Stacking the Shelves (March 9, 2014)

Tynga of Team Tynga's Reviews has a meme to spotlight the books we receive each week. Visit her site to check out the linky and see what everyone gets. I guarantee that your TBR pile will grow.

I got six books this week - 2 Kindle, 2 print, and 2 for review.

Kindle

Faculty of Fire by Alex Kosh sounded like an interesting fantasy and was only $.99 when it was a Daily Deal. 

Just to Be With You by Bella Andre is the latest in her Sullivan series. I'm a few books behind but I really like these romance. 

Print Books

I learned about The House on Tradd Street by Karen White when visiting blogs. It sounded like an interesting romantic suspense story with some paranormal features. 

Melting the Ice by Jaci Burton is the latest in her Play-by-Play series. I enjoy these spicy romances and really like the sports connection.

Review Books

Blood and Iron by Jon Sprunk was one of my Amazon Vine picks this month. This epic fantasy will be released on March 11.

Notorious by Allison Brennan is a new thriller by this prolific author. It also introduces a new heroine. The book will be released on March 25.

What did you add to your stack this week?

Book Review: Breaking Ties by Jo Grafford

Breaking Ties
Author: Jo Grafford
Publication: Astraea Press (October 16, 2013)

Description: A cursed island, a chilling conspiracy, and an unforgettable love story. The 115 colonists on Roanoke Island couldn't GPS, skype or twitter their ultimate destination back to their families and friends in 16th Century England. But modern laser technology has finally uncovered a clue - hidden beneath a patch on an ancient map at the British museum - that leads us to their whereabouts. Considered "lost" for centuries, these brave pioneers finally reveal the rest of their story in Book One of the Lost Colony Series.

Rose Payne's world is left in tatters after a disastrous betrothal, making her an easy target for recruiters to the Colonies. Using every cent she has, Rose sails for the New World and a fresh start, vowing to never again fall for a wealthy man.

Returning from a diplomatic tour in London, Chief Manteo is bewitched by the fiery-haired ship's clerk and determined to overcome her distrust. He contrives a daring plan to win her heart - one that forces her, honor bound, to serve as a slave to his tribe - a plan he prays will protect her from a chilling conspiracy involving murder, blood money, and a betrayal of their fledgling colony so terrifying it can only be revealed in Breaking Ties.

My Thoughts: BREAKING TIES was an interesting historical fiction story that included a bit of romance too. Rose Payne, daughter of a tenant farmer and trained clerk, finds herself on a colonizing voyage to the New World as a way to escape a broken heart. She had different expectations about her romance with a Duke's son than he did. When he offered to set her up as his mistress instead of his wife, she decided to flee the country.

Rose finds herself on her way to Chesapeake Bay with a bunch of Puritans. However, plots at home regarding the Letters of Patent authorizing the colony means that someone is out to sabotage the journey. The journey has problems enough for Rose. Besides dealing with heartbreak and seasickness, she is also accused of witchcraft. When she falls overboard and is rescued by Chief Manteo, her failure to drown confirms her witchcraft in many eyes.

Chief Manteo is traveling back to his home after serving as a diplomat for his people. He is looked upon by most as a savage of little intelligence but it doesn't take Rose long to realize that he is a handsome man who speaks and understands more English than he lets on. He begins to court her but she isn't ready to risk her heart again. And then, when she is, she learns that he already has a wife and wants to make her his second wife which breaks her heart again.

Rose is something of a guy magnet. She also attracts the attention of Christopher Cooper who is the younger son of a Baron and one of the ministers on the voyage. She likes him but is concerned about his place in the conspiracy that is raging.

Told in the first person by Rose, the book is filled with plots and the harsh brutality of the times. It is also filled with the colonists efforts to survive despite long odds against them. It was an engaging story for those who like their history gritty. It also provides a possible explanation for the disappearance of the Roanoke colony.

Fans of historical romance will enjoy this story.

Favorite Quote:

"Yes indeed. Are you familiar with the theory of climbing back on a horse after a tumble?"

"Come again?"

Blue eyes twinkled with mischief.

"Nay, Agnes. Pray do not suggest I pay court to any of your lonely colonists."

"Ah, have a little faith in me, my friend. I thought only to place you back on the horse, not to slap his rump into a full gallop."

I received this ebook from the author in exchange for an honest review. You can buy your copy here.

Friday Memes: Breaking Ties by Jo Grafford

Happy Friday everybody!

