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

Sunday, October 7, 2012

Mailbox Monday (Oct 8, 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 October by Marcia!



For Review: 



Proof of Guilt
by Charles Todd

An unidentified body appears to have been run down by a motorcar and Ian Rutledge is leading the investigation to uncover what happened. While signs point to murder, vital questions remain. Who is the victim? And where, exactly, was he killed? 

One small clue leads the Inspector to a firm built by two families, famous for producing and selling the world's best Madeira wine. Lewis French, the current head of the English enterprise is missing. But is he the dead man? And do either his fiancée or his jilted former lover have anything to do with his disappearance-or possible death? What about his sister? Or the London office clerk? Is Matthew Traynor, French's cousin and partner who heads the Madeira office, somehow involved?
The experienced Rutledge knows that suspicion and circumstantial evidence are not proof of guilt, and he's going to keep digging for answers. But that perseverance will pit him against his supervisor, the new Acting Chief Superintendent. When Rutledge discovers a link to an incident in the family's past, the superintendent dismisses it, claiming the information isn't vital. He's determined to place blame on one of French's women despite Rutledge's objections. Alone in a no man's land rife with mystery and danger, Rutledge must tread very carefully, for someone has decided that he, too, must die so that cruel justice can take its course.




With or Without You
by Domenica Ruta

Domenica Ruta grew up in a working-class, unforgiving Italian town north of Boston where in the seventeenth century women were hanged as witches.  Her mother, Kathi, a notorious figure in this hardscrabble place, was a drug addict and sometime dealer whose life swung between welfare and riches, whose highbrow taste was at odds with her base appetites.  And yest she managed, despite the chaos she created to instill in her daughter the idea that art -- via a classic film or a classical education -- could transcend this life of undying grudges, self-inflicted misfortune, and the crooked moral code that Kathi and her cohorts lived by.  With or Without You is the story of Domenica's unconventional coming of age -- a darkly hilarious chronicle of a misfit '90s childhood and the necessary and painful act of breaking away, and of overcoming her own addictions and demons in the process.  In a brilliant stylistic feat, Domenica Ruta has written a powerful, inspiring, compulsively readable, and finally redemptive story about loving and leaving.  




Your House Is on Fire, Your Children All Gone
by Stefan Kiesbye

The village of Hemmersmoor is a place untouched by time and shrouded in superstition: There is the grand manor house whose occupants despise the villagers, the small pub whose regulars talk of revenants, the old mill no one dares to mention. This is where four young friends come of age—in an atmosphere thick with fear and suspicion. Their innocent games soon bring them face-toface with the village's darkest secrets in this eerily dispassionate, astonishingly assured novel, evocative of Stephen King's classic short story "Children of the Corn" and infused with the spirit of the Brothers Grimm.


Digital Books for Review:

No
Picture 
Available


Into the Dark
by Stacy Green

IT’S THE MOMENTS FROM OUR PAST THAT BIND US. 

Branch Manager Emilie Davis is enduring a day like any other–until two masked men storm into WestOne Bank demanding cash. Her hopes of a quick end to her terror are dashed when she realizes one of the men has no interest in the bank’s money. Emilie is his prize, and he’s come to claim her.

When hostage negotiator Nathan Madigan and Las Vegas SWAT enter the bank on a rescue mission, Emilie’s captor makes a shocking escape into the abyss that lies beneath the city: the Las Vegas storm drains, a refuge for the downtrodden and the desperate. 

HOW WILL IT END?

Who is the man the media has dubbed ‘the Taker?’ Why is he after Emilie, and what is the connection he’s convinced they share?

Emilie can’t run from the Taker, and she can’t escape her own past. As her life closes in on her, she has nowhere to turn but to Nathan. The lines of professionalism blur as Nathan becomes determined to save Emilie. Together they venture into the depths beneath Las Vegas and discover a shocking piece of the puzzle. 

But the Taker remains one step ahead. Desperate and sick of waiting for the Taker to emerge from the shadows, Emilie makes a bold move to reclaim her life that may cost her everything.







