young gentlemen to run away for her--for men surely can welcome women's criticism so much more than they do.  But that's our loss.

Jane's older brother, and only living relative, has sent her to live far away in the north, where he believes her critical and inquiring mind will no longer create problems for him.  But as Jane arrives in beautiful Ravelston, she becomes determined to discover the fate of another, yet much less privileged, young woman who has mysteriously vanished. In Ravelston no one seems to care about what happened to Mary Hale, who was seen as unimportant because she was poor. But Jane will risk everything, even her future, to find out the truth. 

And Jane will discover that powerful love, when not accepted in oneself, is one of the cruelest things there is.
 
The novel is also very funny. There is much satire of the affluent, aristocratic class, who live an idle life in unimaginable luxury, all at the cruel expense of countless persons who they do not see as real, and who live in poverty.  That's the autobiographical part of the novel, having grown up in an "old," land-owning family in which having "proper manners" was considered as being more important than having true kindness.  Therefore, much of my life is in the novel.



What books came home to you this week?

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Spectral by Shannon Duffy (Book Review)




Title: Spectral
Author: Shannon Duffy
Publisher: Tribute Books


About the book: Convinced she’s a part of the witness protection program, sixteen-year-old Jewel Rose is shuffled around the globe with her family like a pack of traveling gypsies. After arriving at lucky home twenty-seven, she stumbles upon a mysterious boy with magical powers claiming to be her guardian . . . and warning of imminent danger. Despite the obvious sparks between them, Jewel discovers a relationship is forbidden, and the more she learns about dark, brooding Roman, she begins to question who she can even believe — the family who raised her, or the supposed sworn protector who claims they’ve been lying to her all along.



As she struggles to uncover who her family has really been running from, she is forced to hide her birthmark that reveals who she is. With new realities surfacing, unexplained powers appearing, and two tempting boys vying for her heart, Jewel battles to learn who she can trust in an ever growing sea of lies, hoping she’ll make it through her seventeenth birthday alive.



My thoughts: I found this a fun book to read.  It has the teenage angst, first romances, rival teenage girls, and magic!  I immediately felt sorry for Jewel as she had to move and change schools every single year - can you imagine?  She also felt a real love for her younger brother so that endeared her to me as well.  

With the latest move, her family ends up in Pomona Park, Florida - a very small town with a very small high school.  But it doesn't matter how big or little, there were still cliques, and while she does make her first real friend - the "popular" girl seems to be set on making her life miserable!  But this is just a blip on her radar as she begins to discover secrets that her family has been hiding.

To make things even more complicated, as she begins the journey to discovering who she really is and why her family has been on the run, Roman and Chase seem to be battling for her affection.  Never having been kissed, now she has two really cute guys lining up to kiss her!

Seriously though, as she nears her seventeenth birthday, she is not sure if she can even trust her own family.  She is hoping she just survives!

I did enjoy this book, as I like the YA Paranormal genre.  I am hoping that this one might be the beginning of a series, as there were some loose ends that didn't quite get wrapped up and I would love to know what happens to them!

~I received a complimentary ebook copy of Spectral from Tribute Books in exchange for my unbiased review.~

About the author: Shannon Duffy writes young adult and middle grade fiction. She grew up on the beautiful east coast of Canada and now lives in Ontario, Canada. She is the mom of one boy, Gabriel, her angel. She loves writing, reading, working out, soccer, and the sport of champions-shopping.. Her upcoming middle grade fantasy novel, GABRIEL STONE AND THE DIVINITY OF VALTA is scheduled for a January 2013 release.






You can find Shannon at the following places:

For more information about the book - please visit any (or all!) of the following:


Spectral web site:http://spectralwitch.blogspot.com/
  
Spectral 
Twitter hashtag:
#Spectral

Spectral GoodReads page:
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13319632-spectral
 





Spectral
Publishing/Publication Date: April 2012
ISBN: 9780983741879
242 pages

Monday, June 18, 2012

So Far Away by Meg Mitchell Moore (Book Review)

Title: So Far Away
Author: Meg Mitchell Moore
Publisher: Reagan Arthur Books (Little, Brown and Company)


About the book: Thirteen-year-old Natalie Gallagher is trying to escape: from her parents' ugly divorce, and from the vicious cyber-bullying of her former best friend. She discovers a dusty old diary in her family's basement and is inspired to unlock its secrets.

