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

Monday, August 13, 2012

Mrs. Tuesday's Departure - Book Blast & $100 Amazon GC Giveaway!!!

Mrs. Tuesday's Departure Book Blast - $100 Amazon Gift Card Giveaway - August 14th to 21st.

Meet Author Suzanne Anderson

I was born in Fort Lauderdale, attended the University of Michigan on an athletic scholarship for swimming and then worked on Wall Street. I left the bright lights of the big city fifteen years ago and traveled the world. I now live in the mountains of Colorado, where I pursue my dream of writing novels.

LINKS:
Website: http://www.suzanneanderson.net/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Suzanne-Anderson-Author-Page/201662786512944
Twitter: https://twitter.com/seakiev



Mrs. Tuesday's Departure

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for…
Hungary's fragile alliance with Germany kept Natalie, a renowned children’s book author, and her family out of harm's way for most of the war. Now as the Führer's desperation grows during the waning years of the conflict, so does its threat. Natalie's younger sister, Ilona, married a Jewish man, putting both her and her young daughter, Mila, in peril; Natalie's twin sister, Anna, is losing her already tenuous hold on reality. As the streets of Budapest thrum with the pounding boots of Nazi soldiers, danger creeps to the doorstep where Natalie shields them all.
Ilona and her husband take the last two tickets to safety for themselves, abandoning Natalie to protect Anna and Mila from the encroaching danger. Anna's paranoid explosion at a university where was once a professor, sparked by delusions over an imagined love triangle, threatens their only other chance for escape. Ultimately, Natalie is presented with a choice no one should ever have to make; which of her family will she save?
An inspirational story of faith and family, strength and weakness, and the ultimate triumph of love over hate. Mrs. Tuesday’s Departure demonstrates the power of faith to light even the most harrowing darkness.
... faith is the evidence of things not seen.





Giveaway Details:
$100 Amazon Gift Code
Ends 8/21/12


a Rafflecopter giveaway


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.

Sunday, August 12, 2012

It's Monday! What are you reading? (Aug 13, 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! 

Both my kids and myself will be going back to school/work in the next 10 days.  My middle daughter starts her senior year of high school on Thursday, I go back to work at my son's school a week from today and he starts back to school the Wednesday after that.  I am hoping once we are all back on a regular schedule again that my "books read but needing to be reviewed" will start to disappear rather than grow!  I'll revisit this comment at the end of September and we can see whether or not that has happened!

Currently reading this week: 


Reading for Various read-a-longs in August: (something new I am trying):
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See (on audio - in the middle of disc 2 - Love it!)
The Cider House Rules by John Irving - (Just starting Chapter 3 and really like it!)
Bel Canto by Ann Patchett (This one is still a maybe - haven't started it yet)
Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury - (haven't gotten to start this one yet)
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel (I have started this one, but not sure if I am going to stay with it)

Upcoming books:
The Memory Thief  by Emily Colin
And When She Was Good by Laura Lippman



Books reviewed last week: 
Revenant by Allan Leverone

Books read and needing to be reviewed:
Why My Third Husband Will Be a Dog by Lisa Scottoline
Some Kind of Fairy Tale by Graham Joyce
The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter
Permanence by Vincent Zandri
The Witch is Back by H.P. Mallory
The Search by Shelley Shepard Gray



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


Mailbox Monday (Aug 13, 2012)



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



False Memory
by Dan Krokos

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

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

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

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

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



The Fine Color of Rust
by P.A. O'Reilly

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

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

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

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



The Sisters Montclair
by Cathy Holton

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

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

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

 

Postcards from the Dead
by Laura Childs

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

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

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

 

Barefoot in the Rain
by Roxanne St. Claire

They say you can never go home again. . .

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

But what if someone is waiting for you?

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




Hunk for the Holidays
by Katie Lane

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

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


 
War Stories
by Elisabeth Doyle

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

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

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

 

To Catch a Vampire
by Jennifer Harlow

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


What books came home to you last week?


Friday, August 10, 2012

Meet Rich Denoncourt and WIN Milo Banks and the Tower of Light

I write novels and publish them independently.

My stories are character-driven and focus on people, not plot.  They tend toward the epic and the coming-of-age, with characters discovering talents they never knew they had and worlds they never knew existed.

I've lived in New York City, Spain and Colombia.  I studied English and Philosophy at Colbate U iversity and received an MFA in fiction from The New School, where I was told never to self-publish.  But you know what they say:  rules are meant to be broken.


Richard Denoncourt was nice enough to stop by and answer a few questions for me today.  He is the author of the YA fantasy novel Milo Banks and the Tower of Light  (as well as  Trainland, a dark, supernatural thriller about a father who goes to Hell to save his family, and the short story collection Peltham Park.)  So please get to know Rich and sign up to win a copy of Milo Banks and the Tower of Light.