Redemption on the River
by Loren DeShon

Silas Jacobson pulled a trigger, killed his father, and ended up months later face down in Memphis mud, trying to forget the girl who betrayed him.

Silas buries his father on the farm, his guilt in himself and leaves home seeking to forget past mistakes. He travels on Mississippi steamboats and meets his best friend in a brawl, his worst enemy in a cathouse, and a mentor and lover at a New Orleans faro table. Fighting, fornicating, and cheating at cards are a grand time, but there's another woman, a girl on a mission of her own, who saves his life and offers the opportunity to redeem himself.

Silas staggers out of the mud to go to her, but he finds that she's deceived him from the start. He'll risk his neck for her—he owes her that much—but love is no longer possible. His shot at redemption comes down to his conscience, the two women, a poker game, and the turn of a card.

Redemption on the River is historical fiction set along the Mississippi River in 1848.




Books Won:



Dead Ends
by Sandra Balzo

Reporter AnnaLise Griggs has returned to her picturesque hometown of Sutherton in North Carolina's western mountains to take care of her ailing mother, Daisy.  But her one-month leave of absence becomes far more complicated with the arrival of an unlikely trio of visitors:  District Attorney Benjamin Rosewood, his wife Tanja, and their daughter Suzanne.

AnnaLise and Ben have recent history between them -- history that she can't forgive herself for and he, seemingly, can't forget.  When Tanja's yellow Porsche is found at the bottom of a mountain gorge, AnnaLise is forced to confront some difficult questions that need answers -- and fast. 

Digital Books Won:



The Zombie Always Knocks Twice (Hollyweird, #1)
by E. Van Lowe

Hollywood, California, is known for swimming pools,
movie stars…and now the risen dead.

Hollywood can be a difficult place to grow up, especially if you’re Kristine Golden, a fifteen-year-old necromancer with a sworn duty to lay the risen dead back to rest and no desire to be in the movie business.

When handsome deadie Alex Romero swaggers into her life, Kris must keep her promise, despite her growing feelings for him. If that’s not enough to give a girl a headache, a murderous zombie comes knocking at Kris’s door, rocking her world and threatening her family.

Can Kris solve the mystery of the rampaging zombie before someone else winds up dead? Or will the walking dead take over Hollywood and turn it into…Hollyweird





Night of the Purple Moon (The Toucan Trilogy #1)
by Scott Cramer

The epidemic strikes only those who have passed through puberty.

Abby Leigh is looking forward to watching the moon turn purple. For months, astronomers have been predicting that Earth will pass through the tail of a comet. They say that people will see colorful sunsets and, best of all, a purple moon.

But nobody has predicted the lightning-fast epidemic that sweeps across the planet on the night of the purple moon. The comet brings space dust with it that contains germs that attack human hormones. Older teens and adults die within hours of exposure.

On a small island off the coast of Maine, Abby must help her brother and baby sister survive in this new world, but all the while she has a ticking time bomb inside of her -- adolescence.



What Books came home to you this week?

Life with Lily by Mary Ann Kinsinger and Suzanne Woods Fisher (Book Review)

Title: Life with Lily (Book One - The Adventures of Lily Lapp)
Author: Mary Ann Kinsinger and Suzanne Woods Fisher
Publisher: Revell

Available October 2012  at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.

About the book: On a small Amish farm in upstate New York, a young Lily Lapp has plenty to do and plenty of people to love.  but changes are coming -- including a new baby brother,  a new teacher at school, and new ways of looking at the world.  Lily's growing up Amish, and there's always a lot to learn -- if only Lily can stay out of trouble!

My thoughts:  I really enjoy the adult Amish books that I have read and this children's chapter book was no different.  It is hard to imagine a world where children can still grow up so innocent and simple -- and so joyful. 

 Lily's favorite thing to do is play with her rag doll Sally - and if she can do it with her cousin Hannah, it is even better.  You find the family often doing chores together, gathering eggs, planting a garden, or Lily helping out with her two younger brothers for her mom.  