Kathleen Lynch, an archivist at the Massachusetts State Archives, has her own painful secrets: she's a widow estranged from her only daughter. Natalie's research brings her to Kathleen, who in Natalie sees traces of the daughter she has lost.

What could the life of an Irish immigrant domestic servant from the 1920s teach them both? In the pages of the diary, they will learn that their fears and frustrations are timeless.

So Far Away is an affecting story of mothers and daughters and how solace can be found in the most unlikely places.

My thoughts:   This book didn't really grab me in the beginning.  I remembered that when I read her debut book, The Arrivals, that I felt the same way about the beginning, but eventually really enjoyed it, so I decided to stick with So Far Away.  I am not sure when the change happened, but I suddenly found that I could not put the book down.  I had to see what happened both in the present and the past.

There was a couple of stories going on here - Kathleen and her "lost" daughter; Neil and Adam and their baby adoption saga; Natalie and her relationship with her parents and friends; and Bridget, the Irish immigrant from the 1920's.  It was almost like the author happened upon this group of people and took a snapshot of a few months of their lives.  

What I mean by this is that it could be your next door neighbor's story, or the lady in the supermarket, or maybe even yours.  You don't get a nice neat ending at the end of the story either, but just the closing of the curtains on their lives.  It is with the understanding that life will go on, with more experiences and changes, and that this was just one moment out of life. 

I don't know which story I found more compelling - Natalie and her efforts to deal (or ignore) the cyber bullying that she found herself to be the center of, or Bridget and her tragic past.  It would be very cool to stumble upon an old diary and realize that you were the keeper of some secrets from the past, and that you might be the only one still alive who knew what those were.  I did like the way that the author was able to tie the two seemingly unrelated storylines together - but you will have to read the book to see how she does that!

I will continue to read books my Meg Mitchell Moore, but I have to remember that she draws me in slowly and not to give up on her books!  This is another book that I would recommend for book clubs - there is a lot of discussion material here about the proper ways to mother, how much influence we have or should have in our children's lives, cyberbullying, and even gay couples wanting to be parents. 

About the author: Meg Mitchell Moore is the author of The Arrivals and the forthcoming So Far Away. She worked for several years as a journalist. Her work has been published in Yankee, Continental, Women’s Health, Advertising Age and many other business and consumer magazines. She lives in Massachusetts with her husband and their three children.


You can find her on her website - Meg Mitchell Moore, on Facebook, or on Twitter

~I received a complimentary copy of this book from Book Sparks in exchange for my unbiased review.~

Publisher/Publication Date:Reagan Arthur Books, May 2012
ISBN: 978-0-316-09769-7
336 pages

Sunday, June 17, 2012

It's Monday! What are you reading? (June 18, 2012)



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! 




Currently reading this week: 





Books I need to finish:  (I decided to add a new category for those books that seem to languish from week to week!)  I seem to keep starting books and not finishing them. . .   I need to get out of this trend!
Blood Orchids by Toby Neal



Upcoming books:
Summerland by Elin Hildebrand
The Director's Cut by Janice Thompson






Bathroom Book:




Books read and needing to be reviewed:
Bridge of Scarlet Leaves by Kristina McMorris
So Far Away by Meg Mitchell Moore
Why My Third Husband Will Be a Dog by Lisa Scottoline




Until next week ----  Ready - Set - Read!


Mailbox Monday (June 18, 2012)





 Mailbox Monday will be hosted in June by Marie at Burton Book Review.  It is good to be back!  I took an unplanned hiatus the last two weeks - which started with our trip to Vegas.  Turns out that in Vegas they don't want you to spend time in your rooms, so wireless internet is NOT free!  So my computer made the trip with me, but did not get used at all.  My husband liked that alot.  This week's mailbox will cover the last two weeks because of that - I'll show you mine if you'll show me yours!



Books for review:



The Conviction
by Robert Dugoni


Attorney David Sloane is desperate to get through to his troubled teen-aged son, Jake.  Still reeling from his mother's brutal murder, the sixteen-year-old is spiraling out of control and Sloane has barely been able to keep him out of jail, much less steer him onto a less destructive path.  Haunted by his own sense of loss, Sloane must find a way to reconnect with his son and overcome the grief that feeds Jake's stubborn silences and alcohol-fueled outbursts.  So when his old friend, detective Tom Molia, suggests taking their sons on a guys-only camping trip, Sloane gratefully seizes the opportunity to spend quality time with Jake while keeping him out of harm's way. 