Book Beginnings on Friday is now hosted by Rose City Reader. The Friday 56 is hosted at Freda's Voice. Check out the links above for the rules and for the posts of the participants each week. Don’t dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

This week I am spotlighting Breaking Ties by Jo Grafford. The author asked if I would be willing to review this book when I had time. It sounded good so I added it to my review pile. Here is the description:

A cursed island, a chilling conspiracy, and an unforgettable love story. The 115 colonists on Roanoke Island couldn't GPS, skype or twitter their ultimate destination back to their families and friends in 16th Century England. But modern laser technology has finally uncovered a clue - hidden beneath a patch on an ancient map at the British museum - that leads us to their whereabouts. Considered "lost" for centuries, these brave pioneers finally reveal the rest of their story in Book One of the Lost Colony Series.

Rose Payne's world is left in tatters after a disastrous betrothal, making her an easy target for recruiters to the Colonies. Using every cent she has, Rose sails for the New World and a fresh start, vowing to never again fall for a wealthy man.

Returning from a diplomatic tour in London, Chief Manteo is bewitched by the fiery-haired ship's clerk and determined to overcome her distrust. He contrives a daring plan to win her heart - one that forces her, honor bound, to serve as a slave to his tribe - a plan he prays will protect her from a chilling conspiracy involving murder, blood money, and a betrayal of their fledgling colony so terrifying it can only be revealed in Breaking Ties. 

Beginning:

Portsmouth, England, April 26, 1587

"Yer bum's hanging out the window, Rose!" My brother banged his empty mug on the inn table.

Friday 56:

Without warning, I was painfully cold and wet again, shaking uncontrollably. I tried to draw air into my lungs and choked. Hands pounded a bruising temp on my back. More hands pushed at my belly and chest. I gagged and spewed torrents of brine.

ARC Review: Eyes Closed Tight by Peter Leonard

Eyes Closed Tight
Author: Peter Leonard
Publication: Story Plant, The (March 4, 2014)

Description: O'Clair is a former Detroit homicide investigator who now owns a motel in Pompano Beach, Florida in his retirement. He runs the place with his much younger girlfriend, Virginia, who's a knockout and can fix anything. One morning, he’s cleaning up after the previous night’s partiers when he sees a lovely young woman stretched out asleep on a lounge chair. He shakes her gently. Then he touches her neck and feels for a pulse. There isn't one. Her skin is cold, body starting to stiffen, definitely in the early stages of rigor.

When a second girl is murdered, O'Clair knows someone is trying to send him a message. The way the girls are killed reminds O'Clair of a case he investigated years earlier. Now convinced the Pompano murders are related, O'Clair returns to Detroit Police Homicide to review the murder file and try to figure out what he might have missed.

And when Virginia is kidnapped by the killer, the stakes grow exponentially higher.

The most powerful work to date by one of the most thrilling suspense novelists of our time, EYES CLOSED TIGHT is relentless, surprising, and deeply satisfying.

My Thoughts: O'Clair has moved from his life as a homicide investigator in snowy Detroit to Pampano Beach, Florida. He has bought a motel and moved in with his girlfriend Virginia. He wanted a quieter - and warmer - life. Things start to go wrong when he finds the body of a young woman on the beach. Her death, including the removal of her eyes, reminds him of a case he solved in Detroit. When the motel maid is also murdered, the connections become even clearer.

O'Clair needs to head back to Detroit to look into that old case again to find out what he missed leaving Virginia to run the motel. He is quickly convinced that the wrong man was convicted and that he needs to have the investigation reopened. While he is chasing down clues in Detroit, the killer is targeting Virginia in Florida.

The story which is also told from the killer's point of view was tense, fast-paced and really enjoyable. I liked the relationship between O'Clair and Virginia. I liked following the clues with O'Clair. This was a fun story for suspense lovers.

Favorite Quote:

She could tell that O'Clair didn't like it; she could see it on his face, hear it in his voice. He wasn't good at hiding his feelings.

"I'm Irish," he'd once told her. "My ancestors were potato farmers. What did they know about hiding their feelings?"

I got this eARC for my post on the Blog Tour. You can buy your copy here.

ARC Review: Night Broken by Patricia Briggs

Night Broken
Author: Patricia Briggs
Series: Mercy Thompson (Book 8)
Publication: Ace (March 11, 2014)

Description: #1 New York Times bestselling author Patricia Briggs’s Mercy Thompson series has been hailed as “one of the best” (Fiction Vixen). Now, Mercy must deal with an unwanted guest—one that brings a threat unlike anything she’s ever known.