But not everything is wonderful for Lily.   Her aunt is battling cancer, her teacher's buggy  was hit by a car and she had to stop teaching due to her injuries, and the new teacher is very strict.  And on a regular basis she has to put up with Mandy Mast.  One of the few girls her age, and being raised without a mother, Lily's mom has asked her to be understanding with Mandy - but somehow Mandy always seems to get Lily into trouble! 

 I really liked Lily and look forward to reading more about her adventures in the following books in this series. Book Two - A New Home for Lily is due out in February of 2013.  Find out more at www.AdventuresofLilyLapp.comIf you like the Little House on the Prairie books, then I think you will like the Adventures of Lily Lapp books.


About the authors:  Suzanne Woods Fisher is the bestselling author of The Choice, The Waiting, The Search, The Keeper and The Haven, as well as nonfiction books about the Amish, including Amish Peace. Her interest in the Anabaptist cultures can be directly traced to her grandfather, W. D. Benedict, who was raised in the Old Order German Baptist Brethren Church in Franklin County, Pennsylvania. Suzanne is a Christy Award nominee and is the host of an internet radio show called Amish Wisdom. She lives in California. Visit her website www.suzannewoodsfisher.com and follow her on twitter @suzannewfisher.

Mary Ann Kinsinger was raised Old Order Amish in Somerset County, Pennsylvania. She met and married her husband, whom she knew from school days and started a family. After they chose to leave the Amish church, Mary Ann began a blog, A Joyful Chaos, as a way to capture her warm memories of her childhood for her own children. From the start, this blog found a ready audience and even captured the attention of key media players, such as the influential blog AmishAmerica and the New York Times. She lives in Pennsylvania.

~I received a complimentary copy of this book for Revell Blog Tours in exchange for my unbiased review.~

Life with Lily
Publisher/Publication Date: Revell, Oct 2012
ISBN: 978-0-8007-2132-9
288 pages
Reading level - 8-12 years old

Friday, October 5, 2012

Scrambled by Kathryn Jones (Book Review)

Title: Scrambled
Author: Kathryn Elizabeth Jones

About the Book: What happens to an unhappy woman who leaves her husband only to discover that she may have just made a terrible mistake? So horrible, her choice threatens to end her very life?

Susan believes that the grass is greener on the other side. Not that her current life is bad, necessarily; it’s just boring and lifeless, kind of like the old matted rug on her dining room floor. Susan thinks her marriage has just grown—well, old. Her husband, Bob, has gained tremendous weight and continues to gain, and his health suffers. She must work at a job she hates full-time to provide the little sustenance they have. He, on the other hand, works very little (because of his health) and prefers spending his days watching television or surfing the Internet. Besides, there’s her problem of not getting pregnant that can’t help but contribute to his unhappiness.

Can Susan continue to live her life at the hotel knowing that she might be killed herself or imprisoned for life? Will she be able to find the real murderer with the help of the eccentric Ms. Martha Boaz?


My thoughts: So one day Susan just leaves her job and her husband, gets on a bus, and begins a new life as Jenny.  She easily gets a job cleaning hotel rooms at a cheap, but once glamorous, hotel.  The tenants are strange, but it allows her to keep a low profile and begin to put some money away until she really begin her new life. 

There is the man across the hall who seems to have developed a crush on her; the salesman who never seems to make any sales and leaves his room immaculate; the slob who lives down the hall whose room always has a bad odor, and the manager, who lives in a plush attic room that gives Susan the creeps.  The owner of the hotel doesn't live there, but seems to show up and walk the halls all the time.

When one of the tenants is found dead in the basement, the owner cons Susan into helping him move the body so that it won't be connected to the hotel. Susan starts to receive threatening notes afterwards and realizes that someone is trying to pin the murder on her.  She decides that her only options are returning to her husband (NO) or trying to figure out who the murderer is herself.

With that, the author starts you down a road with many twists and some surprises as Susan stumbles across more dead bodies, people who aren't whom they seem, and life presenting her with choices she didn't know she had.  I liked Susan and for some reason pictured her as Kristin Wiig and couldn't get that image out of my head!  

This was a debut book for Kathryn Jones and the first in the Susan Sleuth Mystery Series. If you like cozy mysteries, then you should give this one a shot!