What Sloane imagines as the perfect getaway turns into a father's nightmare when Jake vandalizes a small town general store with Molia's young son, T.J., as an unwitting accomplice.  Early the next morning, before Sloane and Molia even realize they are missing, the boys are summarily tried, convicted, and sentenced to six months in the Fresh Start juvenile detention facility, a boot camp in California's Gold Country wilderness.


As Sloane fights the conviction, he soon finds that county judge Earl Boykin bends the law to his will with an authority that seems to go unquestioned -- both inside and outside the confines of his courtroom.  Meanwhile, Jake and T.J. face a grueling physical and psychological ordeal and learn the hard way that Fresh Start has a very different purpose than rehabilitating troubled youths.


For the first time, Sloane feels utterly paralyzed by the judicial system, and several near misses with vindictive local law enforcement leave him terrified for Jake, whose own fear is palpable during infrequent, clipped phone calls.  With their legal options exhausted, Sloane and Molia will do anything to save their sons, even mount a daring rescue operation that could win the boys their freedom -- or cost all of them their lives. 




Summerland
by Elin Hilderbrand


A perfect summer's night ends in a deadly crash -- and four lives are changed forever.

On a warm June evening, a local tradition continues:  the students of Nantucket High gather for a bonfire on the beach.  But the celebration ends in tragedy after a horrible car crash leaves the driver, Penny Alistair, dead and her twin brother, Hobby, in a coma.  Penny's boyfriend, Jake, and her friend Demeter are unhurt but haunted by the events of that night, and by the questions that linger about what happened in the car -- and in the dunes before Penny took the wheel.

For Zoe, the twins' mother, the unthinkable awaits:  life without her daughter, and an agonizing recovery for the son who had been a star athlete with infinite prospects.  Free-spirited Zoe has been as much friend as mother to her children, but now she has to face devastating truths about them, and about her own role in all that happened.

As summer unfolds, Zoe and the other parents ask whether their efforts to protect their children from life's realities have only left them more vulnerable.  The key to understanding the accident lies in what Penny learned that evening on the beach -- but will it also destroy the survivors' fragile peace? 



 
Blood Line
by James Rollins

Galilee, 1025.  Infiltrating an ancient citadel, a Templar knight uncovers a holy treasure long hidden within the fortress's labyrinth:  the Bachal Isu -- the staff of Jesus Christ -- a priceless icon that holds a mysterious and terrifying power that promises to change human kind forever.

A millennium later, Somali pirates hijack a yacht off the coast of the Horn of Africa, kidnapping a young pregnant American woman.  Commander Gray Pierce is enlisted for the covert rescue mission into the African jungle -- for the woman is no rich tourist; she's Amanda Gant-Bennett, the daughter of the U.S. president.

Suspicious that the kidnapping masks a far more nefarious plot, Gray must confront a shadowy cabal, one who has been manipulating events throughout history. .. and now challenges the current presidency.

For this sensitive mission, SIGMA is aided by a pair of special operatives with unique talents:  former Army Ranger Captain Tucker Wayne and his military war dog, Kane.  But what should be a straightforward rescue turns into a fiery ambush and a deadly act of betrayal as Gray and his team discover that the hostage is a pawn in a shattering act of terrorism with dark repercussions.  And the danger is only beginning. . .

Halfway around the world, a firebombing at a fertility clinic in South Carolina exposes a centuries-old conspiracy to manipulate our genetic code.  With time against them, SIGMA must race to save an innocent unborn baby, one who holds the key to a mystery and whose very existence raises questions about the nature of humanity, asking: 
Could you live forever?
Would you live forever? 



 
The Skeleton Box
Bryan Gruley

Mysterious break-ins plague the small town of Starvation Lake.  While elderly residents enjoy their weekly bingo night at St. Valentine's Catholic Church, someone is slipping into their homes to rifle through financial and personal files.  Oddly, the intruder takes nothing -- yet the "Bingo Night Burglaries" leave an entire town uneasy.

Worry turns into panic when a break-in escalates to murder.  Suddenly, Gus Carpenter, editor of the Pine County Pilot, is forced to investigate the most difficult story of his life.  Not only is the victim his ex-girlfriend Darlene's mother, but Phyllis Bontrager's body was found in the home of Bea Carpenter -- Gus's own mother.  Suffering from worsening dementia, Bea remembers little of the break-in, and the only clue from Phyllis's final desperate phone call is one unintelligible word: 'Nye-less'. 