1. How do you typically write? Do you plot it all out beforehand or do you just let the story pour out? 
a. I typically write in the mornings before work, and I never plot it out beforehand, except for when I’m driving and listening to music. Then I have a tendency to imagine what should happen next in the story. Even then I never know for sure until I’m actually putting the words onto the page. Everything could change in that moment. 

2. Do you have a favorite place to write or “must haves” while writing? 

a. I love to have my dogs bothering the heck out of me while I write. Mostly they just lay there. Who knows what they’re thinking. If only I could get into their heads at that moment, I’m sure there’s a story in those little skulls.

 3. Do you have a favorite author/book or one that you always recommend? 

a. There’s something about The Forever War by Joe Haldeman that is so sad and haunting. It’s this story about soldiers battling an enemy they’ve never met across the universe, and they struggle to maintain their composure even as their ship jumps constantly, making them live while everyone back home grows old and dies. And this war just never ends. There’s a sense of hopelessness about it that makes you want to cry for humanity. I’m not surprised the author had Vietnam in mind when he wrote it. 

4. Was there anything (or anyone) while growing up which helped you decide you wanted to be a writer? 

a. I’ll admit it: reading Atlas Shrugged at 18 made me sure that I wanted to be a writer. Her vision of man as this heroic creature, and the value she places on the human mind, struck me as being utterly right and accurate. I’m hopelessly optimistic about the course of mankind. 

5. Do you have a job outside of being an author? 

 a. I’m working temp office jobs right now. It’s not pretty. I also wait tables on the weekends for extra cash so I can keep supporting this self-publishing business. 

 6. What would you tell a beginning writer? 

a. Don’t bother trying to look for an agent. Self-publish. See what kind of response you can get while keeping the rights to your work, then consider going with a publishing company (consider it; don’t necessarily do it). 

7. What were your favorite books growing up? 

a. I used to read anything with R.L. Stine’s name on it. When I was eight years old, Goosebumps was where it was at. I used to stay up all night reading those books. 

8. Do you have any books on your nightstand right now? 

a. The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood. She’s one of the great writers alive and working today. Truly one of the greatest. 

9. In one sentence, why should we read your book? 

a. It contains an ensemble cast of young teens who find out they’re descended from gods and have these superpowers that make them get along with each other in strange ways as they try and become the heroes they were destined to be. 

10. What is something people would be surprised to know about you? 

a. I fantasize constantly about having a modest house, a loving wife, a couple kids and a dog, and basically just living a quiet, peaceful life. 

11. What do you come up with first when creating your character- the back story, the plot, the characteristics? 

a. The characters always come first. They’re the meat in the meat and potato stew. The story and plot are the potatoes, but the characters – they’re pure protein. 

12. What do you do in your spare time? 

a. Spare time? What’s that? 

13. If you could have a superpower, what would it be? 

a. If I had a superpower, it would be the ability to download knowledge, talents and skills from another person’s mind just by shaking their hand. 

14. Do you have any hidden talents? 

a. I’m a very good public speaker, even though I’m reserved around people face-to-face. 

15. Night owl or early bird?

a. Early bird, definitely. 

16. Favorite season?

 a. Autumn. It’s just so moody. 

17. If someone wrote a book about your life, what would the title be? 

a. Late Bloomer. 

18. Favorite sport? 

a. Basketball. 

19. Favorite music? 

a. Cinematic soundtrack music. 

20. Talk or text? 

a. Um….e-mail? 

21. Cat or dog? 

a. Dogs, definitely. I used to be one, in another life. 

22. Favorite tv show?

a. The Wire is one of the most fascinating and outstanding examples of storytelling I’ve ever encountered. I love every minute of all five seasons. 

23. If you could travel forward or backward in time, where would you go and why? 

a. Weird as it sounds, I’d go back 10,000 years and observe early humans. Just to see how similar we are.





Milo Banks and the Tower of Light (Book 1 - Realm of Astros Series)

Sporting an ensemble cast of young teens who discover they are descended from ancient gods, Milo Banks and the Tower of Light is the first in a brand-new series of fantasy novels inspired by Greek mythology, from author Richard Denoncourt.
Meet Milo and Emma Banks...
In our world, a young boy and his twin sister must learn to use superpowers inherited from their demigod parents, one of whom dies to save them. The other is kidnapped by a powerful Necromancer who needs the twins' lifestreams to raise an army of undead.
In Astros, a parallel realm created by ancient gods...
Humanity has been recreated in the image of gods that mysteriously disappeared thousands of years earlier. Five races exist on Astros, shaped from the clay of Man by these mythical beings:
  • SARGONAUTS are super strong, bulletproof, able to lift a school bus with their bare hands.
  • ACOLYTES have wings and can fly and heal any living thing.
  • SAVANTS are masters of elemental forces, what some might call magicians.
  • FERALS can transform into any warm-blooded animal after drinking that animal's blood.
Evil has a new name...
Kovax Leonaryx and his cousin Corgos, ruler of two of the largest nations on Astros, have enslaved an entire race. 
Using magical towers that drain Feral men, women, and children of their lifestreams, these two men will someday have the power of gods. Their evil will extend into our world...
Unless Milo, Emma, and their friends can stop them before it's too late.