~I received a complimentary ecopy of this book from the author in exchange for my unbiased review.~

About the author:  A published writer since 1987, she has published various newspaper and magazine articles for teens and adults.

When she is not writing she's reading. A member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, she is an avid reader of the scriptures and books of spiritual merit. She has been married 30 years and enjoys teaching and working with youth and children-including her own three girls,three grand-daughters and grandson.

Connect with Kathryn:


Publisher/Publication Date: CreateSpace, August 2012
ISBN: 9781461188087
250 pages

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

The Witch is Back by H.P. Mallory (Book Review)

Title: The Witch is Back
Author: H.P. Mallory
Publisher: Bantam

About the Book: The witching hour has arrived in bestselling author H. P. Mallory’s captivating and sexy new novel, starring the most dazzling denizen of the undead, Jolie Wilkins. 
 
Funny and feisty witch Jolie Wilkins is back—or rather, she’s back to her humble beginnings. Propelled into the past to her old Los Angeles fortune-telling shop, Jolie has no idea she possesses extraordinary powers, and she definitely doesn’t remember becoming Queen of the Underworld. But at least she has two incredibly sexy men vying for her affection: Rand Balfour, who looks very familiar, though Jolie can’t place his gorgeous face, and Sinjin Sinclair, who is tall, dark, and perfect . . . except for the fangs.
 
Yet despite her steamy love life, Jolie can’t shake the sense that something is not quite right—like she’s stuck in a dĂ©jĂ  vu gone terribly awry. As both men race against time—and each other—to win Jolie’s heart, the fate of the Underworld hangs in the balance. And Jolie’s decision can either restore order or create an absolute, drop-dead disaster.

My thoughts: This is book number 4 in the Jolie Wilkins series, and it is also the first book that I read.  I still enjoyed it very much though - enough that I will be adding the first 3 to my TBR list. 

So, because this was my first introduction to Jolie, I was learning for the first time about Rand and Sinjin as well.  It was kind of fun not knowing who was the "good" guy and who was the "bad" guy so that I could have a little mystery as to where the story was headed as well as the romance.  Oh, and don't forget the paranormal aspect.  

Jolie just thinks that she is a normal girl, who can see auras and tells fortunes.  It is quite a shock for her to find out that not only is there more to the paranormal world, but that she plays a big role.  

This book was quick to read, well-written, and loved the humor.  When a book can make me laugh out loud, then I know it is doing something right.  

~I received a complimentary ecopy of this book from Bantam in exchange for my unbiased review.~

The Witch is Back
Publisher/Publication Date: Bantam, July 2012
ISBN: 9780345531568
250 pages



Book Blast: The Reluctant Bachelorette by Rachael Anderson




The Reluctant Bachelorette by Rachael Anderson

Unknowingly cast as the bachelorette for her town’s charity event, Taycee Emerson wants out. Especially when she discovers her old teenage crush, Luke Carney, is one of the bachelors and it's up to the viewers--not her--to decide which bachelors stay or go.

Coerced into participating, Taycee does what any self-preserving girl would do. She launches a subtle attack on Luke’s good name with the hope of getting him voted off the show. Unfortunately, Luke's an eye-for-an-eye kind of guy, and when he discovers what she's up to, it means revenge.

But when their pranks go south, will they screw up any chance they have at a future together, or will they be able to forgive and forget and prove that love really does conquer all?









About the Author:  Rachael Anderson is the author of four contemporary romances: Divinely Designed, Luck of the Draw, Minor Adjustments, and The Reluctant Bachelorette. She's the mother of four, can't sing, doesn't dance, and despises tragedies. But she recently figured out how yeast works and can now make homemade bread, which she is really good at eating.







Links:

Facebook fan page

Rachael Anderson (Blog)

Twitter

Goodreads

Amazon author page





http://iamareadernotawriter.blogspot.com/p/blog-tour.html




Giveaway Details:

$50 Amazon Gift Code compliments of Author Rachael Renee Anderson

Ends 10/31/12



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.