With the help of Luke Whistler, a former Detroit Free Press reporter who came north looking for slower days and some old-fashioned newspaper work, Gus sets out to uncover the truth behind Mrs. B's death.  Yet Whistler may have his own agenda, and the secrets Gus is determined to unearth -- involving a lock-box his mother has guarded for years and the long-ago disappearance of a nun -- could forever change his perceptions of Starvation Lake, his own family, and the value of the truth.  Are some secrets better left buried? 




15 Seconds
by Andrew Gross

Henry Steadman didn't know what was about to hit him when he pulled up to a red light.  A successful Florida plastic surgeon, he is in town to deliver a keynote address at a conference when suddenly his life becomes an unrelenting chase to stay alive. 

The situation escalates when he is stopped by the police for a minor traffic violation and pulled from his vehicle, handcuffed and told he is under arrest.  Several other police cars arrive and the questioning turns scary, but just as Henry is released and about to move on, a blue sedan pulls up and the officer is suddenly killed.  As the car speeds away, there is only one suspect left behind - Henry.  In that moment, his idyllic life becomes a free fall into hell as he becomes the target of a police manhunt, as well as being pursued by a cunning unnamed perpetrator bent on some kind of vengeance.

When Henry turns to a close friend for help, and he, too, ends up dead, Henry realizes he's being elaborately framed.  But in a chilling twist, the stakes grow even darker, and he is unable to go the police to clear his name, without bringing on dire and deadly consequences.

With breakneck pacing and nonstop action, 15 Seconds shows what can happen when even the best life is turned upside down in an instant.  It is also the story of an innocent man, framed for murder, who has to save the person he loves the most, all while being drawn closer and closer to an inevitable face-to-face stand-off with a man determined to destroy his life. 


Books won:


 

Whisper Cape
by Regan Walsh

Whisper Cape is a town of secrets and Addison MacKenna soon becomes tangled in a web of them.

Fighting to shake off one of those devastating early morning nightmares.  Addison finds it even harder to escape from the vision of a man lying on the side of the road -- a man she may have just killed.  When she frantically tries to locate him, he seemingly disappears, just the beginning of strange occurrences in her life.  She also cannot ignore the weird sensations in her own body.  Suddenly, the impossible seems possible, but is that a blessing or a curse?

The only one who can protect Addison and teach her how to overpower the murderous monster who is determined to destroy her, is the same man who makes Addie's heart race and her blood heat with passion.  The same man she'd left for dead.

Cael Sheridan may be arrogant and mysterious but he's also undeniably gorgeous.  A member of a secret society, he is sworn to protect the woman he believes to be the daughter of his recently murdered mentor.  In the process, he finds it impossible to resist her magnetic sensuality, complicating his efforts to shield and guide her.  Fate has brought them together, but will it make them stronger or destroy them both in end?

Garage sale finds:

 
Angels at Christmas
by Debbie Macomber


Every Christmas, three lovable angels visit Earth.  Once a year, Shirley, Goodness and Mercy are allowed to intervene (or, more accurately, interfere!) in human affairs.  Despite their frequent misadventures and the chaos they often cause, things always seem to turn out right. . .

This Christmas, join Those Christmas Angels as they respond to Anne Fletcher's prayer request.  She wants her son, Roy, to meet a special woman -- and the angels contrive to throw Julie Wilcott in his path (literally!). 

Watch as the heaven-sent messengers reunite a divorced couple, bring peace of mind to an elderly man and grant a little boy's fondest wish.  Because there's always joy Where Angels Go.

Shirley, Goodness and Mercy offer you laughter and Christmas cheer in these two heartwarming stories!



Twice Kissed
by Lisa Jackson

Marquise Walker has vanished without a trace.  There are few clues and much speculation on her sudden disappearance.  But the truth is more terrifying than anyone can even imagine. . .

Maggie McCrae would do anything to find her identical twin sister -- even if it means stepping into her unfamiliar shoes.  Walking through Marquise's wild, uninhibited life is a revelation for Maggie, proof that she knew very little about her twin's darker side and her connection to the only man Maggie ever loved, Thane Walker.  Now he's the man she shouldn't trust, a man who could be her best hope. . . or a cold-blooded killer. . . .