An unexpected phone call heralds a new challenge for Mercy. Her mate Adam’s ex-wife is in trouble, on the run from a stalker. Adam isn't the kind of man to turn away a person in need—and Mercy knows it. But with Christy holed up in Adam’s house, Mercy can't shake the feeling that something about the situation isn't right.

Soon, her suspicions are confirmed when she learns that Christy has the farthest thing from good intentions. She wants Adam back and she’s willing to do whatever it takes to make it happen, including turning Adam’s pack against Mercy.

Mercy isn't about to step down without a fight, but there’s a more dangerous threat circling. Christy's stalker is more than a bad man—in fact, he may not be human at all. As the bodies start piling up, Mercy must put her personal troubles aside to face a creature with the power to tear her whole world apart.

My Thoughts: This eighth book in the Mercy Thompson series keeps up the high standards set by the earlier books. Trouble seems to follow Mercy around like the fae artifact - the walking stick - had been following her until she gave it to Coyote.

When Mr. Alistair Beauclaire - also known as Gwyn ap Lugh - comes knocking at her door, she knows trouble will follow. Being a Gray Lord and one of the reasons that the fae have withdrawn to the reservations, he is no one Mercy wants to cross. When he asks for the walking stick that his father created, Mercy would love to give it to him. Of course, his threat to demolish the Tri-Cities helps make up her mind. But first she has to track down Coyote...

Meanwhile, Adam's ex-wife has attracted a stalker and has asked Adam for help. She wants to come "home" to the Pack. Christy was the human who left Adam and her daughter Jesse because she couldn't deal with all the werewolf stuff. She is one of those toxic human beings who can never take responsibility for anything they do and who subtly manipulate everything around them to get their way. Mercy knows this and so does Adam but many of the Pack are still fooled. Outright war with her would polarize the Pack which Mercy is determined not to do. But turning the other cheek can really get old in a hurry.

And, just to make things more complicated, Christy's stalker is a volcano deity from the Canary Islands who has lived too long and gone mad. Guayota is certain that Christy belongs to him and is more than willing to leave a trail of dead bodies behind him to get her back. No one is quite certain that he is even able to be killed but Mercy and Adam know that he has to be stopped some way.

Searching for Coyote leads her to her half brother Gary Laughingdog who wants nothing more than to keep out of Coyote's way. Coyote has gifted him with Seeing which is more of a curse than a gift. After breaking out of prison, he comes to find Mercy because of something he has seen. He is a very reluctant assistant in her fight with Guayota.

What I love about the Mercy Thompson series are the relationships in Mercy's life - her love for Adam and her need to take care of his Pack; her friendships with Tad - a half-fae - and Stefan - a vampire; her relationship with Coyote which is beyond my powers of description. The world that Briggs has created is so rich and so compelling and so filled with fascinating characters.

I am really glad that I started this one on a Snow Day. I couldn't put it down until the last page had been read. It was an excellent addition to an excellent series.

Favorite Quote:

As long as Adam loved me, I was sure that I could deal with the worst Christy could throw at us. I pushed aside the nagging thought that the euphoria of Adam's lovemaking sometimes left me with delusions of invulnerability.

I won this eARC at Penguin's First to Read website and was ecstatic. You can buy your copy here.

Teaser Tuesday: Eyes Closed Tight by Peter Leonard

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

Share the title and author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Teaser:

"There's a dead girl on the beach." O'Clair said, picking up the phone and dialing 911.

Virginia's face went from a half smile, thinking he was kidding, to deadpan, seeing he wasn't. "What happened?"

This week my teaser comes from Eyes Closed Tight by Peter Leonard. I received this eARC from Meryl Moss Media Relations. My review will be posted for the Blog Tour on Thursday. Here is the description of this thriller which is being released today:

O'Clair is a former Detroit homicide investigator who now owns a motel in Pompano Beach, Florida in his retirement. He runs the place with his much younger girlfriend, Virginia, who's a knockout and can fix anything. One morning, he’s cleaning up after the previous night’s partiers when he sees a lovely young woman stretched out asleep on a lounge chair. He shakes her gently. Then he touches her neck and feels for a pulse. There isn't one. Her skin is cold, body starting to stiffen, definitely in the early stages of rigor.

When a second girl is murdered, O'Clair knows someone is trying to send him a message. The way the girls are killed reminds O'Clair of a case he investigated years earlier. Now convinced the Pompano murders are related, O'Clair returns to Detroit Police Homicide to review the murder file and try to figure out what he might have missed.