Monday, October 1, 2012

Flight by Alyssa Rose Ivy (Review, Guest Post and Giveaway)


Flight by Alyssa Rose Ivy Tour Schedule

September 17 Tour Intro

September 17 Review

September 17 Review

September 18 Guest blog

September 18 review

September 19 Interview

September 20 Guest blog

September 21 Interview and review

September 22 Review

September 23 Promo

September 23 Promo and review

September 24 Interview

September 25 Interview

September 25 Review

September 26 Interview and review

September 27 Interview and review

September 28 Guest blog and review

September 28 review

September 29 Guest blog

September 30 review

October 1 Guest blog and review

October 2 Guest blog or Character Interview and review

October 3 Guest blog

October 3 Guest blog

October 4 Promo

October 4 review

October 5 Guest blog

October 5 Interview and review

October 6 Guest blog and review

October 7 Promo and review

October 9 Guest blog

October 10 Interview and review

October 11 Promo/Excerpt and review

October 12 Interview and review

October 13 Interview and review

October 13 Promo (Music Playlist) and review

October 14 review

October 15 Interview

October 15 review

October 15 Review

Title: Flight (The Crescent 

Chronicles, #1)

Author: Alyssa Rose Ivy

Genre: Mature YA/New Adult Paranormal Romance

About the Book: Sometimes you just have to take flight.

A summer in New Orleans is exactly what Allie needs before starting college. Accepting her dad’s invitation to work at his hotel offers an escape from her ex-boyfriend and the chance to spend the summer with her best friend. Meeting a guy is the last thing on her mind—until she sees Levi.

Unable to resist the infuriating yet alluring Levi, Allie finds herself at the center of a supernatural society and forced to decide between following the path she has always trusted or saving a city that might just save her.


About the authorAlyssa Rose Ivy lives in North Carolina with her husband and two young children. Although raised in the New York area, she fell in love with the South after moving to New Orleans for college. After years as a perpetual student, she turned back to her creative side and decided to write. 

You can connect with her at the following places:




Meeting a Real Paranormal Creature
by Alyssa Rose Ivy

In Flight, Allie is given no warning before being thrust into a paranormal world. When writing her story, I found myself wondering how I’d react in that situation.

In most paranormal-human encounters in books and movies the human reacts in one of two ways, either they think it’s really cool, or they are terrified and run away from it. I’d like to think I’d find it cool, but the truth is I’d be the type who would run away. Even my experience in writing paranormal books would be no match for the reality that those kind of creatures could actually exist.

Hopefully after some time to think about it, I’d return and at least get some good ideas for my next book.

How do you think you’d react?




My review:  I took an instant liking to Allie, but I had a hard time imagining her as an 18-year-old the summer before college - she seemed older.  (I have an 18yo senior in high school right now and can't imagine being comfortable with her in a new city with as much freedom as her parents gave her. . . - but then that's just me) But anyway, she ends up in New Orleans, living in a suite at her dad's hotel with her girlfriend Jess, sharing a cushy job with her where it appears she can set her own hours.  Who wouldn't like that gig!?

On her first night there she meets Levi, and while she tries to give him the brush off, this just makes her more desirable in his eyes. Even without encouraging him she can't deny the attraction that she feels for him.  Jess seems taken with his friend Jared so it is inevitable that they end up spending a few evenings together.  

Jess heads home after things heat up between her and Jared and she crosses a line that she isn't comfortable with, and since Allie is left basically alone in New Orleans, Levi steps in to keep her company.  She is quickly pulled in to his world and discovers that she likes the adrenaline rush that it leaves her with and even makes a new girlfriend, Hailey - who will also be a college freshman in the fall. 

The book moves along at a rapid pace - read it in pretty much one sitting - but it basically lays the groundwork for the series.  There are a lot of people introduced and lots of questions left unanswered - many of which I am sure will be addressed in the books to come. I like the way the relationship is left between Allie and Levi and can't wait to see where it will eventual lead.  The second book, Focus, is due out in January 2013. 

~I received a complimentary Ecopy of Flight as part of the Bewitching Blog Tours in exchange for my unbiased review.~

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