The deeper Maggie digs, the more she is drawn into the web of her own past. . . to a twisted family legacy of desperate deceit, betrayal, and revenge. . . each secret bringing her closer to a final, shocking truth -- and to the identity of a killer who's closer than she thinks. . .






What books came home to you this week?

Love is Murder Blog Tour and Giveaway!

http://booktrib.com


Lori Armstrong * Jeff Ayers & Jon Land * Beverly Barton * William Bernhardt * Allison Brennan * Robert Browne * Pamela Callow * Lee Child * J.T. Ellison * Bill Floyd * Cindy Gerard * Heather Graham * Laura Griffin * Vicki Hinze * Andrea Kane *Julie Kenner * Sherrilyn Kenyon * Dianna Love * D.P. Lyle * James Macomber * Toni McGee Causey * Carla Neggers * Brenda Novak * Patricia Rosemoor * William Simon * Alexandra Sokoloff * Roxanne St. Claire * Mariah Stewart * Debra Webb



Prepare for heart-racing suspense in this original collection by thirty of the hottest bestselling authors and new voices writing romance suspense today.

Go on vacation with Allison Brennan's Lucy Kincaid, where she saves a man from drowning, only to discover he is in far greater danger on land. Meet Roxanne St. Claire's "bullet catcher"—bodyguard Donovan Rush—who may have met his match in the sexually charged "Diamond Drop." Debut author William Simon shows us what happens when the granddaughter of the president of the United States is kidnapped. And Lee Child's pitch-perfect "I Heard a Romantic Story" puts a whole new spin on Love Is Murder.

Bodyguards, vigilantes, stalkers, serial killers, women (and men!) in jeopardy, cops, thieves, P.I.s, killers—these all-new stories will keep you thrilled and chilled late into the night.




Book Trib is giving away a copy of Love is Murder every single day in June!  To follow the tour and enter to win - Visit the Love is Murder Blog Tour Page.   For another chance to win - please enter my own giveaway at the bottom of this page!




A different author from the book is being highlighted every day in the month of June on a different blogger's site.  I was lucky and got my first pick - J.T. Ellison.  I read her book, So Close the Hand of Death last year and loved it!  So please enjoy this excerpt from her contribution to Love is Murder.






J.T. Ellison – The Number of Man
It began in a single moment, the briefest of connections. She, in pigtails, a miniature towheaded autocrat, ruling the playground as if it were her kingdom. He, sitting on the swings, the new boy, watching her cross the playground toward him, shoulders squared, prepared for battle. He was an outsider, an unknown, and therefore dangerous, and she needed to determine his loyalties. Only eight, he had been at the receiving end of this conversation several times; his mother wasn’t the most upright woman, had a tendency to follow her latest boyfriend when  her previous love discarded her.

Bio: J.T. Ellison is the international award-winning author of seven critically acclaimed novels, multiple short stories and has been published in over twenty countries. A former White House staffer, she has worked extensively with the Metro Nashville Police, the FBI and various other law enforcement organizations to research her novels. She lives in Nashville with her husband and a poorly trained cat, and is hard at work on her next novel. Visit www.JTEllison.com for more insight into her wicked imagination, or follow her on Twitter @Thrillerchick.

J.T. Ellison Q&A
1.      What is your guilty pleasure?
         People Magazine, facials, uninterrupted reading time, Gossip Girl

2.      Describe your favorite meal.
Italian, hands down. Preferably in country. But I'm not bad making it at home. Proscuitto and melon,  caesar salad, papardelle with mushrooms in white truffle oil or lasagna or gnocchi al Sorrentino, tiramisu, an excellent red. 

3.      If you were not a writer, what would be your career?
An architect, maybe, or fighter pilot. Or FBI.

4.      If you could time travel, which year would be your destination?
Anyplace where bathing was popular... seriously, probably Florence or Rome during Leonardo's time

5.      What inspired your contribution to LOVE IS MURDER?
It's been brewing for years. I wrote a draft in 2006, couldn't make it work, and shelved it until now. I felt sorry for Michael, and his delusions, and wanted to explore what it might be like to think someone you're in love with loves you back.