And when Virginia is kidnapped by the killer, the stakes grow exponentially higher.

The most powerful work to date by one of the most thrilling suspense novelists of our time, EYES CLOSED TIGHT is relentless, surprising, and deeply satisfying.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (March 3, 2014)

It's Monday, What Are You Reading? is a meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.

It’s Monday!  What Are You Reading, is where we gather to share what we have read this past week and what we plan to read this week.  It is a great way to network with other bloggers, see some wonderful blogs, and put new titles on your reading list.

It looks like our string of bad weather days is going to hang on a little longer. While we had school all five days last week, we did have a late start on Thursday because our rural roads had drifted shut. Now it is just cold. I think we are setting a record for the lowest high temperature in March today. The temperature isn't supposed to get above 2 below zero today.

I had doctor's appointments on Thursday and Friday but everything went great. I was given the go-ahead to begin adding fiber back into my diet. It will be nice to have a salad once in a while. The only bad part is that I have to say goodbye to my gastroenterologist as she will be moving to St. Louis for a year and then back to Hawaii. That is one disadvantage of the Mayo Clinic. Doctors come and go as they are furthering their educations.

This week will be a busy one too. I'm going out to dinner with a friend and her family to celebrate her birthday on Monday night. Yay, Texas Roadhouse! And then on Thursday evening that friend and I are leaving after work and driving up to the Cities to attend Cecil Castellucci's author signing at The Red Balloon. I'll be spending the night at her house and coming to work with her Friday morning since her house is nearer the signing than mine.

My reading plans may be a bit ambitious considering that I will be away from home two evenings this coming week. I'll see how it all works out.

Read Last Week

I read Retribution by Anderson Harp and enjoyed this thriller. Fans of Tom Clancy are the perfect audience for this one. My review will be posted on March 13.

I also read Dangerous by Shannon Hale and really loved this science fiction story. The main character is a heroine to root for. I can't wait to meet the author at the end of March. My review for this one will also be posted on March 13.

Elusion by Claudia Gabel and Cheryl Klam was also a young adult science fiction story. I liked this one less because I thought the main character was unable to make up her mind about anything. This one is the first book in a trilogy and has a very unresolved ending. My review will be posted on March 15.

Beneath the Patchwork Moon by Alison Kent is an adult romance. It was okay but I felt it dwelt too much on the guilt that both characters faced over events that happened ten years in the past. My review will be posted on March 15.

Currently

I am currently about half way through Dash of Peril by Lori Foster. This is the fourth book in her Love Undercover series and is her usual sensual romance book. The whole series focuses on human trafficking for sexual exploitation as the mystery part of the story. I really like the relationships Foster builds in her books. 

Next Week

I got She Can Hide by Melinda Leigh from the author since I had read the earlier books in the series. This romantic suspense/thriller will be released on March 18.

The Revenant of Thraxton Hall by Vaughn Entwistle is a historical, paranormal mystery that I got from Edelweiss. As a Sherlock Holmes fan, I couldn't pass up a book that has Sir Arthur Conan Doyle as a main character. This book will be released on March 25.

The one disadvantage of being a member of the Amazon Vine program is that quite often the books available are really close to, or just past, the book's publication date. Choosing them throws off my schedule since I try to read books in order of their publication and date and post the reviews just before publication date. 

Sky Raiders (Five Kingdoms) by Brandon Mull is being released on March 11 but the first opening on my blog calendar is March 20. This sounds like a fun middle grade fantasy though.

Don't Even Think About It by Sarah Mlynowski is also a March 11 release but the soonest I can fit it in is March 27. I was excited to get a chance to read this funny paranormal though.

The Mark of the Dragonfly by Jaleigh Johnson has been on my review stack since last June. I got an ARC at ALA. I also have the NetGalley eARC for this March 25 release. It is also a middle grade fantasy. This one was already on the calendar and the review will be posted on March 22.

Reviews Posted

Waking Up Pregnant by Mira Lyn Kelly

The Blood Guard by Carter Roy

Thrown for a Curve by Sugar Jamison

Nil by Lynne Matson

February was a good reading month for me. I read 21 books - 19 review and 2 I owned. As usual I bought more than I read. I added 56 books to my LibraryThing account but 22 of them were review books and many were free or cheap for my Kindle. However, 51 of them are still marked TBR (To Be Read). 

What was your week like?