a Rafflecopter giveaway


Milo Banks and the Tower of Light
Publisher/Publication Date: CreateSpace, May 2012
ISBN: 978-1470119195
466 pages

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Young Adult Giveaway Hop (Aug 8 - Aug 14) U.S. only


Welcome to the Young Adult Giveaway Hop - hosted by I am a Reader, Not a Writer and Reading Teen.  There are over 200 bloggers in this hop and they are all giving away young adult books!  

For my giveaway, I am offering an ARC of Hades by Alexandra Adornetto.





Bethany Church is an angel sent to Earth to keep dark forces at bay. Falling in love was never part of her mission, but the bond between Beth and her mortal boyfriend, Xavier Woods, is undeniably strong. But even Xavier’s love, and the care of her archangel siblings, Gabriel and Ivy, can’t keep Beth from being tricked into a motorcycle ride that ends up in Hell. There, the demon Jake Thorn bargains for Beth’s release back to Earth. But what he asks of her will destroy her, and quite possibly, her loved ones, as well.

The story that Alexandra Adornetto built in her New York Times - bestselling debut, Halo, comes alive in action-packed and unexpected ways, as angels battle demons, and the power of love is put to the test.




a Rafflecopter giveaway Now that you have entered mine - enter everyone else's!

Revenant by Allan Leverone (Book Review)

Title: Revenant  (Paskagankee - Book 2)
Author: Allan Leverone
Publisher: Rock Bottom Books

About the Book: A sacred Navajo artifact, imbued with a shocking and dangerous power.

An amoral con man, willing to stop at nothing to achieve his goals.

And a tiny northern Maine town, isolated and vulnerable.

Last November, Paskagankee, Maine was shaken to its core, held hostage by a centuries-old curse, terrorized by a brutal killing spree stopped at the last possible moment by new police chief Mike McMahon and beautiful young patrol officer Sharon Dupont.

Now, just as the pair - and the town - is beginning to recover, a new horror comes calling.

Billionaire Seattle software designer Brett Parker is in Paskagankee to check on the progress of his newly-constructed summer retreat. But he's not the only new resident in town. Max Acton, murderous sociopath and Arizona cult leader, has gained possession of a long-hidden sacred Navajo artifact with the ability to reanimate the dead.

Acton aims to use the stone in a murderous plot to kidnap Parker and steal his revolutionary new software design developed for the U.S. Department of Defense, selling it to the highest bidder and making millions. He doesn't even need to get his hands dirty. All he needs is a victim to kill . . . and reanimate . . . and force to do his bidding.

All he needs is a revenant.

And the revenant is angry. And he's deadly. And he's unstoppable. And the town of Paskagankee will once again become a battleground between the living and the dead . . .

My thoughts: 

Max Acton and his friend Raven, a young Navajo girl, have recently moved to town and rented a rundown house out in the woods.  They have come into possession of a mystical stone that Raven had learned about from her father. When used properly, it can reanimate a deceased person and that person becomes a slave to whomever is in control of the box that houses the stone.  This person is a Revenant.  They have chosen their victim and in grisly fashion, Mr. Leverone details how the stone works. 

In Revenant, we meet up again with Mike McMahon and Sharon Dupont, two of Paskagankee's finest, slowly recovering from the string of murders that had plagued their town the previous fall. They are "involved" and are trying to figure out how the town council is going to deal with their relationship since Mike, as Chief of Police, is Sharon's superior.  Sharon decides that they need to be apart, as she would rather see him everyday at work, than have to move and take a job elsewhere and not see him at all. Their new status is barely set when two calls come in and they are sent out to investigate. Sharon and Mike have no idea what is about to be let loosed on their town. 

I read Paskagankee in May of this year and absolutely loved it.  So when I was offered the chance to read Revenant - the second book - I snapped it up.  Allan Leverone did not disappoint.  If you are a fan of horror - you must read this series.  

~I received a complimentary copy of this ebook from Partners in Crime Tours in exchange for my review.~

You can find out more information about Revenant and Allan Leverone and see other tour participants by clicking on the tour banner below. 



Revenant
Publisher/Publication Date: Rock Bottom Books, June 2012
ASIN: B008GG3TA8
224 pages

 

Monday, August 6, 2012

It's Monday! What are you reading? (August 6, 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! 