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Monday, June 4, 2012

Mailbox Monday (June 4, 2012)





 Mailbox Monday will be hosted in June by Sassy Brit at Alternate-Read.com.  I don't know about you, but I am sooooo ready for summer!  We have already been enjoying the warm weather and have done some swimming and began working on our tans :).  Of course there was reading in the sun!  My daughter is out of school, but my son still has 4 more days - and since I work at his school, this means I still have 4 more days of work!  But come Friday I am headed to Vegas with my hubby!  Woot! Woot!  Let's take a look at what came in my mailbox this week.


 

Between the Lines
by Jodi Picoult and Samantha Van Leer

What happens when happily ever after isn't?

Delilah hates school as much as she loves books.  In fact, there's one book in particular she can't get enough of.  If anyone knew how many times she has read and reread the sweet little fairy tale she found in the library, especially the popular kids, she'd be sent to social Siberia. . . forever.

To Delilah, though, this fairy tale is more than just words on the page.  Sure, there's a handsome (well, okay, hot) prince, and a castle, and an evil villain, but it feels as if there's something deeper going on.  And one day Delilah finds out there is.  Turns out, this Prince Charming is real, and  a certain fifteen-year-old loner has caught his eye.  But they're from two different worlds, and how can it ever possibly work?

Together with her daughter, Samantha Van Leer, #1 New York Times bestselling author Jodi Picoult has written a classic fairy tale with a uniquely modern twist.  Readers will be swept away by this story of a girl who crosses the border between reality and fantasy in a perilous search for her own happy ending. 


   

The Line Between Here and Gone
by Andrea Kane

The man she loved is gone forever.
The child she lives for could be next.

Each day is a struggle for Amanda Gleason's newborn son as he battles a rare immune deficiency.  Justin's best chance for a cure lies with his father, who was brutally murdered before Amanda even realized she carried his child.

Or was he?

One email changes everything:  a recent photo of a man who looks exactly like Paul.  Could Justin's father be alive?  The mother in her is desperate to find out.  But tracking down a ghost when every second counts is not for amateurs.

Forensic Instincts is the one team up for the challenge.

A behaviorist.  A former navy SEAL.  A techno-wizard.  An intuitive.  A retired FBI agent.  A human-scent-evidence dog.  Together they achieve the impossible, pushing ethical and legal boundaries whenever the ends justify the means.

The manhunt is on for the elusive father.  Yet the further the team digs into Paul's past, the more questions are raised about whether the man Amanda fell in love with ever existed at all.

Dark secrets.  Carefully crafted lies.  From the congressional halls of Washington, D.C., to exclusive Hamptons manors, there are ruthless people who would stop at nothing to make Forensic Instincts forget about the man Amanda desperately needs to find.

Little do they realize that once Forensic Instincts takes the case, nothing will stop them from uncovering the shocking truth that transcends The Line Between Here and Gone



 

Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend
by Matthew Dicks

My name is Budo.

I have been alive for 5 years.  5 years is a very long time for someone like me to be alive.

Max gave me my name.  Max is 8 years old.  He is the only human person who can see me.

I know what Max knows, and some things he doesn't.  I know that Max is in danger.  And I know that I am the only one who can save him. 


 

Porch Lights
by Dorothea Benton Frank

When Jimmy McMullen, a fireman with the NYFD, is killed in the line of duty, his wife, Jackie, and ten-year-old son, Charlie, are devastated.  Charlie idolized his dad, and now the outgoing, curious boy has become quiet and reserved.  Trusting in the healing power of family, Jackie decides to return to her childhood home on Sullivans Island.

Crossing the bridge from the mainland, Jackie and Charlie enter a world full of wonder and magic -- luch green and chocolate grasslands and dazzling red, orange and magenta evening skies; the heady pungency of Lowcountry Pluff mud and fresh seafood on the grill; bare toes snuggled in warm sand and palmetto fronds swaying in gentle ocean winds.

Awaiting them is Annie Britt, the family matriarch who has kept the prch lights on to welcome them home.  Thrilled to have her family back again, Annie promises to make their visit perfect -- even though relations between mother and daughter have never been what you'd call smooth.  Over the years, Jackie and Annie, like all mothers and daughters, have been known to have frequent and notorious differences of opinion.  But her estranged and wise husband, Buster, and her flamboyant and funny best friend Deb are sure to keep Annie in line.  She's also got Steven Plofker, the flirtatious and devilishly tasty widowed physician next door, to keep her distracted as well.

Captivated by the island's alluring natural charms and inspired by colorful Lowcountry lore -- lively stories of Blackbeard and his pirates who once sailed the waters surrounding the Carolinas and of former resident Edgar Allan Poe -- mother, daughter, and grandson will share a memorable, illuminating summer.  


 

The Director's Cut
by Janice Thompson

Tia Morales is used to calling the shots.  She's the director of the popular sitcom Stars Collide, and her life on the set is calculated and orderly.  Well, most of the time.  Life outside the studio is another matter.  If only she could get other people to behave as well as her stars do!  When she starts to have feelings for handsome cameraman Jason Harris -- with whom she's been butting heads for months -- it's enough to send a girl over the edge.  Will she ever learn to let go and take life -- and love -- as it comes?


Summer Fit

Be Smart by staying on top of classroom skills in reading, writing, math and language arts.  Be Active by using a daily fitness schedule to keep moving.  Stay cool this summer by learning the importance of kindness, respect, honesty, and responsibility.

Keeping brains thinking and bodies active during school breaks is entertaining and engaging with Summer Fit workbooks and online games and activities.

Created by educators, fitness trainers, and parents, Summer Fit activities focus on key areas of child development, including academics, physical fitness, and core values.

Right now it might feel like a million years away, but the first day of the new school year will be soon upon us.  With Summer Fit, your child will take a seat better prepared to handle the mental, physical and social challenges of the new school year. 

Have fun this summer and keep on moving!



What books came home to you this week!

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Book Blast: Betrayed by Ednah Walters (Giveaway!)



by Ednah Walters
Publication Date: June 5, 2012
Spencer Hill Press

Lil isn't just an average teenager. She's one of the Nephilim--the descendants of humans and angels--which gives her some serious psi skills and a mission for redemption. Just when Lil thinks she's found a balance between her normal life with human friends and her training to become a Guardian, she's warned that someone close to her will betray her. When the boy she loves starts acting strangely and one of her human friends acquires a supernatural ability, Lil begins to realize that someone is manipulating the people she loves... and won't stop until she's been lured to the dark side.


About the author:  I grew up reading Nancy Drew and Hardy boys mysteries and fell in love with book.

I enjoy good love stories, tingly mysteries and epic adventures. When I finished my college and decided to be a stay-at-home mother, I devoured books like they were going out of production, until reading just wasn't enough. So I started to write.

I've written picture books (unpublished), contemporary and romantic suspense (under the pen name E. B. Walters), and finally YA fantasy (as Ednah Walters).

AWAKENED (2010) is the prequel to the YA series about the Nephilim, The Guardian Legacy series. BETRAYED (book # 1) is now available wherever books are sold, HUNTED (book # 2) will be released in February 2013 andFORGOTTEN (later in 2013).

My adult contemporary with or without suspense is about a west coast Irish-American family series. I've published four Fitzgerald books: SLOW BURN (April 5th 2011), MINE UNTIL DAWN (June 29th 2011), KISS ME CRAZY (Sept 25th 2011) and DANGEROUS LOVE (Jan 29th 2012)

When I'm not writing, I do things with my family, five children and my darling husband of 18 years. I live in a picturesque valley in northern Utah, the setting for my YA series.

You can connect with the author on her website - Fantasy author Ednah Walters; on her blog - The Official Website of The Guardian Legacy; the Guardian Legacy Facebook page; on Twitter; Goodreads; and Google+.








PRAISE FOR THE BOOK:
Just like Awakened, Betrayed has risen above all the other books in this genre. She has created such an amazing world for her Guardians and demons where good and evil are not as simple as it seems they should be. ~J. Whitus (Book Junkies) Walking On Bookshelves


I just love a spunky heroine so I was excited to keep reading about Lil, the demon hunter I got to know in Awakened (book one of The Guardian Legacy series). Walters takes the story and world she built so well in Awakened and adds in an intense plot with lots of twists to make for a strong sequel.~ Kelli (I'd So Rather Be Reading)




Lil is one of my favorite female leads, with all of the traits that you want a strong female lead to have. She's smart, strong, loyal and doesn't know how to back down.~ Missy (Missy's Reads and Reviews)


Lil has her work cut out for her in this book and she never failed me once!
There is action in this book as well as a lot of emotional turmoil.~ Cathy Garcia  http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/223502567



Purchase Betrayed
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
Book Depository



Giveaway Details:
$100 Amazon.com Gift Code
Ends 6/5/12

Open to anyone who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent's permission. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.



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