I can't believe that I only got one book reviewed last week.  I had such high hopes! I am hoping this week will see a little more action on getting caught up on reviews as summer is quickly coming to an end (and unwritten reviews are piling up!)


Currently reading this week: 


Reading for Various read-a-longs in August: (something new I am trying):
Bel Canto by Ann Patchett (This one is a maybe)
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel (This one is also a maybe)


Upcoming books:
The Memory Thief  by Emily Colin






Books read and needing to be reviewed:
Why My Third Husband Will Be a Dog by Lisa Scottoline
Some Kind of Fairy Tale by Graham Joyce
The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter
Permanence by Vincent Zandri
The Witch is Back by H.P. Mallory



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


Sunday, August 5, 2012

Mailbox Monday (August 6, 2012)




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



What the Heart Remembers
by Debra Ginsberg


Whispers of the past. . .


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


Whispers of the mind. . .


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


Whispers of the heart. . .


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



The Survivor
by Gregg Hurwitz


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


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



The Exceptions
by David Cristofan


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


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


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



The Trinity Game
by Sean Chercover


Would you know a miracle if you saw one?


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


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


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




Freak
by Jennifer Hillier

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


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


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



Creep
by Jennifer Hillier

If he can't have her. .. .


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


. . . No one can.


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

 
What books came home to you last week?


  

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Bridge of Scarlet Leaves by Kristina McMorris (Book Review)

Title: Bridge of Scarlet Leaves
Author: Kristina McMorris
Publisher: Kensington Publishing


About the Book: From the award-winning author of Letters from Home comes a poignant novel of love and courage, set against one of the most controversial episodes in American history: the aftermath of the bombing of Pearl Harbor.
Los Angeles, 1941. Violinist Maddie Kern's life seemed destined to unfold with the predictable elegance of a Bach concerto. Then she fell in love with Lane Moritomo. Her brother's best friend, Lane is the handsome, ambitious son of Japanese immigrants. Maddie was prepared for disapproval from their families, but when Pearl Harbor is bombed the day after she and Lane elope, the full force of their decision becomes apparent. In the eyes of a fearful nation, Lane is no longer just an outsider, but an enemy.
When her husband is interned at a war relocation camp, Maddie follows, sacrificing her Juilliard ambitions. Behind barbed wire, tension simmers and the line between patriot and traitor blurs. As Maddie strives for the hard-won acceptance of her new family, Lane risks everything to prove his allegiance to America, at tremendous cost.

My thoughts: This has definitely been one of my favorite books of 2012 - if not THE favorite.  I finished it in June and have neglected to review it because I didn't think that I would be able to do it justice - but here goes.
Maddie and T.J. are still dealing with the loss of their mother in a terrible car crash, followed by their father retreating into his own world as he can't deal with this loss.  That leaves T.J. to try to fill in for them in protecting/raising Maddie - who at 19 doesn't feel her brother needs to know everything about her life.  So when Lane, her brother's best friend, and Maddie fall in love - her brother is the last person they feel they can tell.
Inter-racial couples are looked down on during this time and in many states it is illegal to marry, so T.J. is not the only one that they are keeping their relationship secret from.  Lane's family is busy arranging for a bride to come over from Japan for Lane - and when he finds this out, he knows that he and Maddie must act soon - so they run off to Seattle to elope.  Only to awaken the next morning to a world torn apart by the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Lane returns to his family and Maddie to hers - both of which learn what they have done and are incredibly hurt by what they see as a betrayal.  
Before Lane and Maddie can even be a family, the Moritomo's father is arrested and the rest of the family shipped off to an internment camp.  It isn't long before Maddie finds out where they have gone, and finagles her way in to be with Lane.  Where Lane isn't trusted outside the camp, Maddie isn't trusted within it - and her and Lane have to share a room with Lane's mother -- who hasn't liked Maddie from the start.  They are both struggling to figure out how they can adapt to their new reality.  
This is only the first half of the book though - I don't want to give too much more away, but it will definitely keep you turning the pages.  I finished reading this on a flight from Las Vegas and as I don't like to fly, this was a perfect book as it drew me in and before I knew it we were landing and the flight was over.  
There are reading group questions in the back and I think this would be an absolutely great book for a book club.  There are so many issues here with the whole interracial couple especially set against the back drop of WWII.  She also deals with issues of family, loyalty, forgiveness, loss.  Once again - I loved this book and highly recommend it!
~I received a complimentary copy of this book from Rare Bird Lit in exchange for my unbiased review.~
Bridge of Scarlet Leaves
Publisher/Publication Date: Kensington Books, Feb 2012
ISBN: 978-0-7582-4685-1
431 pages

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